George Harrison (guitar, vocals; born February 25, 1943, died November 29, 2001)
George Harrison was known as the quiet Beatle, and he was also the quietest ex-Beatle. His was not the way of the rock star, as he neither courted nor relished fame. Yet his seeming diffidence was deceptive, as he left behind an impressive legacy as a solo artist. Harrison’s 11 solo albums (not counting best-of’s) include the masterful All Things Must Pass (1970) and a memorable late-career milestone, Cloud Nine (1987). He was the first Beatle to tour as a solo artist and the only one to start his own label (Dark Horse Records). Most important, Harrison wrote and sang about spirituality and transcendence. He immersed himself in Indian music at Beatlemania’s height and became a lifelong devotee of Hindu religion, Krishna consciousness and Vedic philosophy.
In hindsight, Harrison’s albums lay bare his conflicted sensibilities: real-world engagement vs. spiritual retreat and popular artist vs. private recluse. He titled one of his best-selling albums Living in the Material World, and that summed up his quandary. Harrison forthrightly addressed weighty matters on record and made his ruminations appealing as popular music, too. Incorporating spirituality into popular music was not an easy thing to do, and it won him the respect of fans and colleagues. Derek Taylor, the Beatles’ publicist and a longtime friend, called him “the boldest man I ever met.â€
