Tony Sheridan, 72, a singer who worked with The Beatles passed away in Hamburg Germany on Saturday. The Los Angeles Times reported that Sheridan met the Beatles in 1960 in Germany when he was working at clubs in Hamburg headlining and the Beatles were also playing at clubs and bars in the area. Sheridan asked the Beatles to be his backup band. Soon a producer asked Sheridan to produce an album with the Beatles and it was the first recordings the Beatles had that were commercially released studio recordings, reports The LA Times.
Tony was born as Andrew Esmond Sheridan McGinnity in Norwich, England.
"Largely instrumental in bringing the "English Mersey" sound to the notice of the world, he brought Rock & Roll to Europe, literally opening up the market for this new, and to many-- dangerous-musical form," says the website tonysheridan.com.
His website, tonysheridan.com also credits Tony for bringing Ringo Starr to the group.
"One night after a backstage fray, Tony Sheridan was forced to get rid of drummer Pete Best, and brought into the Band Richie Starkey (aka Ringo Starr), who had earlier worked with Tony but not with the Beatles. The 'Fab-Four'-The Beatles-- that the world would come to know and acclaim, "were born" that night in Hamburg, the end result of Tony Sheridan's intuition and decision (as well as a quarrel). Tony Sheridan's backup band, The Beatles, would go on to rewrite Musical History."
"Tony was a good guy who we knew and worked with from the early days in Hamburg," Paul McCartney said in a statement on Monday. "We regularly watched his late night performances and admired his style. He will be missed."
Ringo Starr wrote on Twitter: "Goodbye to Tony Sheridan... I had a great month 1960-61, playing with him was great."
The Beatles were then called "The Beat Brothers" and backed Sheridan on his song "My Bonnie."
The song came out in the U.S. in 1962 which made it the first recording featuring The Beatles in the U.S. It didn't garner huge popularity but a week after the Beatles were on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964 "My Bonnie" was reissued and it was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 26.
"A 1962 show at the Star Club in Hamburg, where the Liverpool band played many of their early shows, was a watershed performance - featuring Starr on drums - and helped catapult the Beatles to fame," reported The BBC.
The BBC reported that German media reports that Sheridan died on Feb. 16 after an extended illness.
Sheridan had a number of German top ten singles including, "Lets Slop" and "Skinny Minnie."
He lived with his third wife, Anny Sievers in a farm in the north of Germany. Sievers passed away in 2011.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
