How Dhani Harrison Reacted Finding Out His Dad Is In The Beatles

George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Martin Scorsese’s enlightening documentary about the so-called “silent Beatle,” was released in 2011. The documentary chronicles George’s journey to popularity with The Beatles and follows his story after the band’s infamous breakup. Moreover, it showed a different side of Harrison, a family man, who, after marrying his second wife, Olivia, had a child named Dhani.

George Harrison’s lone child, Dhani Harrison, was born in 1978 – 8 years since the Beatlemania frenzy came to halt. This meant that any residue from his father’s past doesn’t necessarily come into the conversation unless given the right timing to discuss so.

Dhani openly shared his first memory of his late father, in the documentary. “My earliest memory of my dad is probably of him somewhere in a garden covered in dirt, somewhere hot, a tropical garden, in jeans, khakis covered in dirt, just continuously planting trees,” he recalled. “I think that’s what I thought he did for the first seven years of my life.” The young Harrison never for once thought that his father did the music for a living until some kids in Dhani’s school teased and chased him, all while singing a Beatles hit, “Yellow Submarine.”

“I came home one day from school after being chased by kids singing ‘Yellow Submarine,’ and I didn’t understand why,” Dhani explained. “It just seemed surreal: Why are they singing that song to me? I came home and I freaked out on my dad: ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were in The Beatles?’ And he said, ‘Oh, sorry. Probably should have told you that.’”

The reason why he kept everything a secret remained a mystery. Perhaps to protect his peace and ego, he didn’t want anyone to know that he was a member of the world’s most famous band; Harrison kept his affiliation with the Beatles from his kid. Nevertheless, as a result of his father’s influence on him as a child, Dhani grew up to be an inquisitive and talented musician in his own right.