WATCH: If you love The Beatles (and who doesn’t?) you have this gay man to thank
everybody can recall all of the members’ names off the top of their head?John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—they’re the Fab Four, for crying out loud!But what not everyone realizes is that there’s one other guy out there who was so instrumental to the band’s success that he’s often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle.” And, better yet, he was gay!Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.His name was Brian Epstein, and his is a story not widely known, despite the legacy he left behind, which forever changed how we think of music, of celebrity, and of pop culture as we know it.Director Joe Stephenson’s (Doctor Jekyll) new biopic of Epstein, Midas Man, aims to shed new light on the life and career of the person who “discovered” the Beatles, shepherded them to worldwide superstardom, and then tragically passed at the age of 32.Jacob Fortune-Lloyd leads a star-studded ensemble (that also includes Eddie Suzy Izzard & Jay Leno as Ed Sullivan) as Epstein, who we first meet as an ambitious record store owner in Liverpool, when he fatefully happens upon a group of young, mop-topped blokes playing a show at the Cavern Club one night.A proper English gentlemen in a sharp-fitting suit, Epstein stuck out like a sore thumb in the rock club that night, but he saw the potential in the shaggy, rebellious rock quartet and was eager to work with them.
After a few months of courting, Epstein was signed to be The Beatles’ manager, and the rest was history.Many queer listeners say this much-loved Beatles album track resonates with them.Despite his prominence and influence in getting the band signed to EMI records and helping them reach a wider audience, the broader public didn’t know much about Epstein’s private life—and for good reason.
