Stuart Sutcliffe (June 23, 1940 – April 10, 1962) was a British painter and musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art.
Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name “Beetles”, as they both liked Buddy Holly’s band, the Crickets. They also had a fascination with group names with double meanings (as Crickets, for example, the word referring to both an insect and a sport), so Lennon then came up with “The Beatles,” from the word beat (though Lennon’s original spelling was “Beatals”). 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.”
When Sutcliffe performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.
While studying in West Germany, Sutcliffe began suffering from intense headaches and experiencing acute light sensitivity. In February 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed tests, but were unable to determine a cause. After collapsing again on April 10, 1962, Sutcliffe was taken to a hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way. The cause of death was later found to have been a brain haemorrhage in the right ventricle of his brain.
His death occurred just as the Beatles were on the cusp of international superstardom. Stuart Sutcliffe remains a significant figure in the Beatles’ history. He was later immortalized on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
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