The Beatles’ original bass player, 22 year old Stuart Sutcliffe, died of a brain hemorrhage. Sutcliffe was included in the band because he had the equipment and place to rehearse, although he couldn’t play very well. His girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, created The Beatle haircut for Stu, and John and Paul followed soon after. Sutcliffe can be heard on very early Beatle tracks included on “Anthology 1”. He left the band in 1961 to resume painting because his headaches were getting too severe to play.