{"id":807494,"date":"2020-05-15T13:55:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T19:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=1000677"},"modified":"2020-05-15T13:55:41","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T19:55:41","slug":"astrid-kirchherr-who-first-photographed-the-beatles-dead-at-81","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/astrid-kirchherr-who-first-photographed-the-beatles-dead-at-81\/","title":{"rendered":"Astrid Kirchherr, Who First Photographed the Beatles, Dead at 81"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Astrid Kirchherr, the German-born photographer who first captured the Beatles<\/a>, has died at the age of 81.<\/span><\/p>\n

German newspaper Die Zeit<\/a><\/em> confirmed Kirchherr\u2019s death, noting the photographer died of a \u201cshort, serious illness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIntelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting friend to many,\u201d Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn tweeted<\/a> (via NME<\/a>). \u201cHer gift to the Beatles<\/a> was immeasurable. She died in Hamburg on Wednesday, a few days before turning 82.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After attending performances by the Beatles \u2014 then John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, drummer Pete Best, and bassist and \u201cfifth Beatle\u201d Stuart Sutcliffe \u2014 performing in her native Hamburg, Germany, in 1960, she convinced the the band to accompany her to a nearby fairground where the first, now-iconic photos of the then-quintet were taken.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey were all so young, and I was so different. I was a few years older, I had my own flat, my own car, my own career. They hadn\u2019t met anyone like me before,\u201d Kirchher once said of meeting the Beatles. \u201cIn some ways I was more like a mother figure.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After their initial meeting, Sutcliffe and Kirchherr soon began a relationship and became engaged in November 1960. By June 1961, Sutcliffe left the Beatles to attend the Hamburg College of Art to pursue painting. However, Sutcliffe died of a cerebral hemorrhage in April 1962 at the age of 21. Sutcliffe and Kirchherr\u2019s relationship is the focus of the 1994 film Backbeat<\/em>, about the Beatles\u2019 Hamburg days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kirchherr is also credited with giving the Beatles their mop-top look \u2014 \u201cAstrid was the one who influenced our image more than anyone else. It made us look good,\u201d Harrison once said \u2014 but the photographer dismissed that claim, noting that many German art students at that time \u2014 including her ex-boyfriend and longtime Beatles collaborator Klaus Voormann <\/span> \u2014 had that hairstyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1964, Kirchherr reunited with the Fab Four to serve as set photographer on the Beatles\u2019 A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em> film. Three years later, she married drummer Gibson Kemp, who was Ringo Starr\u2019s replacement in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes after Starr replaced Best in the Beatles. Kirchherr also photographed the Harrison portrait featured within 1968\u2019s Wonderwall Music<\/em>, one of the last photographs Kirchherr snapped before changing her profession to interior design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely stunned to hear the news of Astrid passing,\u201d Pete Best tweeted<\/a> Friday. \u201cGod bless you love. We shared some wonderful memories and the most amazing fun times.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Danke sch\u00f6n, Astrid Kirchherr. Intelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting friend to many. Her gift to the Beatles was immeasurable. She died in Hamburg on Wednesday, a few days before turning 82. RIP. pic.twitter.com\/c8UHNK1tj4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Lewisohn (@marklewisohn) May 15, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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We are saddened to hear that Astrid Kirchherr has passed away.<\/p>\n

It was a pleasure to have her as a guest at Beatleweek, she was unbelievably modest, approachable and gracious.<\/p>\n

Our thoughts are with her loved ones as we remember her incredible legacy. pic.twitter.com\/F6pniNSsDG<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Cavern Club (@cavernliverpool) May 15, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Popular on Rolling Stone<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Astrid Kirchherr, the German-born photographer who first captured the Beatles, has died at the age of 81. German newspaper Die Zeit confirmed Kirchherr\u2019s death, noting the photographer died of a \u201cshort, serious illness.\u201d \u201cIntelligent, inspirational, innovative, daring, artistic, awake, aware, beautiful, smart, loving and uplifting friend to many,\u201d Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn tweeted (via NME). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-807494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 23:29:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}