George Harrison

Year:
2004
Inducted by:
Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne (ELO)
Category:
Performers

Introduction

The “quiet Beatle” took his inner conflict between fame and privacy, secular and sacred, and turned it into a huge body of work.

George Harrison’s rich inner life yielded a prolific oeuvre that introduced the Western world to Eastern musical and spiritual influences.

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne induct George Harrison

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne induct George Harrison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne induct George Harrison

00:04:45
Olivia and Dhani Harrison accept for George Harrison

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"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

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"Handle With Care"

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Hall of Fame Essay

2004

Ashley Kahn

In a not-so-distant, black-and-white age we clapped and screamed as four dark-haired lads from Liverpool ascended the dizzying ladder of gain and glory we now expect all our rock stars to climb. They got the hits and the headlines; got the money and the movie roles; got the cars, gorgeous girlfriends and wives. Then one of them - the youngest Beatle - reached one rung higher and got religion.

Or a deep spirituality, to be accurate. Today, when the name of one deity or another is so easily dropped in award speeches and CD liner notes, public acknowledgment of the divine can seem a rote exercise. When George Harrison began exploring spiritual matters, however, this seemingly trend-setting act derived from his eyes-wide, questioning nature. And it was that nature that ultimately lashed Harrison’s musical career to a spiritual pursuit.