b. 3 January 1926, London, England. Martin became the world's most famous record producer through his work with the Beatles. Classically trained at London's Guildhall School of Music, he joined EMI Records in November 1950 as a junior A&R man. Five years later, Martin was given charge of the Parlophone Records label where he produced a wide variety of artists. Among them were ballad singers (Shirley Bassey and Matt Monro), skiffle groups (the Vipers), jazz bands (Temperance 7, John Dankworth, Humphrey Lyttelton) and numerous comedy artists. Chief among these were Peter Sellers, the Goons and Bernard Cribbins, whose "Right Said Fred" and "Hole In The Ground" were major UK hits in 1962. By this time, Martin had signed the Beatles to Parlophone and begun a relationship which lasted until their demise in 1970. Apart from insisting that drummer Pete Best be replaced, Martin's main contribution to the group's music lay in his ability to translate their more adventurous ideas into practical terms. Thus, he added classical music touches to "Yesterday" and "For No One" and devised the tape loops and studio manipulations that created the stranger sounds on Revolver and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Martin also made two orchestral albums of Beatles tunes. As Brian Epstein signed Cilla Black, Gerry And The Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer And The Dakotas to Parlophone, Martin supervised their recordings.

In 1965, he left EMI and set up his own studios, AIR London with fellow producers Ron Richards (Hollies) and John Burgess (Manfred Mann). Four years later the partnership created another studio on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, which became a favoured recording centre for artists including Paul McCartney, Dire Straits and the Rolling Stones. He continued to work with several new EMI artists, notably the Action. In the 70s he produced a series of hit albums by America. During this period he worked with Neil Sedaka, Ringo Starr, Jimmy Webb, Jeff Beck and Stackridge, while producing the soundtrack to the 1978 film of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He maintained the Beatles connection, preparing the 1977 release of the live recording At The Hollywood Bowl, and produced two of McCartney's solo efforts, Tug Of War (1981) and Pipes Of Peace (1983). He also produced the soundtrack to McCartney's film musical Give My Regards To Broad Street. In the late 70s, AIR was purchased by Chrysalis Records, with Martin becoming a director of the company.

Martin was less prolific as a producer during the late 80s, but created a version of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood in 1988 and worked with ex-Dexys Midnight Runners member Andy Leek on his debut solo album. He was awarded a CBE for services to the music industry in 1988. In 1990, he announced plans to replace AIR Studios with a "state of the art' audio-video complex in north London, and his punctilious attention in remastering the Beatles' entire work for compact disc is demonstrated in the quite remarkable results he achieved. He was instrumental in producing 1992"s television documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the mid-90s he was a major part of the Beatles Anthology series, although he was disappointed not to have been asked to produce the two new singles, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love". This task went to Jeff Lynne, who received some criticism for his production, leading to a number of "if only George Martin had produced it" comments.

Martin has no worries: his name is firmly in the history books, with an unimpeachable record, his quiet and intelligent persona masking an extraordinary talent. He received the Grammy Trustees Award in 1995, and was rightly awarded a knighthood in 1996 for his services to music, for being such a consistent ambassador and for hardly ever putting a foot wrong. In 1997, Martin staged the Music For Montserrat charity concert, and produced Elton John's "Candle In The Wind '97', which went on to become the biggest-selling single of all time. In 1998 he released his final album, In My Life, a collection of Beatles" cover versions by guest "vocalists" from music and film including Celine Dion, Jim Carrey, Goldie Hawn and Sean Connery.

Although Martin's hearing is, by his own admission, past its sell by date, he worked with his son Giles on his final Beatles' project. In 2006 a collaboration between the Martins and the Cirque du Soleil was completed. The show Love opened in Las Vegas and the soundtrack was effectively a soundscape created by using Beatles songs and mixing them together. It was a huge success and a perfect way for George Martin to bow out from any further Beatles projects. There is no doubt that John and George would have approved. Few producers have made such an impact upon popular music as George Martin has, and even fewer are loved and respected as much as he is.