Early Beatles Collaborator Dies

The man responsible for introducing the world to the Beatles has died.

Beatles collaborator Tony Sheridan has died.

The group was introduced to Tony in the early 1960s when they were both on ‘the scene’ in Hamburg, Germany. Tony was the one that got the guys into the recording studio, and he introduced the Beatles to acts like Little Richard and tried to sway the lads into wearing leather and acting like tough guys. The Beatles ended up playing backup band to Tony for a while because he was actually the bigger star at the time, so early Beatles recordings were actually credited to Tony Sheridan & The Beat Brothers. They recorded nine songs together, including My Bonnie, Cry for a Shadow, Sweet Georgia Brown and Ain't She Sweet.

The first drummer for the Beatles, Pete Best confirmed the death via Twitter, saying, "My friend Tony Sheridan passed away this morning. Great guy and great memories I will miss you Tony. RIP."

Tony Sheridan died in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday. He was 72.