Sir George Martin: Global praise for 'fifth Beatle'

Tudou Music's post on Weibo said Sir George Martin was a "great tribute to the 60s rock generation"

News of Sir George Martin's death has prompted headlines around the world, with many referring to him as the "fifth Beatle".

Legions of fans have taken to social media to express their appreciation for the "legendary producer" who helped shape the sound of the Beatles.

Germany's public broadcaster said his work with the Fab Four had developed them into "musical and cultural revolutionaries".

Russia

The front page of the popular Russian news website Gazeta.ru carried the headline 'Fifth Beatle dies', and praised Martin for being the kind of producer who does not "think about money but is a full member of a group, helps musicians make their songs better".

Russian news website Gazeta.ru's headline reads "'Fifth Beatle' dies"

Several Russian TV also channels also reported on the Sir George's death with most calling him a "legendary producer".

The news is currently one of Russia's top ten Twitter trends. "Thanks for the genius music. We wouldn't have got The Beatles without him. RIP" wrote prominent Russian blogger and radio presenter Armen Gasparyan.

Russian radio presenter Armen Gasparyn tweeted, "Thanks for the genius music. We wouldn't have got The Beatles without him. RIP."

There was initially some confusion in Russia over which George Martin had died. Blogger Artem Deryagin made things clear: "While the fans of Game of Thrones are sitting in a state of a shock, I'll clarify that it is George Martin who was the producer of The Beatles who died."

Europe

Germany's public broadcaster ARD said: "Martin shaped the extraordinary change which the Beatles went through in the 1960s. And he helped them to develop into musical and cultural revolutionaries."

Le Figaro describes him as "the Beatles' legendary producer":

The heavyweight French daily Le Monde noted Sir George worked with other artists after The Beatles, but "it is through this collaboration that he... will remain in the history of popular music."

A headline on the website Telerama described him as the "sorcerer of the studio."

Writing in the Spanish daily El Pais, Fernando Navarro said Sir George contributed to "the fascinating impact, freshness and innocence of the Beatles' original sound".

USA

The Washington Post called Sir George The Beatles' "accountant, technologist and editor".

"Mr. Martin helped redefine a record producer's role in pop music. He was one of a handful of pop producers — Phil Spector and Quincy Jones among them — to become almost as famous as the musicians they recorded," the New York Times reported.

While the Los Angeles Times referred to him as The Beatles' "indispensable mentor and collaborator".

Papers in South America echoed many of those sentiments with the Brazilian daily O Globo describing Sir George as "a British gentleman".

China

The hashtag #BeatlesProducerDies on the Chinese microblog Sina Weibo has had more than 1.8m views.

"I hope he will also be a successful producer in heaven" posts this Weibo user in China

'See Music' said: "There are only two Beatles left in the world" and posted an emoticon of a breaking heart.

Other Sina Weibo users gave thanks for Martin's work:

"The classics will always be remembered, I belong to the Beatles generation"

"Thank you for bringing supreme beauty to the ears and soul of all mankind, goodbye".

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.