Stuart Sutcliffe

Born

June 23, 1940

Died

April 10, 1962 (aged 21)

Known as

bassist, painter, rock musician, musician

Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe was a British painter and musician, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles" [sic], as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. They also had a fascination with group names with double meanings, so Lennon then came up with "The Beatles", from the word beat. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several who are sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".

Biography from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.