George Harrison was born on February 25, 1943 in Liverpool. His parents were Louise and Harold Harrison. George had two brothers, Peter and Harry, and a sister, Louise. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a bus driver. He attended Dovedale Primary School, and then the Liverpool Institute.
George was interested in music at an early age. His mother bought him his first guitar at the age of 13, and he formed a group of his own called "The Rebels." The band didn’t last very long. He grew up in a public housing project, and was a mediocre student. George's early efforts at guitar playing were somewhat bad--he bought a guitar as a young adolescent, but found he couldn't understand the chording patterns.
After being frustrated at trying to play the guitar he returned to playing the trumpet, which he wasn’t very good at either. George eventually tried to play the guitar again, and this time he learned a few chords and he was on his way to being a great guitarist.
George and Paul took the same bus to the Liverpool Institute, they would talk about guitars and music. At the time, Paul was already a member of John's group, The Quarrymen, and he invited the 14- year -old George to see the band. George was always hanging around the band. Paul told John what a great guitar player George was and that he should let him in the group, but because George was so young, John said no. Eventually John caved in and told George he could join the band.
In 1960, the Quarrymen changed their name to The Beatles. The group went to Hamburg in August to work at the Indra Club. When The Beatles worked at a rival club called the Top Ten Club, the owner of the Indra Club became furious and revealed to authorities that George was only 17, too young to have a work permit. George was forced to return to England.
George was often frustrated with the lack of attention that his own songwriting was given in the band. George often felt discouraged in writing songs because he would write them, and John and Paul wouldn’t even put them on the record. George was just as good at song writing as John and Paul he just never got the opportunity to show it.
During the filming of the movie, A Hard Day's Night, George met Pattie Boyd, and the two were married on January 21, 1966.
After The Beatles broke up, George began his solo career. He toured the United States in 1974, but he was criticized by the media for being overly experimental in his music and for failing to play Beatle songs at his concerts. The tour drained him physically and emotionally, and he lapsed into a depression. Soon after, his marriage to Pattie also came apart and the two were divorced in 1977. They had no children, and Pattie soon after married Eric Clapton.
In 1977, George met Olivia Arrias, a Mexican-Californian who had originally come to work as a secretary in George's Dark Horse record company. They fell in love and lived together. They had a son, Dhani, born on August 1, 1978. George and Olivia married one month later.
George passed away on November 29, 2001, after a long battle with cancer.
