Introduction

For millions, George Harrison will forever be “the quiet Beatle.” The public image is one of a spiritual, introverted musician, the thoughtful lead guitarist overshadowed by the titanic partnership of Lennon and McCartney. While rooted in his deep spirituality and reserved nature, this perception is merely a single note in a complex chord, a simplification that belies a trailblazing artist, a risk-taking entrepreneur, and a humanitarian pioneer.

The story of George Harrison is not one of quiet contemplation, but of a constrained genius whose potential consistently flourished when given space. His career reveals a pattern of decisive, world-changing action that was always present but often unseen. This article will reveal five impactful and surprising facts, drawn from his extensive history, that dismantle the myth and showcase the formidable, multi-faceted figure who was always there, waiting to be truly heard.

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1. The “Quiet Beatle” Moniker Was a Medical Misunderstanding

The nickname that would define George Harrison for decades was not born from his personality but from a bout of illness at the most pivotal moment of the British Invasion. When The Beatles first arrived in the United States in February 1964, Harrison was suffering from strep throat and a high fever.

As the band prepared for their legendary, culture-shifting debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, Harrison was under doctor’s orders to limit speaking as much as possible to preserve his voice. Consequently, as the press swarmed the new arrivals, they encountered a Harrison who was necessarily laconic.

This forced silence was misinterpreted as a core personality trait. The press labeled him “the quiet Beatle,” and the moniker stuck for the rest of his life. Much to Harrison’s own amusement, a public persona was cemented based on a temporary illness rather than the full breadth of his character.

2. He Mortgaged His House to Save a Monty Python Movie

In 1978, the comedy troupe Monty Python was in crisis. Just before production was set to begin on their film Life of Brian, its funding was abruptly withdrawn by EMI Films at the demand of their chief executive, Bernard Delfont, who deemed the script blasphemous. Hearing of their plight, Harrison, a friend and admirer of the group, took a monumental financial risk to save the project. He co-founded HandMade Films and personally mortgaged his home to finance the movie.

This act of faith and friendship was not lost on the Pythons. Eric Idle famously described Harrison’s contribution as:

“the most anybody’s ever paid for a cinema ticket in history”

Harrison’s gamble paid off. HandMade Films not only ensured Life of Brian was made but went on to become a crucial force in British cinema, producing other acclaimed films like Withnail and I and Time Bandits. This chapter of his life reveals Harrison not as a passive musician, but as a decisive patron of the arts, willing to champion creative works he believed in, no matter the personal cost.

3. He Organized the World’s First Major Rock Benefit Concert

Long before Live Aid became a global phenomenon, George Harrison created the blueprint for large-scale musical philanthropy. At the request of his friend and mentor, Indian musician Ravi Shankar, Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

The event was a direct response to a massive humanitarian crisis, as millions of refugees were starving in the aftermath of the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the ongoing Bangladesh Liberation War. Harrison gathered a supergroup of friends—including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, and Badfinger—for two sold-out shows to raise money and global awareness.

The Concert for Bangladesh was the first event of its kind, establishing the rock benefit concert as a powerful tool for social change. The event is now widely recognized as the direct precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid, cementing Harrison’s role not just as a musician, but as a pioneering humanitarian who understood how to translate stardom into tangible action.

4. His Lifelong Connection to Indian Music May Have Begun in the Womb

While Harrison’s deep dive into Indian classical music and spirituality in the mid-1960s is well-documented, the seeds of this connection may have been planted before he was even born. His mother, Louise, was an enthusiastic music fan, known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons’ windows.

During her pregnancy with George, she made a habit of listening to a weekly broadcast called Radio India. As his biographer Joshua Greene wrote, this was a conscious effort to influence her unborn child:

“Every Sunday she tuned in to mystical sounds evoked by sitars and tablas, hoping that the exotic music would bring peace and calm to the baby in the womb.”

This remarkable detail suggests that the sounds and scales that would later define much of Harrison’s artistic identity were part of his life from its very beginning. This early, subconscious exposure may well have laid the foundation for the profound spiritual and musical journey he would undertake decades later.

