Editing Fifth Beatle (section)

==Early group members==
Though best-known as a four-man ensemble, The Beatles were in their early career a quintet. 

===Stuart Sutcliffe===
{{Main|Stuart Sutcliffe}}
Stuart Sutcliffe<ref>{{cite news |title=Honouring work of 'Fifth Beatle' Stuart Sutcliffe |url=http://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/9927598.Honouring_work_of____Fifth_Beatle___/ |quote=The man they call the Fifth Beatle, who 'fell in love with art' at Prescot Grammar School, is to have work displayed in a charity exhibition. ... |newspaper=[[St Helens Star]] |date=13 September 2012 |access-date=23 September 2012 }}</ref> was the original bassist of the five-member Beatles. He played with the band primarily during [[The Beatles in Hamburg|their days as a club act]] in [[Hamburg]], [[West Germany]]. When the band returned to Liverpool in 1961, Sutcliffe remained behind in Hamburg. He died of a [[brain hemorrhage]] shortly thereafter. Instead of replacing him with a new member, [[Paul McCartney]] changed from rhythm guitar (with [[Lennon]]) to bass and the band continued as a four-piece.

Sutcliffe was an accomplished painter, but when compared to those of the other Beatles, his musical skills were described as "inadequate",<ref>[http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/petebest.html An Evening With Pete Best, Part I: The Interview]. Retrieved 20 January 2007</ref> and his involvement in the band was mainly a consequence of his friendship with Lennon. Sutcliffe's input was an important early influence on the development of the band's image; Sutcliffe was the first to wear what later became famous as the Beatles' [[moptop]] hairstyle, asking his girlfriend [[Astrid Kirchherr]] to cut his hair in emulation of the hairdo worn by friend [[Klaus Voormann]].

===Pete Best===
{{Main|Pete Best}}
Pete Best was an early drummer of the Beatles.<ref>{{cite news |title='Fifth Beatle' Pete Best's 'True' Story |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1417891 |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=2 September 2003 |access-date=23 September 2012 }}</ref> He played with the band during their time as a club act, in both [[Liverpool]] and Hamburg, West Germany. The band during this period consisted of Best; bassist Stuart Sutcliffe; and guitarists McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon. Best continued to perform with the band until mid-August 1962, when he was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. The first official Beatles release to include performances by Best was ''[[Anthology 1]]'' in 1995, whereupon he commented, "Lots of people have laid claim to being the fifth Beatle. I was the fourth, and now I'm getting the credit for it."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Humphries |first1=Patrick |last2=Dogget |first2=Peter |title=The Beatles: The Music And The Myth |date=2010 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-85712-361-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbQAUhdlR9gC&pg=PT281 |access-date=19 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref>