Video: 'George Harrison: News Report Of His Death - CBS News - Nov 29, 2001'
(Thursday, November 29, 2001, 1:20 p.m. PST) — George Harrison, an English musician, singer-songwriter, and music and film producer who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of The Beatles, died this afternoon on a property belonging to fellow ex-Beatle Paul McCartney in Los Angeles.
Harrison died in the company of his wife Olivia, son Dhani, Indian musician Ravi Shankar and the latter’s wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamsundar Das and Mukunda Goswami, who chanted verses from the Bhagavad Gita.
Harrison’s death at the age of 58 would not be publicly announced until the following day, Nov. 30, 2001.
His final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: “Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.”
Video: 'George Harrison: All Things Pass (FULL MOVIE)'
Harrison would be cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and his funeral would be held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California. His close family would scatter his ashes according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi, India.
Sometimes called the “quiet Beatle,” Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in The Beatles’ work.
Although the majority of the band’s songs were written by McCartney and fellow ex-Beatle John Lennon, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include “Taxman”, “Within You Without You”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something”.
After the band’s break-up in 1970, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, a critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, “My Sweet Lord”, and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar.
Video: 'The last time Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr saw George Harrison'
He also organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles’ Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974 and co-founding HandMade Films in 1978.
Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and Tom Petty, among others.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked Harrison number 11 in their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” He is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004.
