Fifth Beatle

The fifth Beatle is an informal title that has been applied to people who were at one point a member of the Beatles or who had a strong association with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The "fifth Beatle" claims first appeared in the press immediately upon the band's rise to global fame in 1963–64. The members have offered their own views as to who should be described with the title:

"The Fifth Beatle" redirects here. For the graphic novel, see The Fifth Beatle (graphic novel).

The term originated in 1964 with the American disc jockey Murray the K, who pronounced himself the "fifth Beatle" due to the amount of promotion and coverage he afforded the band on his radio program. Others referred to as the "fifth Beatle" include their original drummer, Pete Best, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, and keyboardist Billy Preston.^[4]

played bass with the Beatles in the Hamburg clubs after Stu Sutcliffe left to return to art school in Hamburg. Voormann also designed the album cover for Revolver. When McCartney left during the break-up, Voormann was mooted as a replacement. After the break-up and until 1976, Voormann played on almost every solo album recorded by Lennon, Harrison and Starr.^[28]

Klaus Voormann

Like Voormann and Preston, American drummer was considered to be a potential "Fifth Beatle" during the 1970s.^[29] After playing drums on Lennon's Imagine album in 1971, Keltner performed (beside Starr) at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh and went on to play on many albums by the former members for the next two decades,^[29] forming a lifelong friendship with Harrison. He was one of the "Sideburys" supporting Harrison's supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, toured as a member of Starr's first All-Starr Band in 1989,^[29] and participated in recording for Harrison's final album, Brainwashed.

Jim Keltner

American singer-songwriter was dubbed the "American Beatle" by the Beatles' publicist, Derek Taylor.^[30] Nilsson's sophomore album included a cover of "You Can't Do That" which referenced seventeen songs from the Beatles catalogue.^[31] Nilsson was a longtime collaborator of the Beatles and a close friend of John Lennon and Ringo Starr.^[30] When asked at a 1968 press conference who their favorite contemporary artists were, Lennon and McCartney both replied "Nilsson".^[32]

Harry Nilsson

a New York disc-jockey who was the first person to be called by that term. He was supposed to be jokingly dubbed the "fifth Beatle" by George Harrison.^[33]

Murray the K

star footballer of the 1960s, shared last name with Pete Best and celebrity lifestyle. Best was dubbed "The Fifth Beatle" and "O Quinto Beatle" by the Portuguese press after scoring twice for Manchester United in a 5–1 victory at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 1965–66 European Cup quarter-finals, mainly due to his Beatles-style "mop" haircut.^[34]^[35] Best was catapulted to superstar status and arriving back in England the press dubbed him "El Beatle".^[36]

George Best

the Liverpudlian comedian – who was a schoolmate of John Lennon's – was referred to jokingly as the Fifth Beatle, as he became famous at around the same time, emulated their hairstyle and clothes, and had the same type of accent.^[37]

Jimmy Tarbuck

In one skit during the episode of Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy played Clarence Walker, a disgruntled saxophonist who claimed to have been the fifth Beatle before being kicked out of the band by the other members in 1963.^[38]

11 February 1984

In episode "Lisa The Vegetarian", Apu is revealed to be a friend of Paul and Linda McCartney, and claims that he was once known as the "fifth Beatle", to which Paul sarcastically replies "sure you were", while rolling his eyes.

The Simpsons

(The New York Times; 15 March 2016).