5. His Masterpiece Solo Album Was Fueled by Years of Beatles Rejection

By the final years of The Beatles, George Harrison had blossomed into a songwriter of the highest caliber, yet his creative contributions remained frustratingly sidelined. While he was penning masterpieces for the 1969 album Abbey Road, his compositional presence was still largely restricted. He was the author of “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something”—a song John Lennon considered the best on the album. The latter was so universally acclaimed that Frank Sinatra famously called it “the greatest love song of the past fifty years” and recorded it twice.

Despite this undeniable proof of his genius, Harrison’s output was still rationed to just a few tracks per record. By the time The Beatles disbanded in 1970, he had amassed a huge stockpile of compositions that had been passed over. Finally free from the creative constraints of the band, he unleashed this pent-up flood of material onto the world.

The result was All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed triple album that topped the charts and is widely regarded as his magnum opus. The album was a powerful, definitive statement, demonstrating that the “quiet Beatle” had been a formidable creative force all along, just waiting for the space to be fully heard.

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Conclusion

From risking his family home for the sake of comedy to inventing the template for musical philanthropy, George Harrison consistently acted on a scale that his “quiet” moniker belied. His was a revolutionary spirit, one that introduced the sounds of India to the Western world, saved a cornerstone of British cinema, and, after years of creative frustration, produced one of rock’s greatest solo albums. His career is the ultimate testament to a talent too vast to be contained by any single role, in any single band.

How many other quiet figures in history are just waiting for us to look past the nickname and discover the true depth of their legacy?

The Life and Career of George Harrison: From Quiet Beatle to Spiritual Icon

Introduction: The Journey Beyond Beatlemania

In the blinding glare of Beatlemania, George Harrison was cast as the quiet one—a steady, focused presence beside the volcanic creativity of Lennon and McCartney. Yet, beneath that reserved exterior was a restless spirit whose journey of musical innovation and spiritual discovery would ultimately carve a path as influential as that of his more celebrated bandmates. Harrison forged a unique legacy defined by profound spiritual depth, pioneering humanitarian work, and a musical voice that fundamentally broadened the scope of popular music and culture.

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1. The Early Years: Forging a Musician (1943–1958)

Born in Liverpool on 25 February 1943, George Harrison was the youngest of four children in a supportive working-class family. His mother, Louise, a particularly enthusiastic music fan, encouraged his passions. After hearing Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” a young Harrison became fascinated with rock and roll and began filling his schoolbooks with drawings of guitars. A pivotal moment occurred when he met Paul McCartney on the school bus, and the two bonded over their shared love of music.

Key Early Influences

• Lonnie Donegan: Inspired by Donegan’s skiffle music, Harrison formed his own group, the Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend.
• Elvis Presley: The song “Heartbreak Hotel” was an epiphany for Harrison, piquing his interest in rock and roll.
• Carl Perkins: A significant influence whose name Harrison would later adopt as a pseudonym (“Carl Harrison”) during the group’s first tour of Scotland in 1960.

This early passion, combined with his friendship with McCartney, would soon lead him to an audition for John Lennon’s band, the Quarrymen.

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2. The Beatles Era: Finding a Voice in the Storm (1958–1970)

At Paul McCartney’s urging, Harrison joined the Quarrymen in 1958 at the age of just 15. As the band evolved into The Beatles and rocketed to global stardom, his focused stage presence earned him the moniker “the quiet Beatle,” a nickname that originated when he was ill with strep throat during the band’s first US tour. Far from being a passive member, Harrison was a key influencer of the group’s sonic direction. By 1965, he was the band’s scout for new American releases, his deep knowledge of soul music informing their sound, and he had begun to lead the other Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and The Byrds. His friendship with Dylan and his exposure to The Band in 1968 were transformative; he was drawn to their creative equality, which stood in stark contrast to the songwriting dominance of Lennon and McCartney. This experience sharpened his frustration with his own limited compositional outlets and fueled his desire for creative independence.

