Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967, has been honored by The Heritage Foundation in London with a ‘Blue Plaque.’

The plaque was unveiled Sunday at Sutherland House, next door to the London Palladium, where Epstein ran his management company NEMS Enterprises from 1964 to 1967.

“I know Brian would have been very proud to think that he had earned a blue plaque,” reads a statement from Sir Paul McCartney. “He played a very important role in guiding the career of us Beatles and more than that he was a lovely man whose friendship we all valued and who I will always remember with great fondness.”

Martin Lewis, the keynote speaker for the event and a Beatles scholar remarked, “The Blue Plaque will now become a new landmark where Beatles fans visiting London can pay their respects to the man without whom we most assuredly would never have had the gift of The Beatles. My pal Andrew Oldham (Rolling Stones manager/producer) sums it up best: ‘The Beatles changed our lives. Brian Epstein changed theirs…”

More than 500 people attended the unveiling ceremony of the historical marker.