Former Beatles manager Klein dead at 77

NEW YORK, July 5 (UPI) -- U.S. music manager Allen Klein, who managed the British rock band the Beatles, has died at the age of 77, his publicist says.

Klein founded the Allen Klein & Co. music label that eventually became ABKCO Music & Records, a label that featured the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Animals.

Klein had a reputation for a blunt and aggressive style of negotiating in the music industry while representing music greats such as Sam Cooke and Bobby Darin, CNN reported Sunday.

"The music business is about 99 percent no-talent losers who can't stand a winner in their midst," Klein said in a 1971 interview regarding his brash negotiating style.

While his label's relationships with both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones ended in legal clashes, Klein's signings of the popular groups were his greatest industry coups.

CNN said Klein, who died Saturday of unspecified causes after a battle with Alzheimer's disease, is survived by his wife Betty, three children and four grandchildren.