Harrison’s Growth as a Songwriter in The Beatles

Song Contribution	Significance for Harrison’s Career
“Don’t Bother Me” (1963)	His first solo writing credit on a Beatles album.
“Norwegian Wood” (1965)	Unleashed the sitar onto the pop world, showcasing his burgeoning interest in Indian classical music.
“Taxman” (1966)	Selected as the opening track for Revolver, demonstrating his blossoming confidence as a songwriter.
“Within You Without You” (1967)	His sole, Indian-inspired composition on Sgt. Pepper, on which no other Beatle played.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (1968)	A major composition that featured a guest solo from his friend, Eric Clapton.
“Something” & “Here Comes the Sun” (1969)	Two classic contributions to Abbey Road that saw him finally achieve equal songwriting status with Lennon and McCartney.

His limited compositional presence on Beatles albums, despite a growing stockpile of unreleased songs, fueled his artistic frustration and set the stage for a creatively explosive solo career.

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3. The Solo Ascent: All Things Must Pass (1970–1987)

Following the dissolution of The Beatles, Harrison immediately embarked on a solo career that was both critically and commercially successful, establishing his unique artistic identity.

3.1 A Monumental Debut: All Things Must Pass (1970)

Unleashing the backlog of songs he had amassed, Harrison released All Things Must Pass, a monumental triple album that was met with widespread critical acclaim. The album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and produced the number-one hit single “My Sweet Lord.” However, the song’s similarity to The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” led to a copyright infringement lawsuit. In 1976, a judge ruled that Harrison had subconsciously plagiarised the earlier song, and he lost the case.

3.2 A Humanitarian Pioneer: The Concert for Bangladesh (1971)

In response to a request from his friend and mentor Ravi Shankar, Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden. This landmark event, featuring artists like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr, was a precursor to later large-scale benefit concerts such as Live Aid. The concert’s accompanying live album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, raising money and global awareness for refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

3.3 The Dark Horse Years (1973–1982)

This middle period of his solo career saw continued success with the 1973 album Living in the Material World, which reached number one. However, his 1974 North American tour received a mixed reception, with some fans disappointed by the extensive presence of Indian music and critics noting the strain on his voice from laryngitis. During this time, Harrison founded his own record label, Dark Horse Records, and released the soul music-inspired Extra Texture (Read All About It) in 1975. This era concluded with the 1982 album Gone Troppo, which received little notice from critics or the public.

3.4 A Resounding Return: Cloud Nine (1987)

After a five-year hiatus from releasing new albums, Harrison made a triumphant return with the platinum-selling Cloud Nine. Co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, the album was a major commercial success. It featured the number-one hit single “Got My Mind Set on You” and “When We Was Fab,” a nostalgic look back at his Beatles years.

The highly collaborative nature of Cloud Nine was a sign of things to come, directly leading to his involvement with a new supergroup.

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4. Collaborative Spirit: The Later Career (1988–1996)

Harrison’s later career was marked by a series of high-profile collaborations with his friends and musical peers, projects born from a shared love of music-making.

4.1 The Traveling Wilburys

In 1988, an informal gathering to record a B-side for a Harrison single, “Handle with Care,” quickly evolved into a full-fledged band when the record company deemed the track too good for its original purpose. The result was the Traveling Wilburys, a supergroup that released two platinum-selling albums.

The five founding members were:

• George Harrison
• Jeff Lynne
• Roy Orbison
• Bob Dylan
• Tom Petty

4.2 The Beatles Anthology

In the mid-1990s, Harrison reunited with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr for The Beatles Anthology project. This retrospective included lengthy interviews and, most notably, the recording of two new Beatles songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” The tracks were built from solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by John Lennon before his death, allowing the three surviving members to musically collaborate with their late bandmate one last time.

This look back at his Beatles past would soon be followed by the final chapter of his life and career.

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5. Final Years and Enduring Legacy (1997–2001 and Beyond)

In his final years, Harrison faced immense personal challenges with courage and grace, leaving behind a body of work and a spiritual philosophy that continues to resonate.

5.1 Final Challenges

Harrison’s later life was marked by two significant ordeals. In 1997, he was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent radiotherapy, an illness he publicly attributed to years of smoking. Then, on December 30, 1999, he and his wife Olivia survived a violent knife attack by an intruder at their Friar Park home. Harrison was hospitalized with more than 40 stab wounds, including a punctured lung.

