Pitchfork

Singer-songwriter and keyboardist Billy Preston died today after a long battle with illness, the Associated Press reports. Preston, 59, was one of a handful of people referred to as "the fifth Beatle" for his close relationship with the Fab Four. He suffered from kidney failure and had been in a coma since November 2005.

Preston began his career as a pre-teen prodigy, earning a role in the 1958 W.C. Handy biopic St. Louis Blues, which also featured such luminaries as Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Cab Calloway, and Eartha Kitt.

He began his recording career a few years later, issuing his debut album, Sixteen Year Old Soul for Derby in 1963. Preston's more accomplished solo efforts included The Most Exciting Organ Ever [Vee-Jay, 1965], Billy Preston [Buddah, 1969], and the two albums he recorded for the Beatles' Apple label, That's the Way God Planned It (1969) and Encouraging Words (1970). After leaving Apple, Preston enjoyed his most successful period as a solo artist, releasing three top five singles--"Outa-Space", "Will It Go Round in Circles", and "Nothing From Nothing". The latter two songs went to No. 1.

Despite that success, Preston is, oddly, perhaps best known as a studio musician-- particularly because of his work with the Beatles. The organist performed on the Beatles' "White Album" and Abbey Road and was unofficially drafted into the group by former tourmate George Harrison-- alongside whom he eventually performed at the famed Concert for Bangladesh-- for the recording and filming of Let It Be. Preston's Beatles work can be heard most prominently on "Get Back", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and "Don't Let Me Down". Preston also performed studio work for artists such as Sly and the Family Stone, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, and Eric Clapton.

Later in his life, Preston suffered several major indignities: being sentenced to a three-year jail term following a bail violation, performing on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium, and, worst of all, performing as the title character in the abysmal film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Beatles: "Get Back" [featuring Billy Preston]