Washington (DPA) - Grammy-winner Billy Preston, considered the true fifth Beatle for his work as a keyboardist with the group, died Tuesday at age 59 in Scottsdale, Arizona, media reports said.
Preston collaborated with the Liverpool rockers on the albums Let it Be, Abbey Road and the White Album and has also worked with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, to name a few.
He was signed by Apple records in the 1960s and followed up his collaborations with a string of solo hits in the 1970s, including Will It Go Round In Circles, Nothing From Nothing and Space Race, while he also co-wrote the Joe Cocker hit You Are So Beautiful.
Preston won a Grammy in 1973 for the hit single Outta Space and more recently has featured on the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Stadium Arcadium.
Preston also sang in the popular duet "With You I'm Born Again" with Syreeta in 1979.
Born in Houston, Texas, Preston was a child prodigy on the piano, playing with gospel-singer Mahalia Jackson at only 10 years old.
Preston died in a hospital in Scottsdale after falling into a deep coma in November, from which he would never emerge, after suffering from chronic kidney failure among other ailments.
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