5.2 Death and Final Album

George Harrison died of cancer on November 29, 2001, at the age of 58. His family’s final statement to the world reflected the principles that had guided his life: “Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.” After his death, his final album, Brainwashed, was completed by his son Dhani and his friend and collaborator Jeff Lynne, and released posthumously in 2002.

5.3 A Lasting Legacy

George Harrison’s influence extends across music, humanitarianism, and popular culture. His legacy can be understood through three key areas of impact:

1. Musical Innovation By seamlessly weaving the intricate textures of Indian classical music into the fabric of Western pop, Harrison did more than create a new sound; he fundamentally redefined the boundaries of the pop song, opening the door for the global fusion that would later be known as “world music.” As a guitarist, his melodic sensibility and pioneering use of slide guitar created a signature sound that was both lyrical and profound.
2. Humanitarian Work With The Concert for Bangladesh, Harrison established the definitive blueprint for the modern charity rock concert, proving that an artist’s platform could be a powerful engine for global humanitarianism. He demonstrated that popular music could be a potent force for social good and global awareness, inspiring future events like Live Aid.
3. Spiritual Influence Harrison’s sincere and public embrace of Hinduism, meditation, and Eastern philosophy profoundly broadened the spiritual vocabulary of Western popular culture. He demonstrated that a musician could be a serious spiritual seeker, using his global platform to share timeless teachings of love, consciousness, and transcendence.

George Harrison: A Comprehensive Study Guide

This guide is designed to review and test knowledge based on the provided source material covering the life and career of musician George Harrison.

Short-Answer Quiz

Instructions: Answer the following questions in 2-3 complete sentences, using only information from the source context.

1. Who was Ravi Shankar, and what was his role in George Harrison’s musical and personal development?
2. What was the Concert for Bangladesh, and why is it considered a significant event in music history?
3. Describe the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, including its members and formation.
4. What was George Harrison’s nickname within the Beatles, and what was the origin of this moniker?
5. What was HandMade Films, and what motivated its creation?
6. Explain the significance of Harrison’s 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass.
7. How did Harrison’s introduction of the sitar influence the Beatles’ music and popular music in general?
8. Describe the 1999 knife attack at Friar Park. Who was the assailant, and what were the consequences for Harrison?
9. What was the Beatles Anthology project, and what was Harrison’s role in it?
10. How did Harrison’s approach to songwriting and his position within the Beatles evolve over the band’s career?

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Answer Key

1. Ravi Shankar was an Indian musician and sitar maestro who became Harrison’s teacher. Harrison described Shankar as the first person who ever impressed him, and under his tutelage, Harrison studied the sitar in India. They collaborated on the Concert for Bangladesh and Shankar’s Chants of India album.
2. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of charity concerts organized by Harrison and Ravi Shankar on August 1, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. The goal was to raise money and awareness for refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War. The event is considered a precursor to later large-scale benefit concerts like Live Aid.
3. The Traveling Wilburys was a platinum-selling supergroup formed in 1988 consisting of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty. The band formed when the members gathered in Dylan’s garage to record “Handle with Care,” a track that their record company deemed too good to be a B-side, prompting a full album.
4. George Harrison was known as “the quiet Beatle.” The nickname arose during the Beatles’ first trip to the United States in 1964 when Harrison was ill with strep throat and a fever. He was medically advised to limit speaking as much as possible, leading the press to note his laconic nature.
5. HandMade Films was a film production and distribution company co-founded by Harrison and Denis O’Brien in 1978. It was formed to produce the Monty Python film Life of Brian after its original financer, EMI Films, withdrew funding. Harrison mortgaged his own home to help finance the production.
6. All Things Must Pass was Harrison’s first solo album after the Beatles’ breakup, a critically acclaimed triple album that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It produced the hit singles “My Sweet Lord” and “What Is Life” and introduced his signature slide guitar sound. The album was seen as a release of the many compositions he had been unable to place on Beatles albums.
7. Harrison’s use of the sitar, starting with the song “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” opened the floodgates for Indian instrumentation in rock music. This triggered what Ravi Shankar called “The Great Sitar Explosion” of 1966–67. He became known as “the maharaja of raga-rock” and was the person most responsible for this phenomenon.
8. On December 30, 1999, Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked at their home, Friar Park, by Michael Abram, a paranoid schizophrenic. Abram attacked Harrison with a kitchen knife, puncturing a lung and causing more than 40 stab wounds before being incapacitated by Olivia. Harrison was hospitalized and had part of his punctured lung removed.
9. The Beatles Anthology was a project begun in 1994 where Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr collaborated to record new music for the first time since 1970. They built two new songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” around solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by John Lennon. The project also included lengthy interviews about the Beatles’ career.
10. Early in the Beatles’ career, Harrison’s songwriting was limited, with most albums from 1965 onwards containing only two of his compositions. This led to frustration as his songwriting ability grew to a level that rivaled Lennon and McCartney’s by the time of Abbey Road. This frustration significantly contributed to the band’s eventual break-up.

