LONDON (AP) - Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend and business associate of
The
Beatles, has died in New York City, the surviving band members said
Monday.
He was 66.
Aspinall died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City,
where he had been receiving treatment.
His death was announced in a statement released by Paul McCartney and
Ringo
Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the band's Apple
Corps Ltd. company.
"All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him, but will always
retain the fondest memories of a great man," the statement said.
The statement didn't say when Aspinall died, but Britain's Mail on Sunday
newspaper re****ted Sunday that McCartney had flown out to see him.
Aspinall stepped down last year as chief executive of Apple Corps, the
guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests.
A Liverpool school friend of McCartney and Harrison, Aspinall was The
Beatles' first road manager and would drive them to gigs in his van. He
later became their personal assistant, and in 1968 was given a management
role at Apple Records - the band's own record label.
As head of Apple Corps, Aspinall was executive producer of the hugely
successful "Beatles Anthology" album and was behind other successes,
including the "Beatles One" album.
"As a loyal friend, confidant and chief executive, Neil's trusting
steward****p and guidance has left a far-reaching legacy for generations to
come," the band's statement said.
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