Allen Klein, former manager of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, has died at the age of 77 following a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Reuters reports that Klein “enjoyed a reputation as a savvy gangster-like figure” and was not afraid of burning bridges or crossing boundaries in order to nab the sweetest deals for his clients; according to Klein, John Lennon hired him to be “a real shark — someone to keep the other sharks away.”
“Don’t talk to me about ethics,” Klein is quoted as saying in a 1971 Playboy interview. “Every man makes his own. It’s like a war. You choose your side early and from then on, you’re being shot at. The man you beat is likely to call you unethical. So what?”
Klein has left behind ABKCO Music & Records, which owns “more than 2,000 copyrights including compositions by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Cooke, Womack, Ray Davies of the Kinks and Pete Townshend of the Who” and recordings by the Kinks, Rolling Stones, Chubby Checker, Herman’s Hermits, and others.
For more information on Klein’s legendary career, click here.