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Essay Questions

Instructions: Consider the following prompts and formulate a detailed essay response based on the information and themes present in the source text. (Answers are not provided).

1. Trace the evolution of George Harrison’s musical identity, from his role as “the quiet Beatle” and lead guitarist to a pioneering solo artist who integrated Eastern music, spirituality, and a distinct slide guitar style into his work.
2. Analyze the impact of Hinduism and Indian culture on George Harrison’s life and career. How did his spiritual journey influence his songwriting, humanitarian work, and personal philosophy?
3. Discuss George Harrison’s multifaceted career beyond his musical performance, evaluating his contributions as a film producer with HandMade Films, a record label founder with Dark Horse Records, and a humanitarian activist.
4. Examine the complexities of George Harrison’s relationships with the other Beatles, particularly John Lennon and Paul McCartney, detailing how these dynamics affected his creative output both within the band and during his solo career.
5. Using All Things Must Pass, the Concert for Bangladesh, and the Traveling Wilburys as key examples, argue for George Harrison’s significance as a major cultural figure in his own right, independent of his legacy with the Beatles.

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Glossary of Key Terms

Term / Name	Definition from Source Context
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada	The leader of the London Radha Krishna Temple, whom Harrison described as “my friend… my master.” Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and became a lifelong devotee.
Abbey Road	The Beatles’ 1969 album which included two of Harrison’s most classic contributions, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something,” marking a point where he achieved equal songwriting status with Lennon and McCartney.
All Things Must Pass	Harrison’s 1970 debut solo triple album, a critically acclaimed and commercially successful work that introduced his signature slide guitar sound and featured the hit single “My Sweet Lord.” It contained a stockpile of songs unreleased during his time with the Beatles.
Apple Records	The Beatles’ record label. Harrison produced acts signed to the label, including Doris Troy, Jackie Lomax, and Billy Preston. It was also the original label for Harrison’s early solo work.
Bhagavad Gita	A Hindu scripture. Verses from it were chanted at Harrison’s deathbed, and a quotation is included in the liner notes of his final album, Brainwashed.
Brainwashed	Harrison’s final studio album, released posthumously in 2002 after being completed by his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne.
Cloud Nine	Harrison’s platinum-selling 1987 album, co-produced with Jeff Lynne. It featured the number one US hit “Got My Mind Set on You” and the retrospective single “When We Was Fab.”
Concert for Bangladesh	A 1971 charity event organized by Harrison and Ravi Shankar at Madison Square Garden to raise money for refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was a precursor to later benefit concerts like Live Aid.
Dark Horse Records	Harrison’s own record label, founded in 1974 as a creative outlet for himself and other artists like Ravi Shankar and Splinter.
Dhani Harrison	George Harrison’s son with his second wife, Olivia. He helped complete his father’s final album, Brainwashed.
Electronic Sound	Harrison’s second solo album (1969), an experimental work that prominently featured a Moog synthesizer.
Eric Clapton	A close friend and musical collaborator of Harrison. Clapton played the lead guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” co-wrote “Badge” with Harrison, toured Japan with him in 1991, and organized the Concert for George tribute.
Friar Park	Harrison’s English manor house in Henley-on-Thames. The grounds were featured on the cover of All Things Must Pass, and it was the site of the 1999 knife attack on Harrison and his wife.
HandMade Films	A film production company Harrison co-founded in 1978. It was created to finance Monty Python’s Life of Brian and went on to produce notable British films of the 1980s like Time Bandits and Withnail and I.
