Billy Preston

Billy Preston, the prolific songwriter and musician, played with The Beatles so often he was sometimes called the fifth member of the group -- even performing with the band on its legendary rooftop concert, the last time they played live. Preston, who battled chronic kidney failure and received a kidney transplant in 2002, died Tuesday at a Scottsdale hospital, his longtime manager Joyce Moore said. He had been in a coma since November due to a heart infection, she said. He was 59. In addition to a successful solo career, Preston toured and recorded extensively with the Rolling Stones and performed for recording sessions with Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Sly and the Family Stone. "His legacy is so huge I don't even know where to start,'' Moore said. "It's many genres, so many years. ... It's rock 'n' roll, it's soul, it's funk, it's everything.'' Known for his big gap-toothed smile and towering Afro, Preston was a teen prodigy on the piano and organ, and lent his gospel-tinged touch to classics such as the Beatles' "Get Back'' and the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?'' He broke out as a solo artist in the 1970s, winning a best instrumental Grammy in 1973 for "Outta Space,'' and scoring other hits with "Will It Go 'Round In Circles,'' "Nothing From Nothing'' and "With You I'm Born Again,'' a duet with Syreeta Wright that became a favorite at weddings. He also wrote Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful.'' Other career highlights included being a musical guest, in 1975, on the debut of "Saturday Night Live''; having a song named after him, by Miles Davis; and appearing last year on "American Idol.'' Among his film credits: "Blues Brothers 2000'' and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'' His partnership with the Beatles began in early 1969 when friend George Harrison recruited him to play on "Let It Be,'' a back-to-basics film and record project that nearly broke down because of bickering among band members. Preston not only inspired the Beatles to get along -- Harrison likened his effect to a feuding family staying on its best behavior in front of a guest -- but contributed a light, bluesy solo to "Get Back.'' He was one of many sometimes labeled "The Fifth Beatle,'' a title he did not discourage. A Houston native who moved to Los Angeles when his parents split up, Preston was taking piano lessons at age 3 and was just 10 when he played keyboards for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Two years later he portrayed a young W.C. Handy-- played as an adult by Nat ``King'' Cole -- in the 1958 biopic "St. Louis Blues.'' He toured with Ray Charles and Little Richard in the early 1960s, first encountering the Beatles while on the road in Germany. Preston also had numerous run-ins with the law. In 1992, he pleaded no contest to cocaine and assault charges and was ordered to spend nine months at a drug rehabilitation center. Five years later, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating probation. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and agreed to testify against other defendants in an alleged scam that netted about $1 million. "It (jail) was a great lesson, an awakening. I needed to reflect, to get rid of some of the dead weight around me,'' he later said. "You take the bitter with the sweet and I have to say it was my faith that kept me going. I had nothing else to fall back on.'' ___ National Writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.