From the archives: Rock legend George Harrison loses his battle with cancer

This article was originally published in Newsday on Dec. 1, 2001

George Harrison wanted to be a musician. He never wanted to be a celebrity. Or a salesman. Or a spokesman. Or any of the other duties that come with being one of the Beatles, the most successful rock and roll band in history.

"My music - it doesn't matter if I did it 20 years ago or if I did it tomorrow. It doesn't go with trends," Harrison said in a statement this year, commemorating the re-release of his acclaimed "All Things Must Pass" album. "My trousers don't get wider and tighter every six months. My music just stays what it is, and that's the way I like it."

Harrison died Thursday at a friend's home in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer. He was 58.

He was known as "The Quiet One" during the Beatles' meteoric rise to superstardom in the '60s. However, the influential lead guitarist not-so-quietly introduced new generations to rockabilly and sitar music, as well as Eastern spirituality and the concept of using concerts to raise money and consciousness for special causes.

"He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends," his wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani, 23, said in a statement. "He often said, 'Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait,' and 'Love one another.'"

Harrison is best known for crafting the band's distinctive, driving rockabilly style in its early music, while bandmates Paul McCartney and John Lennon focused on the harmonies and lyrics.

"Without George," McCartney said in a statement Friday, "it all wouldn't have been possible."

The Liverpool quartet - Harrison, Lennon, McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr - is the biggest-selling band of all time, selling more than 163 million records in the United States alone. Though the Beatles only recorded together between 1961 and 1970, the band topped the charts as recently as last year.

The two remaining Beatles on Friday mourned the loss of Harrison. "We are all devastated by this news, it's deeply sad to lose such a beautiful guy," McCartney said in a statement. "George was a very brave man with a heart of gold but also someone who didn't suffer fools gladly. I'll miss him dearly and I'll always love him - he's my baby brother."

In a statement, Starr said: "George was a best friend of mine. I loved him very much and I will miss him greatly."

Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said in a statement that "George has given so much to us in his lifetime and continues to do so even after his passing, with his music, his wit and his wisdom."

Harrison, who was only 15 when he joined Lennon and McCartney in the Beatles' precursor The Quarrymen, was generally overshadowed in popularity by the more gregarious duo. Their partnership, as well as his relative youth, limited the number of songs that he could place on the Beatles' albums. Nevertheless, his compositions, including "Something," "Here Comes the Sun" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," stand among the band's most powerful songs.

"The imprint of his work with the Beatles is enormous," said music historian Howard Kramer, who is also deputy curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "He alone inspired tens of thousands of fans to pick up a guitar for the first time. His choices influenced so many other musicians. For example, without George Harrison, the Byrds may never have been formed because Roger McGuinn only picked up a 12-string guitar, which gave the band its distinctive sound, after he saw Harrison use one."

As part of the Beatles, Harrison was also able to swing pop culture in a variety of directions simply by pursuing his interests in music, fashion and spirituality - introducing the Western world to sitar music, as the Eastern influence became a major part of 1966's "Revolver" album.

Despite the Beatles' immense success, Harrison struggled to maintain his privacy as well as cultivate his spiritual life. His friendship with Ravi Shankar encouraged him to organize the 1971 landmark "Concert for Bangla Desh," which raised money for Bengali refugees. The Madison Square Garden event became a concert film and a triple live album.

After the Beatles' breakup in 1970, Harrison was initially prolific as a solo artist, releasing five albums in six years, including the revered "All Things Must Pass," released in 1970, which featured "My Sweet Lord."

"'All Things Must Pass' is probably the best of all the Beatles' solo albums," Kramer said. "He was an extremely gifted songwriter."

However, Harrison soon grew more reclusive and less interested in releasing new albums. His last solo album, "Cloud Nine," was released in 1987, featuring the hit "Got My Mind Set on You." In 1988, he became a member of the Traveling Wilburys - along with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty - and recorded two successful albums.

Harrison also tried his hand as a movie producer, establishing Handmade Films in 1979 to finance the Monty Python's Flying Circus film "Life of Brian." Handmade also went on to release winners like "Time Bandits" and losers like Madonna's "Shanghai Surprise."

Harrison became reclusive after public-relations problems surrounding plagiarism charges over his song "My Sweet Lord" and questions over where money raised by "The Concert for Bangla Desh" was sent, though the accusations were settled.

"There was never anything, in any of the Beatle experiences really, that good:even the best thrill soon got tiring," Harrison wrote in his 1980 autobiography "I, Me, Mine." "Your own space, man, it's so important. That's why we were doomed, because we didn't have any. We were like monkeys in a zoo."

Even his battle with cancer for the past four years became fodder for the tabloid press. This summer, he had to issue a statement declaring his "disgust" for reports that his death was "imminent." His recovery was slowed after a 1999 attack, when he was stabbed by an intruder who broke into his secluded London home. However, last summer he announced that he had fully recovered from the attack and from his cancer following treatment at a Swiss clinic. He reportedly received experimental treatment at a Staten Island hospital last month.

Throughout his illness, Harrison continued to work on his music, even releasing a new song, "A Horse to Water," last month with British pianist Jools Holland. The song showed Harrison's noted wit continued as well, with the song's publishing rights going to RIP Ltd. 2001.

No plans for a public funeral or a memorial service have been announced. A family friend said a private ceremony with Harrison's family already had taken place.