How George Harrison’s Son Dhani Eventually Followed His Dad’s Footsteps
via Fender / YouTube
Growing up, Dhani Harrison has always been surrounded by music. As the sole child of the legendary George Harrison, it makes sense for him to follow his
George’s footsteps; yet it took time for him to eventually grow the habit of walking inside the same path as his father’s.
Dhani grew up with visits from famous musicians like Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty; it isn’t unusual to have prominent artists around for a jam session. As a child, Dhani is exposed to a variety of high-quality tunes during his formative years, but George never formally introduced him to his line of work, especially with The Beatles.
“When I did that Prince’s Trust concert last June [1987] — that was the first time he ever saw me hold a guitar onstage in front of people,” George explained via Rolling Stone. “He’s got to know a bit about the Beatles, but I’ve never pushed that on him, or tried to say, ‘Look who I used to be.’” Dhani eventually learned of his dad’s Beatle past, when the kids in his school would often tease him with lyrics from “Yellow Submarine.”
Inside Prince’s Trust concert, George performed two of his Beatle classics “Here Comes The Sun” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” After the show, however, Dhani was upset that his dad didn’t play any Chuck Berry songs, which the young child admired.
“He came back after the show, and I said, ‘What did you think?’,” George recalled. “He said, ‘You were good, Dad, you were good [slight pause]. Why didn’t you do ‘Roll Over Beethoven,’ ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and ‘Rock & Roll Music’?’ I said, ‘Dhani, that’s Chuck Berry’s show you’re talking about!’”
A few years later, a 12-year-old Dhani would soon join his father onstage during George’s 1991 Japan tour. The tour consisted of a star-studded band, including George’s friend, Eric Clapton. The Harrisons and the rest of the band performed to 50,000 people, which is a pretty incredible first gig if we must say. Yet, right after that concert, Dhani would soon get out of the music business and would eventually try military school, and a college for industrial design.
As soon as George’s health declined, Dhani found it pointless to push the one thing he’s destined to be: a musician. Since then, he’s shown more interest in music and has been George’s number one contributor to keeping his musical legacy. It is likely that Dhani’s success today would not exist if his father hadn’t encouraged him to take the stage when he was young.
