George Martin, legendary producer who helped create The Beatles’ sound, dies at 90

Sir George Martin, the producer who constantly pushed The Beatles to create and innovate, and was responsible for bringing their ideas to life, has died. He was 90 years old.

Adam Sharp of CA Management confirmed to The New York Times that Martin died on March 8. A cause of death was not revealed.

Martin, who served as a pilot in World War II, began his music career shortly after the war, when a BBC producer asked him to play a piano composition for a radio program. By 1955, when he was only 29, he became the youngest label manager for EMI, handling Parlophone. Even before The Beatles walked into the EMI studios, Martin was accomplished for producing comedy records by Peter Sellers and Spike Mulligan, two artists the Beatles looked up to.

After every label in England rejected The Beatles, Martin had them audition for him. While he signed them, he had his reservations. In those early days, he was suspicious of the group’s choice of drummer, first confirming to John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison that Pete Best had to go. Then, even after they asked Ringo Starr to join, Martin had another drummer play on a recording of “Love Me Do.” But the group listened to his suggestions, which proved fruitful from the start. His idea to turn “Please Please Me” into an up-tempo song helped the single become the group’s first big hit in the U.K. in 1963.

Even though Martin was a tall, polite man who never looked like someone who would even associate themselves with rock groups, he never shied away from radical suggestions for the group. In his tribute to Martin, McCartney recalled his suggestion that a string quartet be added to “Yesterday.” McCartney was apprehensive, but he liked it once he heard the final version.

“When we recorded the string quartet at Abbey Road, it was so thrilling to know his idea was so correct that I went round telling people about it for weeks,” McCartney wrote. “His idea obviously worked because the song subsequently became one of the most recorded songs ever with versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and thousands more.”

By 1967, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison began having their own radical ideas and Martin would often help them out to make them a reality. His production work on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band helped the then-studio bound Beatles effectively define the sound of pop culture.

Martin was also an innovator when it came to his profession. Before him, producers were just studio employees, but his work with the Beatles elevated the importance of the role. In 1965, he founded Associated Independent Recording after EMI refused to give him royalties from the hits he produced.

In addition to his work with the Beatles, Martin produced several British Invasion acts, including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black. He also worked with Ella Fitzgerald, The Bee Gees, Cheap Trick and Jeff Beck. In 1997, he produced Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997” after Princess Diana’s death.

Even after the Beatles broke up, Martin became somewhat of a steward of their leftover recordings, overseeing live albums and the massive Anthology releases. In 2006, he worked with his son Giles Martin, himself a popular producer, to create the soundtrack for Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE show.

Martin’s career also included an Oscar nomination for his scoring of A Hard Day’s Night. He also composed the score for the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, which featured a title song by McCartney. He also produced McCartney’s Tug of War and Pipes of Peace albums in the early 1980s.

God bless George Martin peace and love to Judy and his family love Ringo and Barbara George will be missed xxx ????✌️????????☮

— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) March 9, 2016

Thank you for all your love and kindness George peace and love xx????✌️???????? pic.twitter.com/um2hRFB7qF

— #RingoStarr (@ringostarrmusic) March 9, 2016