Quick Facts
- NAME: George Harrison
- OCCUPATION: Musician
- BIRTH DATE: February 25, 1943
- DEATH DATE: November 29, 2001
- EDUCATION: Liverpool Institute, Dovedale Primary School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Liverpool, United Kingdom
- PLACE OF DEATH: Los Angeles, California
Best Known For
George Harrison was lead guitarist of The Beatles as well as a singer-songwriter on many of their most memorable tracks.
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John Lennon - Mini Biography (7:55)
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George Harrison - The End of Folk
George Harrison on the day in Albert Hall when Bob Dylan went electric, ending the folk music scene.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Musical Lovers
Watch a short video about John Lennon and Yoko Ono to learn how the creative couple met and made sweet music together.
John Lennon - Mini Biography
A short biography of John Lennon, from his superstardom with the Beatles to his fame as a solo artist and social activist, to his marriage to Yoko Ono. In 1980, Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman.
Women of The Beatles - Yoko Ono
Elliot Mintz discusses the relationship of Yoko Ono and John Lennon.
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Play NowGeorge Harrison. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:26, May 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804.
George Harrison. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804 [Accessed 18 May 2013].
"George Harrison." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 18 2013, 06:26 http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804.
"George Harrison," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804 [accessed May 18, 2013].
"George Harrison," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804 (accessed May 18, 2013).
George Harrison [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804.
George Harrison, http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804 (last visited May 18, 2013).
George Harrison. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/george-harrison-9206804. Accessed May 18, 2013.
Not long after George Harrison reunited with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney for the creation of an exhaustive three-part release of the Beatles Anthology, which featured alternative takes, rare tracks,
Contents
and a John Lennon demo called Free as a Bird that the three surviving Beatles completed in the studio. The song went on to become the group's 34th Top 10 single.
From there, however, Harrison largely became homebody, keeping himself busy with gardening and his cars at his expansive and restored home in Henley-on-Thames in south Oxfordshire, England.
Death and Legacy
Still, the ensuing years were not completely stress free. In 1998, Harrison, a longtime smoker, reportedly was successfully treated for throat cancer. A year later, his life was again put on the line when a deranged 33-year-old Beatles fan somehow managed to circumvent Harrison's intricate security system and detail and broke into his home, attacking the musician and his wife Olivia with a knife. Harrison was treated for a collapsed lung and minor stab wounds. Olivia suffered several cuts and bruises.
In May 2001, Harrison's cancer returned. There was lung surgery, but doctors soon discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. That autumn he traveled to the United States for treatment and eventually landed at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He died November 29, 2001 at a friend's house in LA with his wife and son at his side.
Of course, Harrison's work still lives on. Beatle records and Harrison's solo albums continue to sell (in June 2009 EMI released Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison a 19-track anthology of the guitarist's best solo work) and not long after his death, keyboardist Jools Holland put out a CD featuring a track co-written by Harrison and his son Dhani.
In addition, in late 2002, Harrison's final studio album, Brainwashed, a collection of songs he'd been working at the time of his death, was finished by his son and released. And in September 2007, filmmaker Martin Scorsese announced he'd be directing a movie about Harrison's life.
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