Neil Aspinall: Roadie to the Beatles dies
“Fifth Beatle” Neil Aspinall Dies In New York
NEW YORK – Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend of the Beatles who managed their business enterprises and helped make the group a moneymaking phenomenon decades after they split up, has died. He was 66.
Aspinall and the late Mal Evans were the Beatles’ roadies. Aspinall would drive them to gigs in his van before they became famous, and never left the band’s tight-knit circle. He took over the management of Apple Corps in 1968, and continued to oversee the group’s business affairs in the decades after they broke up in 1970.</em>