Many in the entertainment world are dropping the platform
George Harrison was born into very humble beginnings, with his family having just enough money to live. But Harrisons’ mother was a music fan and incredibly supportive of his talent, wishing only that her children be happy.
In 1956, at the age of 13, his father bought him his first guitar, and soon after George Harrison formed his first band, the Rebels, who played skiffle music and often performed with manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments.
Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ shook Harrison to his core. He heard the song while cycling to school one morning. This song and the musical influences that he had been garnering throughout the past years would allow him to bond with Paul McCartney over music on a school bus to Liverpool Institute, where they both attended.
A young John Lennon was skeptical of George Harrison joining his and Paul McCartney’s band, The Quarrymen, because he was just 15 years old, roughly three years younger than the other members.
In 1960, music promoter Allan Williams arranged the band known as the Beatles, after their first tour in Scotland. The band moved to Hamburg, gaining residencies in some clubs to perform, which prematurely ended as George Harrison was too young to play in the clubs.
As John Lennon was hesitant to allow George Harrison into the band after his first audition at the Morgue Skiffle Cellar, Paul McCartney organized a second meeting on a night bus in Liverpool. After playing ‘Raunchy’ on guitar “perfectly” (according to McCartney), Harrison was in.
In 1961, Brian Epstein began managing the band, and they signed a recording contract. One year later, Ringo Starr joined the band and their first single ‘Love Me Do’ was released. Their first album, ‘Please Please Me,’ was released in 1963, and Beatlemania arrived soon after.
Later during his career with the Beatles, he became interested in Indian and Eastern styles of music.
Due to Harrison’s serious nature on stage and his reserved character in interviews, especially in comparison to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, he became known as "the quiet Beatle.”
This photo shows Harrison with his friends of the Hare Krishna movement during the recording of ‘The Radha Krsna Temple’ album.
In 1970, Harrison released what is regarded as his finest work, his album ‘All Things Must Pass,’ which featured a host of renowned musicians jamming, such as Eric Clapton. Clapton, a close friend of Harrison, commented that they shared many interests, including clothes, music, and women. Eric Clapton actually fell in love with Pattie Boyd, who would leave George Harrison for Clapton.
His marriage would end with Pattie Boyd leaving Harrison due to infidelities on both sides. Harrison had an affair with Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen Starkey. Pattie Boyd had an affair with the Rolling Stones’ guitarist, Ronnie Wood.
Model Pattie Boyd and George Harrison met in 1964, and were married two years later.
George Harrison is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004.
In the next seven years, Harrison would release several best-selling singles and albums. In 1988, he founded the Travelling Wilburys.
The supergroup featured several of the most prolific musicians of the time, including Tom Pretty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne.
Harrison had already recorded and released two albums before the Beatles split, with the aforementioned musical styles present.
He had become engulfed by Indian spiritual practices, particularly the Hare Krishna movement.
By this time, Indian musician Ravi Shankar and Harrison had become friends.
In December 1992, he became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, for his "critical role in laying the groundwork for the modern concept of world music" and for his having "advanced society's comprehension of the spiritual and altruistic power of popular music.”
In 1999, a mentally ill man entered George Harrison’s home and attacked him with a knife. The former Beatle would have died if not for his wife, Olivia Harrison, incapacitating the intruder with a fire poker. Harrison suffered multiple severe stab wounds and was in a critical state.
Harrison had one son, Dhani Harrison, with his wife, Olivia Harrison.
In Martin Scorsese’s ‘George Harrison: Living in the Material World’ documentary, Ringo Starr becomes emotional in an interview when speaking about his final meeting with George Harrison, feeling that these last moments encapsulated their relationship and his kind, selfless, and considerate personality at large.
George Harrison became interested in gardening at a mature age. Here he is photographed at a garden show in London.
George Harrison, the youngest of four children, was born at 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool, on February 25, 1943, during the Second World War.
Ringo Starr visited Harrison in a hospital in Switzerland, but had to cut his visit short to travel to Boston, where his daughter would have brain surgery. Harrison was terminally ill and bedridden, but when Starr had to leave, Harrison's last words were, “do you want me to come with you?” In telling the story, Starr breaks down in tears.
The Beatles split up in 1970, seven years after the release of their first album. In the end, the bandmates would go in separate musical directions. George Harrison had been feeding his interest in Eastern music, art, and philosophy by 1967, which heavily influenced ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.’
In 1971, Harrison accepted the invitation from Shankar to play the Concert for Bangladesh, a precursor to benefit concerts like Live Aid. This image shows the crowds in attendance at the concert in 1971.
The band continued for the next few years, most playing locally in Liverpool. At age 16, George Harrison dropped out of school to apprentice as an electrician, giving up after several months.
As a boy, throughout the early 1950s, Harrison gained significant influence from skiffle, jazz, and blues guitar musicians of the time. Skiffle music would famously have percussion played on a washing board. This photo shows the Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group, a famous skiffle group at the time.
Harrison died of cancer on November 29, 2001. He was 58 years old. Paul McCartney revealed that he died peacefully.
Sources: (George Harrison: Living in the Material World) (Biography) (The Vintage News)
Harrison also became a film producer and formed his own film production company called HandMade Films, which is still around today and has produced some very well-known movies.
George Harrison lived a colored life outside of his success with the Beatles. A rich character, Harrison became very interested in gardening and film production in later years and was, above all, a very spiritual man. After almost being murdered in 1999, he lived for another two years, dying at the relatively young age of 58. His last words to his wife Olivia Harrison, a very simple “love one another,” were symbolic of the life that he lived and of his beliefs.
Click through the following gallery to learn about the life and times of the revered “quiet Beatle.”
George Harrison: The quiet Beatle
The iconic musician was born on February 25, 1943
CELEBRITY Retrospective
George Harrison lived a colored life outside of his success with the Beatles. A rich character, Harrison became very interested in gardening and film production in later years and was, above all, a very spiritual man. After almost being murdered in 1999, he lived for another two years, dying at the relatively young age of 58. His last words to his wife Olivia Harrison, a very simple “love one another,” were symbolic of the life that he lived and of his beliefs.
Click through the following gallery to learn about the life and times of the revered “quiet Beatle.”