previous            A–Z            next        Stuart Sutcliffe Pseudonym:        Stuart de Stael        In May 1960 The Silver Beetles (later to become known as The Beatles) were backing a young musician Johnny Gentle, during his tour through Scotland. For the duration of this tour the whole band decided to give themselves pseudonyms.       The bassist of the band, Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (1940–1962) became Stuart de Stael after the painter Nicolas de Staël. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the Fifth Beatle. He left the band in 1961 to pursue a career as a visual artist. See also Paul Ramone, Carl Harrison and Long John. Sources: ‘Stuart de Stael’, BeatlesWiki, retrieved 26 April 2014 ‘Stuart Sutcliffe’, Wikipedia, retrieved 26 April 2014 previous            A–Z            next