George Harrison Said The Beatles’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Didn’t Mean Anything to Him Until He Arrived at the Ceremony
Initially, George Harrison didn’t want to appear at The Beatles’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1988. Of all The Beatles (except John Lennon, who died in 1980), George should’ve been the least likely to attend.
He wasn’t into adulation for several reasons, not just because he was humble. George wasn’t the biggest fan of fame and certainly never considered himself one of the best rock stars in music history. However, he realized he’d regret not going.
The Beatles guitarist came to terms with being in the band
Nine years after The Beatles broke up, George told Rolling Stone he “never” thought of being a Beatle again. “Not in this life or any other life. I mean, a lot of the time it was fantastic, but when it really got into the mania it was a question of either stop or end up dead.
“We almost got killed in a number of situations – planes catching on fire, people trying to shoot the plane down and riots everywhere we went. It was aging me.”
For George, being a Beatle was like having a previous incarnation. He likely felt that way because he saw Beatle George as someone else. According to Rolling Stone, George once said, “The Beatles exist apart from myself. I am not really Beatle George.
“Beatle George is like a suit or shirt that I once wore on occasion, and until the end of my life people may see that shirt and mistake it for me. I play a little guitar, write a few tunes, make a few movies, but none of that’s really me. The real me is something else.”
However, in the 1980s, after Beatlemania had long settled, George came to terms with being a Beatle. In a 1987 interview, George told Creem Magazine, “Well, I’ve had a lot of years. It was terrible around ’69, and in that period: everybody’d seen the movie ‘Let It Be’ and it was really tense and nasty. And the years that followed that were hard because we were all sort of shellshocked from the ’60s.
“But as things have settled down I’ve come to terms with it and it’s sunk into the past. We’ve gotten older and new generations have come along, I spent years avoiding interviews and going on TV to get to a point where I could go out, walk down the street and go in a shop and just do regular little things that ordinary people do.
“Everything’s cool and it’s quite enjoyable. And now, if somebody comes up and says, ‘Alright, George,’ and they just congratulate you and thank you for all the music you did in the past and what you’ve been doing -that’s nice. It’s the concentrated mania that would make anybody go crazy.”
George joked with his wife, Olivia, that since The Beatles weren’t going away, he might as well get some respect. So, maybe that’s why George went to The Beatles’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
George Harrison said going to The Beatles’ Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction didn’t mean anything to him before attending
Initially, George didn’t care about The Beatles’ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It didn’t mean anything to him, and he almost didn’t attend. However, his opinions changed once he arrived at the ceremony.
“Well, I must say, it didn’t mean anything to me until I got there because, you know, it’s just some idea somebody had and it’s only been two or three years, it didn’t really mean that much to me,” George told MuchMusic. “But somebody said, ‘It might not seem like much now, but it’s history, and you’ll enjoy it.’ So, I went along, and I was glad I went.
“Had a great night after everybody settled down; it was a bit hectic. It was fantastic just to see all those people—Little Richard and all the guys there. I really enjoyed it. But now, as I’ve got my little statue that says, ‘The Beatles,’ ‘The Hall of Fame,’ and I’m sure as it goes more into the future, it’s going to be something which I’m certainly glad I didn’t miss it.”
Having come to terms with The Beatles, George felt comfortable attending the group’s Hall of Fame induction. Plus, he would’ve regretted not going. However, it’s still surprising George attended at all.
George wouldn’t have felt comfortable accepting his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction
George never got used to fame. He felt uncomfortable that hoards of screaming girls constantly wanted a piece of him and The Beatles. Soon, George became disenchanted with adulation. It warped his nerves and bored him simultaneously. Thankfully, George found spirituality, and it cleansed his soul. He discovered his true self and embarked on a spiritual God-conscious journey.
So, it was no surprise he disliked being awarded for his work. It was all fake to him. If he were going to get any appreciation from anyone, it would be from God. He only played music to be closer to his maker anyway. George didn’t like when fans treated him like a deity. It was blasphemous.
However, on top of it all, he simply didn’t care. Nothing in life held him down. His ego had been stretched enough. In Martin Scorsese’s 2011 documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Olivia explained that George gave awards and honors little thought.
“George had maximum amount of diversion in life,” she said. “Towards the end of his life, I’d say, ‘Oh, they want to give you this award thing.’ He said, ‘I don’t want it. Tell them to get another monkey.’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, but you know, it’s a really nice one. You should have this.’
“And he’d say, ‘Well, if you want it so bad, you go and get it. I’m not going. I’m not doing that anymore.’ Because it’s just a big diversion… He really did draw the line, and I really admired him for that.”
Getting an award, even being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, would’ve been a diversion from the actual mission of finding God and connecting with him. George didn’t live in the material world where awards were necessary anyway. What he wanted most in life was to descend to the next plane of existence.
So, it’s surprising George attended The Beatles’ induction in the first place. At least he didn’t regret not going, unlike Paul McCartney.
