Surviving Beatles play tribute to Harrison
The two remaining Beatles have reunited on stage for a spectacular and moving musical tribute to George Harrison.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were last night joined by Harrison’s son Dhani, who bears a close resemblance to his late father at the height of “Beatlemania” in the 60s, for a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall marking the first anniversary of the “Quiet” Beatle’s death.
The trio and other stars, including Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, reprised a string of Harrison’s hits in the Concert for George.
The concert brought both cheers and tears to the 5,000-strong audience, including the Beatles’ original producer George Martin.
Clapton, the musical director for the night, opened the evening’s entertainment telling the audience: “We are here to celebrate the life and music of George Harrison. It’s a beautiful occasion for me because I can share my love of George with you, his wife Olivia and son Dhani and experience and witness how much we loved him through his music tonight so thank you all for coming.”
He then kicked off the show to a huge cheer with a rousing rendition of I Want To Tell You, before being joined on stage by Cocker and Dhani for Here Comes The Sun.
They were followed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers who brought a wave of clapping and cheers as they began the opening bars of Taxman, with Jools Holland on piano and Sam Brown supporting.
Starr received a tumultuous applause when he ran on stage. “What a night. I loved George and George loved me,” he told the crowd.
He sang Photograph, which he co-wrote with Harrison, as Clapton, Jeff Lynne and Dhani played guitar.
He was then joined by McCartney and the two surviving Beatles played the “Fab Four’s hit I Love You.
McCartney then raised a massive cheer from the crowd when as he strummed a ukelele they heard the first strains of Harrison’s classic love song, Something.
He was joined on guitar by Dhani and Clapton while Starr played drums along with an orchestra string section.
The concert was organised by Harrison’s widow, Olivia, as a special tribute to her husband, with the money raised going to the charity Harrison founded, The Material World Charitable Foundation.
McCartney also played piano and Clapton sang to While my Guitar Gently Weeps, before ending with a two-minute guitar solo.
Dhani on guitar then started off My Sweet Lord sang by Sam Brown. He told the audience: “I just want from the bottom of my heart to thank all the musicians, you are my dad’s best friends, he loves you. God bless you all.”
McCartney told the crowd: “Olivia just said with Dhani on stage it looks like we all got old and George stayed young.”
All the artists in the show, including Jeff Lynne and The Travelling Wilburys and Billy Preston, filed on stage for the final song of the night, a specially written and recorded number, I’ll See You In My Dreams.
Joe Brown who played on some of Harrison’s albums strummed the ukulele while all the artists joined as confetti swirling around them.
Celebrities in the audience included film director Tim Burton, Helen Bonham Carter, Annie Lennox and Bob Geldof.
The first part of the show was specially composed by Ravi Shankar, Harrison’s musical guru in his Beatles days, who introduced Harrison to the Indian sitar adopted by the Beatles on many tracks.
Harrison’s interest in India, Hari Krishna and Eastern mysticism clearly influenced the event with the sound of the sitar played by Shankar’s daughter Anoushka resounding throughout the auditorium.
Harrison died aged 58 in Los Angeles after losing his battle against cancer.
