Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a poet, painter and the original bassist of The Beatles for fifteen months (May 1960–August 1961). Sutcliffe earned praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism. Sutcliffe is one of the group of people sometimes referred to as "the fifth Beatle".
Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with coming up with the name for the Beatles, as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. Sutcliffe played with the Beatles in Hamburg, where he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. He enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art after leaving The Beatles, and studied under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi.
This entry is from 
© MMX