George Harrison’s Wife Said He Clung Onto Tom Petty After They Met

George Harrison’s wife, Olivia, got to know Tom Petty well over the years. After the Heartbreakers musician befriended her husband, Olivia began spending a great deal of her time with Petty, his wife, and his children. She said that they quickly became like family to them. She explained that she knew Petty would become a fixture in her life because once Harrison met him, he wasn’t about to let him go.

The two musicians had an instantaneous connection

When Petty and Harrison became friends, Petty’s marriage was beginning to show cracks, and his relationship with his band was deteriorating. 

“I think I needed a friend really badly,” Petty said in the book Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes. “My friendship with the band was a different kind of friendship. And it was frayed. I’d become very lonely. George came along, and we got so close; it was like we had known each other in some other life or something. We were pals within minutes of meeting each other.”

He explained that Harrison was a healing presence in his life.

“I remember him saying to me a couple days after we’d known each other — he’s hugging me, holding me, and saying, ‘Tommy, you’re in my life now whether you like it or not,'” Petty explained. “It was like I’d been sent the very person I needed. He healed a lot of wounds.”

George Harrison’s wife said her husband wasn’t going to let Tom Petty go

Olivia Harrison said that the Petty family quickly became a regular presence in her home.

“Almost as soon as we met them, we spent more time with Tom and Jane Petty than with anyone but the Keltners,” she said. “They were family. We had Christmases together. They came to Friar Park. We’d just hang out, for hours and hours, with [the children] Dhani and Adria and Annakim playing together, staying up way too late, probably. Tom and George playing guitars and ukuleles. Between George, Tom, and Jane — a lot of cigarette smoke.”

She noted that her husband felt a deep, vital sense of kinship with Petty that he didn’t want to lose.

“Once George met Tom he wasn’t going to let him go,” she said. “He really enjoyed Tom’s company and loved his musical sensibilities.”

George Harrison’s wife said she was happy for Tom Petty’s continued presence in her life

Even after Harrison’s death, Petty remained an important presence in his family’s life. He told Olivia that he would be there for her whenever she needed him.

“I saw him again, back here in LA,” she said. “Both Tom and Dana [York, Petty’s second wife]. They were so kind. They sat in a room with me, put their arms around me. We all cried. And Tom said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not leaving you.’ And he meant that not just for the moment but for life. I have a special fondness for him. It makes you feel a little bit safer to know that someone like Tom is there for you. It’s a good umbrella to be standing under.”