Biography of George Harrison George Harrison was lead guitarist, songwriter and singer with The Beatles.

Although often overshadowed by the partnership of Lennon and McCartney during the band's lifetime, he emerged as a significant talent in his own right. THE EARLY YEARS Harrison was born on 25 February 1943 in the family home at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool. His parents were Harold and Louise Harrison, who had roots in Ireland. They had three other children: Louise, Harry and Peter, all of whom were older than George. The young George lived with his bus driver father, Harold, who had been a seaman for many years, and his mother Louise, who was of Irish descent, and his two brothers, Harry and Peter, and sister, also called Louise. In 1950 when he was five, the family moved to a new council house at Upton Green in Speke after having spent many years on a waiting list. George went to school at Dovedale Road, where he passed his 11 and gained a place at the Liverpool Institute for Boys, a local grammar school. Like many other children he disliked school - in his case, Dovedale Road Infants - which he remembered smelled of boiled cabbage. Sharing a playground at the same time was John Lennon, although they were unaware of each other due to the two-year age gap. He attended the Institute between 1954 and 1959. Not an especially gifted child academically, Harrison struggled as a student and left without any qualifications. He had trouble relating to his teachers, and insisted on wearing tight jeans and long hair, much to his parents consternation. Harrison has spoken of a happy childhood, during which he would listen to the family radio and hear old dance bands and the familiar voices of Josef Locke and Bing Crosby. The track which inspired him to take up guitar was one of the tunes his father would play on his gramophone, Waiting For A Train, by Jimmie Rodgers, the singing brakeman. In 1959 Harrison formed a skiffle group, The Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. Harrison's mother bought him a guitar for 3, and the group's debut gig at the British Legion club in Speke earned them 10 shillings Harrison considered becoming an apprentice engineer after leaving school, but music dominated his passions and he performed with a number of fledgling groups in Liverpool. In 1958 he met the Quarrymen, whose ranks included Paul McCartney, a friend of Harrison's from the Institute. THE QUARRYMEN

Although Harrison was considered too young to join the group, he did fill in when their regular guitarist Eric Griffiths was unavailable. Eventually he was accepted as a full member, despite the reservations of the Quarrymen founder and leader, John Lennon. The band became Johnny and the Moondogs, and later the Silver Beetles. Their first trip to Hamburg in August 1960 took place while Harrison was just 17, and the Reeperbahn, the red light district where they played, proved an educative experience: "Everybody around the district were homosexuals, transvestites, pimps and hookers and I was in the middle of that, aged 17," he said. THE BEATLES The first trip ended in Harrison's deportation for working under-age. When they returned in March 1961 The Beatles had become more assured as performers, and in June cut their first single, My Bonnie, as the backing band for Tony Sheridan. For this they were paid 300 marks with no royalties. Known as "the quiet one" of The Beatles, Harrison's first published composition was Don't Bother Me, which he wrote while ill in a hotel room in Bournemouth in the summer of 1963. It appeared on their second album With The Beatles. Harrison sang at least one song on all The Beatles' albums, though as a songwriter he remained in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney. Following Don't Bother Me, his next self-penned songs were I Need You and You Like Me too Much, on 1965's Help! album. George Harrison's interest in Indian music was awoken by a scene in the Help! film. While making the film, a Hindu devotee gave each member of The Beatles a book on reincarnation, which led to a fascination with many aspects of Eastern religion, culture and philosophy Harrison became the first Western musician to play a sitar on a pop record. The song was Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), on the 1965 album Rubber Soul. By the late 1960s Harrison had become an assured songwriter. Following Taxman, the bitter social commentary which opened Revolver, he wrote Within You Without You, which mainly featured Indian musicians and instruments, for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also contributed an unprecedented four songs to 1968's The Beatles: While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Piggies, Savoy Truffle and Long, Long, Long. But Harrison's high point as a songwriter in The Beatles came with Abbey Road in 1969. He wrote Here Comes The Sun at Eric Clapton's house, while ducking out of duties at Apple. Better still was Something, which was released as a single in October 1969. John Lennon called it "the best track on the album", and McCartney said "I think it's the best he's written". Harrison was given an Ivor Novello award for the song, which was covered by artists including Elvis Presley, The O'Jays and Ray Charles. Frank Sinatra called it "the greatest love song ever written". SOLO YEARS

George Harrison described The Beatles' acrimonious break-up as "just a relief. We should have done it years ago". He used the stockpile of songs written while in the group as the basis for All Things Must Pass, the first triple album by a rock artist. It topped the charts, as did the singles My Sweet Lord and Isn't It A Pity. Harrison was deeply troubled by the death of John Lennon in December 1980. He changed the lyrics of a song intended for Starr, creating a tribute song for Lennon. All Those Years Ago, featured all three surviving members of The Beatles, and was a hit single when released in May 1981. DEATH George Harrison was initially diagnosed with throat cancer in August 1997, and underwent radiotherapy and surgery. Throughout the late 1990s he battled the disease, having tumours removed from his throat and lung. Harrison's cancer recurred in the same year, and was found to have spread to other organs. Although treated aggressively, it was diagnosed as terminal. He arranged to spend his final months with family and close friends, and worked on songs from an album with his son Dhani, released posthumously in 2002 as Brainwashed. George Harrison died on 29 November 2001, at the age of 58. During a CNN interview with Larry King in 2007, Paul McCartney described visiting Harrison on his death bed and sitting silently with him, stroking his hand to comfort him. Following his death Harrison was cremated. HiP family released a statement, saying: "He left this world as he lived in it: conscious of God, fearless of death and at peace, surrounded by family and friends."