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Beatles manager Brian Epstein is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Liverpool entrepreneur and music lover will receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award for non-performers, alongside former Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, on April 10 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Epstein was the man behind acts such as The Beatles, Cilla Black, and Gerry and The Pacemakers, meaning he was at the heart of the British musical invasion of America in the 1960s. The award will honour the legacy of the Liverpool-born promoter, who died in 1967 aged just 32.

Epstein, or Eppy to his friends, was the band’s second manager after Allan Williams. He was once asked whether he thought it was important that The Beatles came from Liverpool. He replied: “I would have thought it was imperative.”

His great achievement was making the music moguls in London stand up and take notice of the band by changing their post- Hamburg image.

Initially running the NEMS music store in Whitechapel, Epstein was intrigued by the emerging Merseybeat music scene even though his own preference was for classical music.

John Lennon later summed up the respect they all had for Epstein from the first time they met him in The Cavern on November 9, 1961.

He said: “We were in a daydream till he came along. We had complete faith in him when he was running us. To us he was the expert. He went round smarmin’ and a charmin’ everyone. We’d never have made it without him and vice versa.”

Even though he would later despair at endless rejection letters, Epstein never gave up.

Although Decca turned the band down he finally secured the attention of George Martin at Parlophone – a label specialising in comedy work.

From The Cavern to Abbey Road to the Hollywood Bowl, Epstein was there for them every step of the way. Dapper, sophisticated and calm, he was happy at the party he gave celebrating the launch of the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Weeks later he was dead. The coroner’s verdict was he died of an accidental overdose. The Beatles were away on a meditation weekend in Bangor, north Wales, when news of his death reached them.

The musical acts to be honoured alongside Epstein at the April event will be KISS, Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens and Linda Ronstadt.

The E Street Band will also be given the Award for Musical Excellence.