Neil Aspinall, longtime friend of The Beatles, died Sunday in New York, age 66.
Childhood friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Neil Aspinall worked with The Beatles as tour manager, and as a member of the band's small inner circle, went on to head Apple Corps.
Aspinall helped protect The Beatles' trademark and copyright, and led the 1978 legal case against Apple Computers.
More recently he was executive producer for The Beatles' Anthology project, and oversaw the remastering of the band's back catalogue, due for release later this year.
He retired last year, and was working on a book of art. He died following a short battle with lung cancer.
In a statment, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr said: "All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man."
Another sad death occured over the weekend when Corinne Bailey Rae's husband Jason Rae was found dead of a suspected drugs overdose in Leeds on Saturday. Rae, 31, was a saxophonist in The Haggis Horns.