Hare Krishna Movement	A Hindu religious tradition that Harrison embraced in the mid-1960s. He produced the “Hare Krishna Mantra” single and donated a mansion to the devotees, which became the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple.
“Here Comes the Sun”	One of Harrison’s most famous compositions, featured on the Beatles’ album Abbey Road. He wrote the song in Eric Clapton’s garden.
Hinduism	The religion and spiritual path Harrison embraced, which profoundly influenced his music, personal beliefs, and worldview. His interest was reflected in his embrace of meditation, vegetarianism, and Indian classical music.
Jeff Lynne	A member of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) who co-produced Harrison’s Cloud Nine album, was a member of the Traveling Wilburys, and helped complete the posthumous album Brainwashed.
John Lennon	A founding member of the Beatles. Harrison had a complex relationship with Lennon, who initially saw Harrison as a “young follower.” Harrison contributed slide guitar to Lennon’s solo album Imagine.
“My Sweet Lord”	Harrison’s most successful hit single from his solo album All Things Must Pass. The song was later the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit due to its similarity to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.”
Olivia Arias	Harrison’s second wife, whom he married in 1978. She was a marketing executive for A&M Records and Dark Horse Records, and was with Harrison when he was attacked at Friar Park in 1999.
Pattie Boyd	A model and Harrison’s first wife, married from 1966 to 1977. She met Harrison during the filming of A Hard Day’s Night.
Paul McCartney	A founding member of the Beatles who met Harrison on the school bus. Their relationship was at times volatile but also described by McCartney as like that of brothers.
Ravi Shankar	An Indian sitar maestro who became Harrison’s guru and teacher. He introduced Harrison to Indian classical music, collaborated on the Concert for Bangladesh, and was with Harrison at his deathbed.
Ringo Starr	The drummer for the Beatles. Harrison co-wrote and produced several of Starr’s top ten solo hits, and the two remained collaborators and friends throughout their lives.
Sitar	A plucked stringed instrument used in Hindustani classical music. Harrison’s use of the sitar on “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” introduced Indian instrumentation into mainstream Western pop music.
Slide Guitar	A guitar technique Harrison began using after being inspired by Delaney Bramlett in 1969. It became his signature sound as a solo artist, allowing him to mimic the sound of Indian instruments.
“Something”	A Harrison composition from Abbey Road that became his first A-side single. Frank Sinatra called it “the greatest love song of the past fifty years.”
The Quarrymen	John Lennon’s skiffle group, which Harrison joined in 1958 at Paul McCartney’s urging. The group would eventually evolve into the Beatles.
The Quiet Beatle	Harrison’s nickname, which arose during the Beatles’ first US tour in 1964 when he was ill with strep throat and advised not to speak.
Transcendental Meditation	A form of meditation Harrison and the Beatles studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India, in 1968. Harrison initiated the band’s embrace of the practice in 1967.
Traveling Wilburys	A supergroup formed in 1988 consisting of Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. They released two platinum-selling albums.
Ukulele	A small, guitar-like instrument that Harrison loved. An admirer of George Formby, Harrison was a member of the Ukulele Society of Great Britain and played a ukulele solo on the Beatles’ song “Free as a Bird.”
Vegetarianism	A dietary practice Harrison adopted in the late 1960s in line with Hindu yoga tradition. He remained a vegetarian on religious grounds until his death.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”	A Harrison composition from the Beatles’ White Album (1968) that famously features Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
Wonderwall Music	Harrison’s first solo album (1968), a mostly instrumental soundtrack that blended Indian and Western instrumentation. It was the first solo album by a Beatle and the first LP released by Apple Records.