As countless tragedies have demonstrated, fame and fortune can have a horrifying impact on the human consciousness. The monied and worshipped are exposed to conceit, harassment, paradoxical isolation and mental illness. Many aspects of The Beatles and their eminence in the 1960s were miraculous, including the foursome’s remarkable ability to cope with the pressures of fame.
After joining the hippie parade and dabbling with LSD, The Beatles sought spiritual enlightenment through more sustainable means. In a significant moment of their quest, the band visited India to practice transcendental meditation under the mentorship of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968. All four members benefited greatly from the experience, but none more so than George Harrison.
Harrison is often dubbed the ‘Quiet Beatle’, yet, according to his longtime friend Tom Petty, this couldn’t be further from the truth. “He never shut up,” the Heartbreakers leader told Rolling Stone in 2011. “He was the best hang you could imagine.” It transpires that Harrison was just “quiet” in the public eye since he never suited nor enjoyed global fame.
Although Harrison made spiritual ground in India, his quest began long before, at around the time the Beatles started earning serious dough. “By having the money, we found that money wasn’t the answer,” he reflected in Martin Scorsese’s Living in the Material World. “Because we had lots of material things that people spend their entire life to try and get. We managed to get them at quite an early age, and it was good, really, because we learned that that wasn’t it. We still lacked something, and that thing sometimes is the thing that religion is trying to give people.”
During his quest in India and subsequent friendship with sitar instructor Ravi Shankar, Harrison began to open his mind to Hindu beliefs and eventually aligned himself with the Krishna Consciousness. Fundamentally, this belief system seeks inner peace and an eternal connection to something greater than the individual being.
From Harrison’s deeply spiritual side, we can draw strong parallels to the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (Yusuf). In response to the pressures of fame and two near-death experiences, Stevens turned to religion to find balance in his life. In 1975, while swimming off the coast of Malibu, California, the songwriter got swept out by a riptide and nearly drowned. In this moment, he promised the sky above that he would devote his life to religion if he were spared.
Of course, Stevens survived the ordeal and began to learn about several religions. After reading the Quran, he decided that Islam was the best fit. In 1977, he converted to Islam and subsequently announced his retirement from music to embark on a journey of spiritual devotion.
During a 1979 appearance on the radio show Roundtable alongside Michael Jackson, Harrison discussed ‘Last Love Song’, a song from Back to Earth, Stevens’ last album before his 2017 comeback. “Cat Stevens has been a consistent person that I’ve enjoyed,” Harrison praised. “I’ve always liked his voice; he’s got a lovely voice, and he always seems to have style, class, you know? Good melodies, good production.”
The former Beatle noted the “heavy ups and downs” Stevens had been through, referring to the 1975 drowning incident and a severe bout of tuberculosis six years prior. “Cat Stevens had a lot of heavy things going on in his life,” Harrison reiterated, “and I think it comes across in his music; he’s a very emotional sort of singer. I like that a lot.”
In return, Stevens has always spoken fondly of Harrison. On what would have been the late Beatle’s 80th birthday in February 2023, the ‘Wild World’ singer posted a tribute on his social media page. “George Harrison had an immense influence on me, spiritually, from the very beginning,” he wrote. “We both understood that music was the key to something much higher. ‘Here Comes The Sun’ represents the returning of light and hope to a seriously dark and broken world. Its message could not be more suited.”
Four months later, Stevens performed a cover of Harrison’s Abbey Road classic on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.