The man who brought the Beatles to Australia has died.
Entrepreneur Kenn Brodziak, 86, acknowledged that bringing the Fab Four to Melbourne would be his epitaph.
"It used to annoy me that people only knew me for bringing the Beatles here," Mr Brodziak said last year.
"Now I realise what a landmark moment that was. There will never be another group like them."
Tributes yesterday acknowledged there would never be another Australian promoter like Mr Brodziak, who died on Wednesday night at his West St Kilda home.
With his company Aztec Productions and work at JC Williamson's, Mr Brodziak was responsible for stage shows such as Godspell and convincing artists like Marlene Dietrich and Bob Dylan to come to Australia.
Theatre veteran Jill Perryman praised Mr Brodziak's role in making Australian performers stage stars.
"Kenn will be irreplaceable," Perryman said yesterday. "He will always be very special to me."
Australia's legion of Beatles' fans will remember Mr Brodziak for his foresight in hiring the Beatles in 1963 without having heard them.
The initial verbal contract price for the 16 day Australian tour in 1964 was £1,500 but by the time the contract was signed on 2 December, 1963, the price was £2,500.
The band's manager, Brian Epstein, was being offered up to 50 times that for another US tour.
"I had heard Brian Epstein was an honorable businessman," Mr Brodziak recalled in the 1980s.
"One of the first things that George (Harrison) said when the band arrived in Sydney was, 'you got us at the old price, didn't you?'"
"I said 'yes', but he didn't seem to mind."
There will be a private funeral and an announcement soon on a memorial service.