George Harrison
(1943-2001)

British Singer-Songwriter

birthdate: February 24
birthplace:
Liverpool, England

George Harold Harrison was a British rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist, who is best known as the lead guitarist of The Beatles. Harrison wrote many Beatles hits, including "Here Comes the Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Something." After the breakup of The Beatles, George Harrison had a successful solo career. He was the first ex-Beatle to have a #1 hit ("My Sweet Lord") and he went on to record 11 albums. George Harrison was known as "The Quiet Beatle" and his songs and his life reflected the importance and emphasis he placed on his spiritual life. He helped popularize Eastern philosophy in the Western world. He is also considered the godfather of World Music because of his use of the sitar and other Eastern sounds in the Beatles' and his own songs. Harrison believed that humanitarian work was an important part of spirituality. He established the Material World Charitable Foundation in 1973 and was the first to organize a large-scale benefit concert, with the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, to raise awareness and funds for starving war refugees.

George Harrison's life was cut short in 2001, when he died of a brain tumor. A year later, ex-Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and other musical friends including Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Ravi Shankar, performed a tribute concert to honor him and to raise funds for his foundation. In 2004, George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Through his music and his life's example, George Harrison continues to inspire others to value the importance of spirituality and humanitarian causes in their own personal search for meaning.

"George was a giant, a great great soul with all of the humanity, all of the wit and humor, all of the wisdom, the spirituality, the common sense of a man and compassion for people. He inspired love and had the strength of a hundred men. He was like the sun, the flowers and the moon and we will miss him enormously. The world is a profoundly emptier place without him."
-- Bob Dylan

 

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