He died at only 21 years, a few months before the Beatles conquered the world.
His name was Stuart Sutcliffe, and when the world began to go crazy for the Beatles, he was gone.
On 10 April 1962 he was in Hamburg, Germany. For months he suffered from violent headaches, sudden malori and a strong sensitivity to light, symptoms that doctors had failed to explain accurately. He died before he got to the hospital.
Six months later, the Beatles published "Love Me Do". From that moment on, their ascent was unstoppable to make them the most famous band in history. Stuart, however, never saw anything about this.
Born in Edinburgh in 1940 and raised in Liverpool, his first love was not music, but painting. At Liverpool College of Art he met John Lennon and a deep friendship was born between them, nourished by the same passion for art and the desire to create something new.
When the band needed a bassist, Lennon convinced Stuart to join the band. He was not an experienced musician: he had just sold his painting for £65 and with that money he bought his first bass.
He was often shy on stage. To hide the insecurity sounded sideways or turned his back on the audience. But his contribution was far beyond his technical skills. His style, dressing and artistic sensibility helped build the visual identity of the first Beatles, making them different from all the other bands of the time.
The turning point came to Hamburg, where the group performed every night in the city premises. It was there that Stuart met the young photographer Astrid Kirchherr. Among them a great love was born and together they began to imagine a different life. In those years Stuart was the first Beatle to adopt the famous haircut that, shortly after, would become one of the most recognizable symbols of the band.
In 1961 he made a decision that surprised everyone: he left the Beatles. He chose to stay in Hamburg with Astrid and to devote himself completely to painting, his true passion. His teachers and artists who knew him saw in him an extraordinary talent, destined for a brilliant career.
That future, however, never came.
When the Beatles returned to Hamburg in April 1962, they received news that no one would hear. Stuart was dead.
For John Lennon it was an immense pain. He had lost the friend with whom he shared the first dreams, the first concerts and the most uncertain years of their adventure.
Today Stuart Sutcliffe is often referred to as "the fifth Beatle". But this definition is not enough to tell who it really was. Before the world knew the Beatles, he had already left a mark in the history of the group, helping to build its artistic identity and image.
Fate denied him the opportunity to witness that extraordinary success, but did not cancel the role he played at the beginning of that legend. Because some people do not arrive on the stage of glory, yet without them that show would never have been the same.
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