Ringo Starr & Paul McCartney lead tributes to Sir George Martin

The tributes have been pouring in to Sir George Martin, the man known as 'the fifth Beatle' who died at home on Tuesday night.
The news was broken on Twitter by Ringo Starr who said, "Thank you for all your love and kindness, George."
In a statement, Paul McCartney reflected that, ""I have so many wonderful memories of this great man that will be with me forever. He was a true gentleman and like a second father to me. He guided the career of The Beatles with such skill and good humour that he became a true friend to me and my family. If anyone earned the title of the Fifth Beatle it was George."
Sean Ono Lennon added that, "I'm so gutted I don't have many words. Thinking of Judy and Giles and family. Love always."
"RIP to my musical brother George Martin," reflects Quincy Jones. "We were friends since 1964, and I am so thankful for that gift."
Born into a working-class North London family, the school-going Martin showed an early predilection for classical music and in 1947, as an accomplished oboe player, was admitted to the Guildhall School of Music.
After a post-graduation spell at the BBC, he bagged a job with EMI in their Abbey Road studios and scored massive hits with such novelty hits as Bernard Cribbins' 'Right Said Fred', Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren's 'Goodness Gracious Me' and Charlie Drake's 'My Boomerang Won't Come Back'.
Things got serious in 1962, though, when after they'd been turned down by Decca, Martin took a shine to The Beatles and signed them to Parlophone, despite concerns that their songwriting still needed finessing.
It was his insisting that 'Love Me Do', originally a ballad, be sped up that gave the band their first major UK hit.
Later on, it was Martin who came up with the idea of adding strings to 'Yesterday', the trumpet solo on 'Penny Lane' and the frantic baroque piano, which helps 'In My Life' achieve lift-off.
He composed the instrumental scores for the band's A Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine movies, which further aided their rise to global superstardom.
Away from the Fab Four, he produced Shirley Bassey and Paul McCartney's Goldfinger and Live & Let Die theme songs; made America the huge Stateside success they were; manned the desk when McCartney collaborated with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, and helped Elton John break every record there is with the Princess Diana tribute rebooting of 'Candle In The Wind'.
There were countless Grammy, Brit, Ivor Novello, BPI and Academy awards, and a long overdue 1999 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In September 2008, the UCD Literary and Historical Society gave Martin their James Joyce Award, which he travelled over to Dublin to collect.
David Arnold, a more recent musical contributor to the Bond films, says that he was "the kindest and gentlest genius I've ever met. We - and by that I mean everyone - in music are forever in your debt."
While it's the likes of Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's you should probably turn to first, Hot Press was very taken with Love, the 2006 re-working of The Beatles' finest moments which Sir George and his son, Giles, assembled for the Cirque du Soleil Vegas show of the same name.
It showed that Martin was still up for sonic experimentation, and not afraid to upset Beatles' purists.
Hot Press has fond memories of the three National Concert Hall shows he performed in 1999, with a 65-piece orchestra and guest turns from the like of Leslie Dowdall, Brian Kennedy, Sean Keane, Eimear Quinn, Jimmy MacCarthy and Liam O Maonlai.
Also paying their online respects are Richie Sambora who says, "We lost a true giant and innovator today. Sir George Martin. How he has changed our world is beyond words"; Josh Groban who reveals that: "Every time I record at Abbey Road I geek out and play with the mics sir George Martin used. What an ear, what a life, what a legacy", and Gary Barlow who observes: "A complete legend to us all. We're all still copying him, let's face it."

We'll have more reaction to Sir George's death over the course of the day.