The "quiet Beatle" George Harrison would have turned 80 on February 25. A look back at the life of the boy from Liverpool who became the Fab Four's lead guitarist.
George Harrison, the 'quiet' BeatleImage: Getty Images
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A brooder and introvert, George Harrison always seemed to be in the shadows of the alpha males John Lennon and Paul McCartney during his time with The Beatles. Yet he made it onto the Rolling Stone list of the 100 best guitarists of all time at number 11 with his very special slide guitar technique.
The musical pioneer's legacy is "the combination of ritual Indian music with secular western pop music in the sense of a global music without ethnic or religious boundaries," Thomas Mania, the curator of the rock'n'pop museum in Gronau, Germany, told DW in 2018.
George Harrison (far right) was the youngest member of The BeatlesImage: picture alliance / akg-images
From the Quarrymen to Hinduism
Harrison was born on February 25, 1943, in war-time Liverpool. Growing up in the post-war era, he had a passion for playing guitar. When, in 1958, his school friend McCartney brought him into The Quarrymen — the band that would become The Beatles — he became the youngest band member at just 15. Only four years later, the band conquered Hamburg and then New York.
In 1965, an encounter with the Indian musician Ravi Shankar changed Harrison's life. The sitar virtuoso showed him how the then largely unknown instrument in Europe was handled. Harrison used it on several Beatles songs, including "Norwegian Wood" or "Within You Without You," kicking off an avalanche of psychedelic rock.
George Harrison (L) was deeply influenced by Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar (R)Image: AP
At Harrison's prompting, the Beatles were instructed in meditation by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Fab Four did not come alone: A pack of 800 journalists from all over the world followed them and bore witness as the musicians hopped through monastic gardens in colorful garments and smeared each other with paint. Most of the eponymously named double album, sometimes known as "The White Album," was inspired by these experiences.
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Hare Krishna
For his bandmates, the trip to India was a standalone episode, but afterward, Harrison converted to Hinduism. He soon turned away from his guru, because the supposedly abstinent monk was apparently polyamorous and commanded money from his followers.
He then discovered the Hare Krishna movement, a religious organization based on Hindu scriptures, later donating a large estate near London to the sect in 1973; Bhaktivedanta Manor became one of the largest Krishna temples in the Western world.
Starting in 1969, George Harrison helped produce an album of Hindu devotional songs for Hare KrishnaImage: Harrison Family
After the Beatles separated, Harrison found solo success. His album "All Things Must Pass" stormed the charts in the UK and US in 1970, followed by "Living in the Material World" in 1972, an album which reflected his religious and philosophical views.
Money was never important to Harrison. Despite The Beatles' early access to material comfort, Harrison apparently always felt there was still something missing. Religion filled that void, he once said.
Hills and valleys
Harrison's career was a constant series of ups and downs. He often complained that audiences only wanted to hear him perform songs from The Beatles repertoire, while he wanted to follow his own path.
He organized a charity concert for Bangladesh and together with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison, formed the supergroup Traveling Wilburys, which played from 1988 to 1990. He also served as a film producer: Without his financial support, the Monty Python classic "Life of Brian" would never have been made.
And yet he later said, "I play a bit of guitar, write songs, make some movies, but none of that is really me." In the last years of his life, spirituality was the only thing to give him meaning.
Harrison died of lung cancer on November 29, 2001, at the age of 58 at New York University Hospital.
This article has been updated to reflect Harrison's 80th birthday anniversary. It was originally written in German.
A Beatle and more: George Harrison
Shy and standing in the shadows of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, "The Beatles" lead guitarist became known as "quiet Beatle." A look at George Harrison's life in honor of his 80th birthday.
Image: Mary Evans Library/picture-alliance
More than The Beatles
After gaining world fame with the Beatles, George Harrison went on to enjoy success as a solo artist, as well as chart a personal spiritual path. Harrison takes 11th place on the list of the "100 best guitarists of all time" by the music magazine "Rolling Stone." Throughout his life, he was on a spiritual quest — one which decisively influenced his music.
Image: KPA Copyright/picture-alliance
A lad from Liverpool
George Harrison was born on February 25, 1943, in Wavertree, a suburb of the northern English port city of Liverpool. He went to the same primary school as the three-year-old John Lennon and later met Paul McCartney on the school bus — an encounter that would change his life and the world.
