Stuart Sutcliffe was The Beatles’ original bass guitarist, but he quit the band just before Beatlemania took off — then died of a cerebral hemorrhage a year later.
Paille/FlickrStuart Sutcliffe, the fifth member of The Beatles.
Within the Beatle fandom, there’s a lot of debate as to whether there was ever a fifth Beatle — and if so, who was it? Some say it was the group’s manager, Brian Epstein, or their producer, George Martin, both of whom Paul McCartney has attributed the title to on separate occasions. Others refer to Pete Best, the drummer before Ringo.
While there are arguments to be made for all of these candidates, there was a time when The Beatles were actually a five-piece band with a literal fifth Beatle. His name was Stuart Sutcliffe.
When the group formed in Liverpool in 1960, Stuart Sutcliffe was their original bass guitarist. Sutcliffe performed with The Beatles for less than two years, then left the group before Beatlemania reached its peak. Tragically, he died just a few months later at the age of 21.
But while he was only a member of The Beatles for a short time, Stuart Sutcliffe’s impact on the band was undeniable.
Stuart Sutcliffe Helps Form The Beatles
Michael Ochs Archive/Getty ImagesStuart Sutcliffe, left, playing bass in Liverpool with The Beatles in 1960.
Stuart Sutcliffe was born in Edinburgh Scotland in 1940, but his family moved to England shortly after. His mother was a schoolteacher; his father was a ship engineer in the Merchant Navy and frequently absent from the home because of his duties.
A talented painter, Sutcliffe went on to attend the Liverpool College of Art in the late 1950s. There, he met another talented student named John Lennon, as well as Lennon’s future wife, Cynthia Powell.
Lennon and Sutcliffe became friends and artistic collaborators, teaching each other about music and painting, respectively. The pair even lived together in an artist’s flat beginning in 1960, and were reportedly so close that Lennon’s friend Paul McCartney was jealous of their relationship.
That same year, Lennon and McCartney convinced Sutcliffe to purchase a bass guitar, despite having no real musical experience. From there, Sutcliffe began playing with Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison, and eventually the band’s first drummer, Pete Best. In those early days, the group that would become the Beatles often used Sutcliffe’s lost as a rehearsal space.
Sutcliffe was instrumental in shaping the band during its earliest stages. A brooding artist with a strong sense of style, Sutcliffe helped craft The Beatles’ look and was reportedly the first to adopt their signature mop-top haircut.
And it was Sutcliffe, along with Lennon, who reportedly came up with the name “The Beatles,” a reference both to Buddy Holly’s band, the Crickets, and to the Beat Generation.
Shining As The Fashionable And Enigmatic Beatle
Astrid Kirchherr / Ginzburg Fine ArtsStuart Sutcliffe (center) posing with his bandmates in Hamburg, Germany.
After just a few months, the Beatles booked a residency in Germany, and Stuart Sutcliffe began playing gigs with the early Beatles in Hamburg.
It was there that he met his fiancée, German photographer Astrid Kirchherr. Their relationship reportedly caused tension with his other bandmates, who were jealous that Kirchherr had fallen for Sutcliffe over them.
Indeed, while Sutcliffe was less musically talented than his bandmates, his looks and sense of style made him popular with their fans. It’s said that when Sutcliffe stepped forward to perform “Love Me Tender” during the group’s earliest performances, he received more cheers from the crowd than the other Beatles.
“I’ve become very popular both with girls and homosexuals, who tell me I’m the sweetest, most beautiful boy,” Sutcliffe wrote to his sister, according to a 2022 New Yorker article.
dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock PhotoAstrid Kirchherr, the girlfriend of Stuart Sutcliffe.
“He wasn’t really a very good musician. In fact, he wasn’t a musician at all until we talked him into buying a bass,” George Harrison said of Sutcliffe in The Beatles Anthology. “He picked up a few things and he practiced a bit… It was a bit ropey, but it didn’t matter at that time because he looked so cool.”
This “cool” look included James Dean-style sunglasses, collarless Pierre Cardin jackets, his girlfriend’s clothing, and his new signature mop-top hairstyle.
Before the four Beatles gained became known for their style and mop-tops, Stuart Sutcliffe was proving looks sell.
Stuart Sutcliffe Leaves The Beatles And Dies Soon After
Astrid Kirchherr, via Govinda GalleryPete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Stuart Sutcliffe.
Feeling pressure to pursue his true passion, visual art, Sutcliffe left the band in July 1961 to study painting in Germany.
In early 1962, Sutcliffe started suffering from a series of severe, unexplained headaches and grew sensitive to light. The pain, he said, was like “a bomb going off in his head,” and was so severe that he collapsed during an art class that spring. Doctors were unable to determine the cause, and Sutcliffe just carried on.
Then, on April 10, 1962, he collapsed again. Stuart Sutcliffe died of a cerebral hemorrhage in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He was just 21.
To this day, the exact cause of the hemorrhage is unknown. Some have suggested Sutcliffe hit his head while falling down some stairs. And in January of 1961, Sutcliffe had allegedly been beat up by a group of Teddy Boys outside of a performance venue. Lennon and Best reportedly broke up the fight, but by that point, the young men had already kicked Sutcliffe in the head. Some have theorized that the hemorrhage was caused by an untreated head injury Sutcliffe sustained during this attack.
However, according to a 2003 Independent article, Sutcliffe’s sister Pauline has claimed the injury was the result of a violent fight with John Lennon a few months before his death, in which Lennon attacked Sutcliffe “in a jealous rage.”
And given the many reports of Lennon’s darker side, this actually wouldn’t seem too far fetched.
But regardless of what caused Sutcliffe’s death, his former bandmates were devastated by the loss of their friend.
Stuart Sutcliffe’s Impact On The Beatles
Popimages / Alamy Stock PhotoThe Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.
Stuart Stucliffe’s death mad a massive impact on the Beatles, and particularly on John Lennon, who was hysterical upon hearing the news.
“John. Oh mum he is in a terrible mood now, he just can’t believe that darling Stuart never comes back,” Sutcliffe’s fiancée Astrid Kirchherr wrote to Sutcliffe’s mother in May 1962, according to the Liverpool Museum. “He just crying his eyes out. John is marvellous to me, he says that he know Stuart so much and he love him so much that he can understand me.”
According to those closest to Lennon, he never stopped talking about Sutcliffe, even as the Beatles skyrocketed to fame. Yoko Ono late said that Lennon considered Sutcliffe to be his “soul mate.”
Over the years, the Beatles kept Stuart Sutcliffe’s legacy alive, referencing him in various films and biographies. He can also be seen on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, all the way to the left in the third row. While his time with the Beatles was short, his role as an important part of the band’s history is undeniable.
“If he’d lived, he could easily have been the Beatle,” said Sutcliffe’s art mentor, Eduardo Paolozzi. “He was imaginative, ultra-intelligent, and he was open to everything.”
Enjoy this article on Stuart Sutcliffe, the little-known fifth Beatle? Next, read about the bizarre conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney died in 1966. Then, discover the surprising stories behind some of your favorite Beatles songs.
