George Harrison’s Wife Said His Problems Were ‘Unresolvable’: ‘He Had Demons’
George Harrison’s first wife, Pattie Boyd, was with him when he began dedicating himself to spirituality, and she watched as he struggled to find balance in his life. She explained that he had difficulty finding “normality” in his life. According to Boyd, this could have been because Harrison wanted a spiritually fulfilling life, but he also enjoyed more earthly pleasures. She believed that the schism between these two things made his problems unsolvable.
George Harrison’s wife said he lacked normality in his life
After tiring of the level of fame he’d maintained since he was a teenager, Harrison found a sense of peace in dedicated spiritual practice.
“It was like reaching the top of a wall and then looking over and seeing that there’s so much more on the other side,” he said in 1982, per The Guardian. “So I felt it was part of my duty to say, ‘Oh, OK, maybe you are thinking this is all you need — to be rich and famous — but actually it isn’t.'”
Still, he liked some elements of the rich and famous lifestyle, including the many parties he attended.
“He would be spiritual and clean and would meditate for hour after hour, with no chance of normality,” she wrote in the book Wonderful Tonight. “During those periods he was totally withdrawn and I felt alone and isolated. Then, as if all the pleasures of the flesh were too hard to resist, he would stop meditating, snort coke, have fun, flirting and partying. Although it was more companionable, there was no normality in that either.”
George Harrison’s wife said he struggled with demons
Though he felt a renewed sense of purpose through his spirituality, Harrison still struggled to find peace in his life.
“He had demons, he had battles,” Boyd said, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson. “He found life difficult. To have absolutely anything and anybody you want, in every area, for a sensitive person there has to come a time when you question it. He felt he had to make choices then, and everything did become a bit more polarized. The temptation, the temptation … it’s the Oscar Wilde thing.”
She said that there were irreconcilable differences between the two kinds of lifestyles he wanted.
“He found the extremes of experience very difficult, very frustrating. Very,” Boyd said. “He wanted to pursue both paths. He wanted to pursue spirituality, but he also loved and really enjoyed being a wealthy, famous and beautiful human being, and everything that that offered as well. It is unresolvable.”
His devotion to his spiritual practice was still genuine
Though Harrison struggled to trade in all worldly pleasures, those who knew him said his devotion to his spirituality was genuine.
“He liked to live a nice life,” author Jon Taplin said, adding, “He liked good things, he liked to smoke reefer and have a drink, and I don’t think he had contradictions about that. He was not an ascetic but he did have a spiritual center that was truly genuine.”
