Stuart Sutcliffe

April 10, 1962 - Stuart Sutcliffe died on this day. He was the original bass player for The Beatles, but he left the band in July of 1961 to pursue a career in art.

Sutcliffe was a gifted artist with a style that was related to abstract expressionism. It was during an art class in Hamburg that he collapsed. The doctors who examined him couldn't find anything wrong with him. His condition would continue to decline, and a few days later he collapsed again. He died on the way to the hospital.

The official cause of death was a brain aneurysm. One theory is that it stemmed from an earlier head injury he received during a fight outside a club where he was performing with The Beatles.

Sutcliffe is immortalized on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. In the picture he appears next to fellow artist, Aubrey Beardsley.