Stuart Sutcliffe, one of the original members of The Beatles, was born on this day in 1940. He met John Lennon when they were at the Liverpool College of Art, and they later formed The Beatles with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. His first love was art, and when he met Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg, he chose to leave the band in favor of going back to art school and marrying Astrid. He died of a brain hemorrhage just short of his 22nd birthday. "Love Me Tender" was his signature tune with the Beatles; this recording was made shortly after he left the band.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
Such a great young talent mostly in art but he was so important in their story. If he would have lived I’m sure he would have done some of their album covers. His paintings now are worth a fortune of course.
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There were so few of them, and I figure Astrid probably is keeping them. And yes, he was very important in their story: if they hadn’t met Astrid, they wouldn’t have their look. That really set them apart…
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I totally agree…she was a big key to them. It’s a shame she got such a bad time from Stuart’s mom because of the war.
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How sad he died so young!
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I’ve seen stories that suggest that it resulted from a fight he had when he was younger. Whatever the reason, it was a shame…
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I knew he was with the Beatles in the beginning but didn’t know he died so young. That’s a sad story. His rendition of Love Me Tender is not my favorite but it has its moments.
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He was an artist more than a musician or singer, and got talked into joining by John, who wanted him around, I guess.
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Interesting John. I immediately thought of Elvis.
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Stu wasn’t as good as Elvis was (then again, who is?) but did an OK job, I thought.
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Not bad at all.
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This is such a sad story and,I bet, Paul still thinks about him. I believe Stu’s German girlfriend gave the guy’s their famous haircuts.
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She was, and I think she took a lot of the iconic pictures.
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What a sad story. I had no idea there was someone who was part of the Beatles for such a short time.
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Their original drummer was a guy named Pete Best. Brian Epstein (Beatles manager) replaced him with Ringo when he was hired.
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So very young to die💜
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Someone made the comment that it would have been nice to see some of his artwork on the covers of some Beatles albums. I’d have to agree with that sentiment.
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Yes indeed I agree , I have often wondered why they never used his art, he was good. They could of helped his widow 💜
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Hi John – I suddenly remembered who he was … I didn’t know he’d died of a brain haemorrhage … I can’t say I’m enjoying this rendition … but perhaps because I know the Beatles version. But thanks an interesting post – cheers Hilary
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Stu was a member of the Beatles because he was John’s friend, not because he was that great of a musician. Still, he wasn’t bad.
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