George Harrison Inducted Into the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame
With nearly 56 percent of the vote, George Harrison becomes the first double inductee into the Ultimate Classic Rock Hall of Fame.
Harrison was inducted earlier this year as a member of the Beatles, and here his solo career beat out Bob Seger in the final round. He also triumphed over Genesis and Grand Funk Railroad in the previous rounds.
Harrison began his work as a solo artist while the Beatles were still together. He released the soundtrack to the movie 'Wonderwall' in 1968 and the avant-garde 'Electronic Sound' a year later. Harrison was usually only given two or three songs per Beatles album, so when they broke up, he had a huge backlog of material already waiting. The result was 1970's triple album 'All Things Must Pass,' which contained the hit singles 'My Sweet Lord' and 'What is Life.'
A year later, Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh to provide relief to the South Asian nation that was torn apart due to a devastating cyclone and a war. The two nights, which featured performances by his friends Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar, helped create the George Harrison Humanitarian Fund for UNICEF, which continues to administer funds raised by sales of the album and film of the concert.
Harrison continued to have solo success throughout the '70s, but after 1982's 'Gone Troppo,' he took a lengthy sabbatical from recording, preferring instead to produce films, race cars and tend to the garden at his Friar Park estate. He returned to public life in 1987 with the smash album 'Cloud Nine,' which also spawned the Traveling Wilburys supergroup with Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.
But just as soon as he resurfaced, he retreated from public life again. In 1997 he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Four years later, he contracted lung cancer, which spread to his brain. He passed away on Nov. 29, 2001. His final album, 'Brainwashed,' was released posthumously a year later, after having been completed by his son Dhani and Lynne.
Further Reading:
Top 10 George Harrison Songs
Top 10 Beatles George Harrison Songs
Top 10 Beatles Solo Albums
Top 100 Classic Rock Songs -- 'My Sweet Lord'
55 Years Ago: George Harrison Joins the Quarrymen