George Harrison’s 12-Year-Old Son, Dhani, Joined Him on Stage to Perform for the First Time to 50,000 Fans
During his 1991 Japanese tour, George Harrison‘s 12-year-old son, Dhani, joined him on stage to perform for the first time to an audience of 50,000. It was an impressive first gig for a boy who wasn’t even sure he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
George Harrison’s son, Dhani, was 8 when he saw his father perform for the first time
When George Harrison’s son was growing up, his father’s friends, including Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty, frequently visited. However, having famous musicians over the house was normal. Dhani grew up around tons of great music, but George didn’t show him The Beatles.
Eventually, George’s son learned about the band without his father’s help through Yellow Submarine. However, he fell in love with older music, including Chuck Berry. Dhani was 8 years old when he saw his father perform for the first time. George joined members of ELO and other musicians for a rendition of “Johnny B. Goode” at the Heart Beat ’86 benefit concert.
A year later, Dhani saw George play a significant role in the Prince’s Trust Concert. Instead of being amazed at seeing his father perform, Dhani was upset George didn’t play any Berry songs.
“When I did that Prince’s Trust concert last June — that was the first time he ever saw me hold a guitar onstage in front of people,” George told 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.’
“I did my two cute songs: ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’ He came back after the show, and I said, ‘What did you think?’ 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!'”
The first time George’s son performed on stage
Watching the Prince’s Trust Concert, George’s son had no idea he’d soon join his father on stage. During George’s 1991 Japanese tour, a 12-year-old Dhani joined his father to perform to 50,000 fans.
For a while, Dhani resisted following in George’s footsteps. He did everything not to go into music, including attending military school and college for industrial design and physics. Once his father’s health deteriorated, Dhani realized it was futile, pushing music away from his life.
During an interview with iNews, Dhani seemed to have made peace with following in his father’s footsteps. He did have a pretty good first gig, after all.
“The first time I played on stage was with my dad at Tokyo Dome baseball arena in front of 50,000 people when I was 12,” Dhani said. “My joke to my mates was always that I’m working my way back down to playing in a pub in front of four people. Do your music career in reverse. Living the nightmare.”
George wanted Dhani to feel ‘that buzz’ of being on stage
In 1992, George talked about his son’s first performance to a fan on Rockline (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters).
The fan asked, “The question I have is, I heard when you played Japan back in December that your son Dhani was up on stage during the encore of “Roll Over Beethoven” at some of the shows. I was interested to know if he’s musically oriented. Are you teaching him guitar, and is he into your music?”
George said, “Yeah, well, he was there for a couple of shows as was another friend of mine’s boy who also plays guitar, and I just thought it was good for the kids because they had been there for three days at the Tokyo Dome, and they just loved the musicians and the band, and we just got them on there for the last segment just so they could have that buzz, you know.”
“But he is. He loves music, he loves the guitar, and I don’t really teach him. I tried to show him a few things if he wants to know, but he’s got a teacher in school. It’s a guy who comes in and teaches the few kids guitar, and it’s much nicer than [when] I was at school.
“You know you couldn’t learn guitar in my day. But this fellow, he comes and he says, ‘Tell me what you want to learn…’ And he says, ‘I want to learn the solo to [Dire Straits’] ‘Sultans of Swing’!’ And then the guy shows him, and he comes home and practices it. It’s cool, it really is.”
George’s son didn’t immediately go into music, but at least he did eventually. Now, Dhani has made a name for himself, and it might not have happened if his father didn’t give him the push he needed to go out and perform as a child.
