George Harrison Was Always Reminding People They Were Going to Die, Said Eric Idle

George Harrison and Eric Idle were close friends, and Idle said he learned a lot from the former Beatle. Harrison’s devoted interest in spirituality caused him to think a lot about purpose, death, and the afterlife, which Idle said gave him a unique perspective on fame. It also added a bit of morbidity to the conversations he had with others. According to Idle, Harrison was constantly talking about how everyone was going to die.

Eric Idle and George Harrison met at a movie premiere

Harrison and Idle met at the premiere of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Harrison specifically sought out Idle, which was a bit stressful for the actor.

“I had heard that George wanted to meet me, but I was somewhat shy of meeting him,” Idle wrote in his memoir Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography, adding, “I was shy and tried to avoid him, but he snuck up on me in the back of the theater as the credits began to roll. I hadn’t yet learned he was unstoppable.”

Harrison managed to corner Idle, who soon found he had nothing to worry about. They got along incredibly well and began a long friendship.

Eric Idle said George Harrison gave people morbid reminders

Harrison had experienced unprecedented levels of fame while in The Beatles. Idle said that because of that, he encouraged others to enjoy life. Harrison often reminded people that they were going to die soon, so they may as well make the most of things.

“He knew that because he’d been the most famous person in the world,” Idle said on Off Camera With Sam Jones, adding, “He said, ‘Well, you know we’re still going to die.’ He said, ‘Fame doesn’t give you anything – you’re still going to die.’ So he’d been preparing, from about the time I met him, to die, and I was with him at the end. So he was quite calm about dying.”

Harrison was still fun to be around, just more aware than most that his time on Earth was brief.

“His whole influence was remarkable. I was fortunate,” Idle said. “He was kind of a guru to me. I mean, he was a pal: We got drunk. We did all sorts of wicked, naughty things and had a ball, but he was always saying, ‘Well, don’t forget you’re gonna die.’ I think these sort of good people encourage you to remember that you’re just here now. You could maybe get hit by the bus on the way out, so just make sure that you’re living to the fullest at every single moment as best you can.”

Harrison’s mindset toward death helped him at the end of his life

In 2001, Harrison died of cancer. According to his wife, Olivia, he had spent so much of his life preparing for death that it helped him at the end of his life.

“It’s like the Dalai Lama said something that really made him smile,” she said in the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. “He said, ‘And what do you do in the morning?’ He said, ‘I do my practice, I do my mantras, I do my spiritual practice.’ ‘And how do you know it will work?’ ‘I don’t. I’ll find out when I die.’ And it was so great, but it’s like, that was it. I’m practicing this so that when I die, I will know how to leave my body, and I’ll be familiar, and I won’t be frightened.”

Harrison had also focused on living his fullest life, which likely comforted him before his death.