Neil Aspinall Tribute

NEIL Aspinall, a long-time friend of the Beatles who managed their enterprises and helped them become a money-making phenomenon decades after they split, has died at 66.

His death was announced in a statement from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the band's Apple Corps company.

He died at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York City, where he had been treated for lung cancer. His wife and children were by his side. McCartney visited him before his death.

He went to school with McCartney and Harrison at the Liverpool Institute for Boys.

"I've known Neil many years and he was a good friend. We were blessed to have him in our lives and he will be missed," Starr said.

Mr Aspinall was the Beatles' first road manager and would drive them to gigs in his van. In 1968, he took over the management of Apple and oversaw their growth even after they broke up in 1970.

(Nekesa Mumbi Moody, New York)