YEAR
1999
INDUCTED BY
Jimmy Iovine
CATEGORY
Ahmet Ertegun Award
All you need is George Martin.
He guided the Beatles’ career with generosity, wisdom and an unerring ear. George Martin produced nearly everything the Beatles made, truly earning himself the title of the fifth Beatle.
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Ben Fong-Torres
In the nine years the Beatles were together, their music changed as they did, as the times did, as the world did. But through all the jumps in their sound, there were five common grounds: Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr and the real fifth Beatle, George Martin.
From “Love Me Do” to “Let It Be,” it was Martin at the baton, arranging the music, producing the recordings, helping make John and Paul’s musical inventions and dreams come true and, when the four young men began to take the reins in the studio, knowing enough – well, to let them be.