Image: Getty Images
A musical boy from Liverpool
A friend of his father taught George the basics of playing guitar. He got his own first instrument at 13; today, it hangs as a memento behind glass. Coming of age in the heyday of rock 'n' roll, George, like many boys, dreamed of a career as a rock musician. In 1958, his friend Paul McCartney brought him into the band The Quarrymen, which had been founded by John Lennon two years earlier.
Image: CC 2.0/Hens Zimmerman/wikimedia
A Beatles career
In 1960, The Quarrymen became The Beatles, though with a slightly different cast. That was the start of an incredible world career. George Harrison (center top) played lead guitar. The fact that John Lennon and Paul McCartney called the shots always rankled him. Harrison conceded that the two were a great duo — but they had egos to match, and there simply was no room for anyone else.
Image: Mary Evans/imago images
Beatlemania in Germany
No matter where they showed up, the Fab Four from Liverpool unleashed a frenzy. Young girls fainted left and right, for instance during a 1966 Germany tour organized by the German teen magazine "Bravo." It was the only time the Beatles ever toured Germany.
Image: UPI Photo/imago images
The songwriter
While in The Beatles, George Harrison wrote quite a few songs, but for the most part, he couldn't get his material past Lennon and McCartney. Classic Beatles songs including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" ("White Album," 1968), "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun" ("Abbey Road," 1969) were the exception.
For the first time in 1965, while shooting the movie "Help," Harrison held an instrument in his hands that was widely unknown in Europe: a sitar. Fascinated, he took lessons with Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar (above right). He played the instrument in the song "Norwegian Wood" (1965), starting a trend. In "Paint It Black" (1966), The Rolling Stones also played a sitar.
Image: ASSOCIATED PRESS/picture alliance
Spiritual journey
Harrison increasingly showed an interest in Indian culture. In 1966 The Beatles traveled to India to study meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. While the other members of the band quickly lost interest, Harrison took it a step further and converted to Hinduism, subsequently joining the Hare Krishna movement. He also traveled on various occasions back to India, such as in 1996 (above).
Image: public domain/wikimedia
Just married
On January 21, 1966, Harrison married Pattie Boyd, a photo model he met while shooting "Yeah Yeah Yeah." The above photo shows the young couple in Barbados. Back then, no one would have guessed that only six years later, Pattie would run away with George's best friend, Eric Clapton.
Image: London Express/dpa/picture-alliance
An end — and new beginnings
Unhappy with his role in the band, Harrison recorded a solo album in 1968, "Wonderwall Music." The Beatles split up two years later, and Harrison released "All Things Must Pass," a song that rose to the top of the charts in England and the US. He must have had 80 songs tucked away in a drawer that he never got to record with the Beatles, record producer Phil Spector said.
Image: United Archives/imago images
Concert for Bangladesh
Many of Harrison's songs are about spirituality and the transience of life. In 1971, he organized a concert for Bangladesh to raise money for the victims of a devastating flood. It was a groundbreaking charity concert, featuring the likes of Bob Dylan (above right), Ringo Starr, Ravi Shankar and Eric Clapton.
Image: Everett Collection/picture-alliance
Life at Friar Park
Friar Park, a mansion in Oxfordshire, was home for George Harrison, his second wife, Olivia, and their son, Dhani. In December 1999, a demented man entered the premises and attacked the musician with a knife. Harrison survived, severely injured.
Image: Tim_Ockenden/dpa/picture-alliance
At auction
Harrison had a few hits in the 80s and 90s, but then his life took a different turn. Records, films, TV performances — he lost interest and decided to let it all go, he said, adding these things are only meaningful to people who don't know where they are headed. Pictured above are letters and tapes of an unreleased song written for a friend that were auctioned in 2017.
Image: Peter Byrne/empics/picture-alliance
Posthumous honor
George Harrison died of lung cancer on November 29, 2001. He was 58 years old. Eight years after his death, Hollywood gave him a star on the Walk of Fame. His former Beatles band colleague, Paul McCartney, his wife Olivia and their son, Dhani, turned out for the ceremony.
