Pop culture WI: what if one of the Beatles died earlier

In 1961 the Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe was hit on the head which during a brawl that gave him a brain aneurysm that later killed him. Now what if that head injury had happened to a different member of the Beatles and prematurely ended the band. How would this affect the music industry and pop culture in general.
 
Stu would've left eventually anyway. Actually, he was gone by the time he died.

Pete was going to be fired eventually.

George was so young, not yet sure of himself. Don't know if it would have a large immediate impact (other than butterflying away some great songs).

Only if it was Paul or John would it matter. If Paul, the group would go grittier under John's sole leadership. George might rise to junior partner, but the pop proclivities of the Beatles would be stillborn.

If John, Paul asserts himself and pulls the team further into the pop field. Less rock-ish songs. George is kept at arm's length, and maybe he leaves quite early.

Either way, without John or Paul, the group never makes it out of the Liverpool-Hamburg axis (pardon the expression). They never become what the Beatles became.
 
This pains me as a beatles fan, but it would hardly have any butterflies. The Beatles were trend hoppers, so music will develop just as it did. Maybe no Monkees (big deal) or ELO :(. Further, Led Zeppelin or the Eagles might be remembered more as the rock super-band, but rock will dies its slow death from the 80s
 
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