George Harrison Used His 1991 Japanese Tour as an Excuse to Stop Smoking
George Harrison said one of the reasons why he agreed to do his 1991 Japanese tour with Eric Clapton was so he could stop smoking. The former Beatle needed a reason to stop. Doing a 12-date tour in Japan was reason enough.
George Harrison started smoking at 13
During an interview (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George told Scott Muni that he’d started smoking at 13.
In 1987, he told Charles Bermant (per George Harrison on George Harrison) that since he started smoking as a kid, he’d done it “off and on. You know, something like this, it’s, ah, on.”
George Harrison used his 1991 Japanese tour as an excuse to stop touring
In 1991, George found himself in a mental and physical rut. He didn’t know what to do next and wasn’t in the healthiest state. When Clapton told George that many people had been asking about him, he got a bit embarrassed. His friend suggested they do a short 12-show tour of Japan.
The Japanese people were tame audience members. Plus, George had Clapton and his band. It would be stress-free and get George out of his mental rut. The tour would also revive him physically; it would get him to stop smoking.
George told Muni, “I’ve been smoking for years, and I was trying to give up smoking for probably twenty years. And on many occasions, I did, whether it be for a day, a week, or in some cases maybe even a month, but I always got back on it.
“I was thinking part of the reason for me to do the tour was that I had to … if I was ever going to sing again, I had to really stop smoking because I was getting to the point where it wasn’t a joke. And so I thought—I did it the other way around, most people end up smoking on tour, I did it the other way—I said, ‘If I’m going to be able to tour, I’m going to have to give up smoking.’
“So I booked the tour on the basis that it would give me a very big reason to make the effort, just to get myself together.”
George told Goldmine, “Off and on, over all the years, I kept trying to stop smoking–but I found it very difficult. So I used the tour as a motive, some goal in life, and that’s what I did. I thought, ‘I’ll tour, because if I don’t I’ll just be at home smoking my brains out for the rest of my life–and dying.’ So I just jacked it all in.”
George explained that usually, a smoker would smoke more on tour, but he was able to quit cold turkey. He told one journalist, “I had to get myself out of a rut, and I was just smoking, been smoking all my life…”
Once he stopped smoking, George felt free
George used his 1991 Japanese tour to stop smoking and “test how it is for myself, for my own stamina. That’s what I was worried about… I feel quite good, I can get up there and sing and can breathe.”
Once he stopped smoking, he could do the 12-show tour without issues. George told the Chicago Tribune, “I feel better than I have in 20 years. I’m very straight. I don’t even drink.”
George told Goldmine, “It really did me good. I got very strong in my voice now. That’s been since last June now, and I just feel so happy to have got free of that horrible curse! It’s one of the most disgusting things things man has ever invented.
“I got myself kinda fit–I mean, not too fit, but more fit that I would’ve been if I’d just been hanging out not doing anything.”
Who knows what would’ve happened to George if he hadn’t used his tour as an excuse to stop smoking. However, by the time he stopped smoking, the damage to his lungs was already done and ultimately killed him. Still, it’s good that George felt good on his last tour.
