"The man of the year, man of the minute, the man of the hour, the man for me. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us all. We love you." ~ Paul McCartney

"I think we just grew through those years together, him as the straight man and us as the loonies; but he was always there for us to interpret our madness -- we used to be slightly avant-garde on certain days of the week, and he would be there as the anchor person, to communicate that through the engineers on to the tape." ~ George Harrison

"Without George Martin the world would have been a different place." ~ Ringo Starr

"He is a painstaking man with a magnificent ear for music and a great sense of style." ~ Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager

"George Martin was, as ever, a vital ingredient in the process, always innovative himself, a tireless seeker of new sounds and willing translator of the Beatles' frequently vague requirements." ~ Mark Lewisohn, Beatles historian

"One of the great music figures of all time...easily, if anyone in the world deserves 'Fifth Beatle,' it should be George Martin...I have a feeling that his presence and his -- magnificence -- had to play an important role. We're talking about four kids, at that time. He lent them the maturity that they needed." ~ Sid Bernstein, the Beatles' US promoter

"Quite a genius, a musical genius." ~ Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys

"George Martin I loved. I thought he was a real gentleman as well as a great producer." ~ Linda McCartney

"Most producers did the equivalent of taking a black-and-white Polaroid of an artist singing live. George made a 3-D colour movie. He turned recording into an art form and gave The Beatles every aural texture from the silkiest sand to the grittiest gravel. He would enhance but never impose his style." ~ Martin Lewis, Beatles scholar

"In an industry of huge egos, George Martin has worked the miracle of remaining the quintessential English gentleman. His is indeed a hard act to follow and it is difficult to imagine his record of 30 number one British singles will ever be surpassed." ~ David Munns, Britain's Music Industry Trusts Awards Committee Chairman

"He translated their often-unorthodox ideas into recorded reality and allowed them a tremendous amount of creative latitude, frequently pushing the boundaries of the limited recording technology of the time." ~ Bill King, publisher of Beatlefan

"Decent, honest and a person of complete integrity." ~ Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

"Not only has George been responsible for some of the most successful musical careers in the last three or so decades, but he also has a reputation for never compromising the interests of his musicians." ~ Tom Zito, CEO and chairman of garageband.com

"The very personification of good manners, modesty and English understatement, he is also a deeply thoughtful and intuitive student of music who provided, through his own classical training and diverse career, both a bridge to the great historical tradition of the art form and adventurous and flexible technical innovation in the use of sound." ~ David O'Reilly, journalist