(CNN) Allan Williams, the club owner and promoter widely credited with the discovery of The Beatles, has died. The music impresario, who also supported the group through their earliest years, was 86.
Active on the Liverpudlian music scene for decades after his association with the pop group ended, his passing was confirmed by The Jacarenda -- a club he once owned and at which The Beatles played some of their earliest gigs.
"Today is one of the saddest days in our history," a post on the club's Facebook page reads.
"(Williams') legacy has allowed us to remain at the heart of the Liverpool music scene for almost 60 years and his memory will live on through every band that plays our famous stage.
"Allan, you will be missed."
The club also paid tribute to Williams via its Twitter page.
Martin King, of The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool, also posted reaction on the museum's website.
"We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Allan Williams. Our thoughts go out to his family at this sad time," King said.
The Beatles Story website noted the influence Williams had on the group's early development.
"Allan played a significant role in the story of the Beatles. His involvement in the Beatles' early years in Liverpool and onto Hamburg helped shape the band in to what we see and know today.
He personally drove the van to take the young band to Hamburg, Germany in 1960, where they gained the vital show business experience that led to their emergence on the world stage."
America falls in love with the Beatles
The Beatles arrived in the United States 50 years ago and embarked on a history-making path of pop culture dominance.
Check out coverage of "The Sixties: The British Invasion," a look at how the Fab Four's influence persists. Click through the gallery for more images of the Beatles' first American tour.
The Beatles arrive in New York on February 7, 1964. The band from Liverpool, England, already had the No. 1 U.S. single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," but its U.S. visit confirmed that "Beatlemania" had made its way across the pond.
The band waves to cameras at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Beatles fans are restrained by police at the airport.
Three of The Beatles -- from left, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon -- wave from a horse-drawn carriage in New York's Central Park on February 8, 1964. George Harrison was off resting a sore throat.
Television host Ed Sullivan, center, stands with The Beatles on February 9, 1964, during a rehearsal for the band's appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The iconic television appearance remains one of the highest-rated nonsports programs of all time. Nielsen estimated that 45% of the country watched the show -- more than 73 million people then.
A car belonging to The Beatles is besieged by fans in New York on February 10, 1964.
The Beatles have their pictures taken as they sit on a train taking them from New York to Washington on February 11, 1964.
The Beatles perform on stage at the Washington Coliseum on February 11, 1964. It was their first U.S. concert.
Fans run to catch a glimpse of The Beatles while the band was in New York.
Fans cheer for The Beatles and hold signs of encouragement during the band's concert at Carnegie Hall on February 12, 1964, in New York.
From left, McCartney, Lennon and Harrison share a microphone as they sing a song at Carnegie Hall.
Ecstatic fans await The Beatles outside the Plaza Hotel, where the band was staying in New York during its tour.
Lines form down the street from the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, as fans wait to see The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on February 16, 1964. It was a week after the band's first appearance on the show.
The Beatles enjoy Miami Beach.
It also notes that Williams was, earlier in 2016, given the Citizen of Honour award by the City of Liverpool.
Williams' death also was widely reported in British media Saturday. Attempts made by CNN to reach a spokesman for Williams' family were unsuccessful.
Early gigs
The Jacaranda connection has become part of The Beatles legend. Local media recounts that, in response to requests from the band to play the then-coffee shop, Williams required them to help redecorate, John Lennon and then-Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe painting a mural in the ladies bathroom.
The band eventually played gigs there between May and August 1960, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The Beatles are seen recording their seventh album, "Revolver," at Abbey Road Studios in April 1966 before embarking on a world tour. Revolver was released in August that year and went straight to No. 1 in the U.S. and UK.
The Beatles board their Pan Am jet at Heathrow airport for their first U.S. tour in February 1964, accompanied by Freeman. They were waved off by 4,000 screaming fans.
Freeman designed the cover of "Help!", the Beatles' fifth album, by getting the band to stand with their arms in different positions as though spelling out a word in flag semaphore. This is an outtake taken during the album cover shoot in 1965.
John Lennon is seen with George Martin, the band's producer often dubbed the fifth Beatle, who first signed the Beatles to his Parlophone label when they were unknown. He then oversaw their rise to fame and wrote or performed many of the orchestral arrangements in their songs.
John Lennon works in the studio wearing the glasses that at the stage he rarely wore in public.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon are recording "With the Beatles," their second studio album, in 1963 at Abbey Road Studios in northwest London. Other bands to have recorded at the legendary studios, which opened in 1931, include Pink Floyd, Mick Jagger, Oasis and Blur.
The Beatles pose fully-dressed underwater in the pool of the Nassau Beach Hotel in the Bahamas where they were filming their comedy movie "Help!" Freeman was with them on set.
The Beatles are chased by fans at Marylebone Station in London while shooting the 1964 film, "A Hard Day's Night" -- a comedy film about two days in their lives.
British footwear company Anello and Davide designed and styled the Fab Four's boots in the 1960s. They became the retailer's most famous shoes, creating queues of customers outside their Drury Lane store. The Beatles Boot was a traditional Chelsea Boot adapted for the Beatles with a higher Cuban heel. The stars' autographs can be seen in the lining on the inside of each boot.
The original UK cover of the Beatle's third album, "A Hard Day's Night," in blue. Four rows of four head shots of each Beatle with different facial expressions are set up as frames from a movie.
Paul McCartney stands beneath this apt East London road sign, Idol Lane, in 1965 at the peak of the Beatles' career.
Lennon wears his trademark black Greek fisherman's cap which became known as the John Lennon Hat.
This is an outtake from the band's fourth studio album "Beatles for Sale" back cover, which was shot at Hyde Park in London.
Freeman's career with the Beatles came to an end in 1966 after this proposal for the design of their seventh album cover, "Revolver," was rejected in favor of a drawing and collage by German artist Klaus Voormann, one of the Beatles' oldest friends.
This photo became the album cover of "Rubber Soul." It was groundbreaking because it was their first sleeve to not feature their name. Only two editions of this print were ever made. The one pictured, AP1, is the most expensive print on sale at Snap Galleries in London, priced at $45,000 (£30,000).
This picture, taken in around 1965, shows Lennon holding his son Julian's toy panda in a Japanese room. The print is has become one of the top sellers in the collection.
Williams, who wrote an autobiography titled "The Man Who Gave the Beatles Away," not only booked the band for performances during their very earliest years, he also drove the band, then comprised of Lennon, Sutcliffe, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best to Hamburg for an extended stay in the German city.
Hamburg developments
The Hamburg years, a series of visits to the port city from 1960 to 1962, honed their style and brought them to prominence, and eventually the attention of their longtime manager, Brian Epstein.
The Cavern Club, another Liverpool venue inextricably linked with the Fab Four, also posted its condolences.
"We have just heard the very sad news about the passing of Allan Williams," the famous club's post reads. "Sincere condolences to his family at this difficult time."
The loss of the iconic band's erstwhile manager comes after their producer, George Martin, died in March 2016.