very sad.

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "bob" <segarini@rogers.com> 

> 
> 'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston Dies at 59 
> 
> Tuesday , June 06, 2006 
> 
> By Roger Friedman 
> 
> 
> 
> Billy Preston | 
> 
> 'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston Dies at 59 
> 
> The great singer-songwriter and performer Billy Preston, the real "Fifth 
> Beatle," has died after a long illness as a result of malignant hypertension 
> that resulted in kidney failure and other complications. 
> 
> As a result of a medical insult, he'd been in a deep coma since last 
> November 21, but was still struggling to recover. He died at Shea Scottsdale 
> Hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he'd lived for the last couple of years. 
> 
> Billy was called the Fifth Beatle because he played keyboards on "Let It 
> Be," "The White Album" and "Abbey Road." He also played on the Rolling Stones' 
> hit song "Miss You," and often played with Eric Clapton. He also did the organ 
> work on Sly & the Family Stone's greatest hits. 
> 
> Preston's own hits include "Nothing From Nothing," "Will It Go Round in 
> Circles" and "You Are So Beautiful," which Joe Cocker turned into an 
> international hit. 
> 
> Preston was actually mentored by Ray Charles, and acts like Little Richard 
> (see below), Mahalia Jackson and James Cleveland had a huge impact on him at a 
> young age. 
> 
> In the early '60s, Billy went to Europe with Little Richard who was 
> playing in Hamburg. The Beatles were the opening act, and as the story goes, he 
> was the one who made sure they got fed. 
> 
> His friendship with them lasted through the 1960s and he was the first act 
> signed to Apple Records, thanks to George Harrison. The resulting album is 
> called "That's the Way God Planned It." 
> 
> In 1971, Preston played in "The Concert for Bangladesh." Last year, in one 
> of his final appearances, he performed at a reunion in Los Angeles for the 
> release of the Bangladesh DVD with Ringo Starr and Harrison's son Dhani on 
> guitar. 
> 
> More recently, Billy can be heard on the latest albums by Neil Diamond and 
> Red Hot Chili Peppers. He's also featured on the Starbucks soul album "Believe 
> to My Soul," featuring Mavis Staples and Ann Peebles. 
> 
> I had the good fortune to know Billy the last few years, and saw him 
> perform — as chronicled in this column — last August at the Mohegan Sun Casino 
> in Connecticut and last October at the Atlantis in the Bahamas. 
> 
> He was one of those spectacular performers who put everything into his 
> show, even though he had no working kidneys by then and was receiving dialysis. 
> He was a warm, wonderful human being with a mile-wide smile. He was also a 
> genius musician, the likes of whom we will not see again. 
> 
> Rest in peace, Billy. You deserve it. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>