Singer Jackie Lomax dies at 69

Sad news: Singer Jackie Lomax, who famously worked with The Beatles and went on to have a long-running solo career, has died. He was 69.

According to his website, he died in his hometown of Wirral, near Liverpool, after a brief illness.

He'd known The Beatles back in the early days, when Liverpool was a thriving music scene in the '60s, and he played in bands like The Undertakers and Dee & the Dynamites. For a time, he shared a manager with The Beatles, Brian Epstein. The Beatles signed him as a songwriter to their Apple label in 1968 and backed his first single, Sour Milk Sea, written by George Harrison. However, their fame overshadowed his own career and he never became a breakthrough hit.

After he left Apple, Lomax moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded a number of albums. At the time of his death, he had finished his next album, Against All Odds, set for release in late 2013 or early 2014.