The late George Harrison had an uncomfortable relationship with touring, preferring to keep his artistry aligned to the studio rather than on the stage. Nevertheless, Harrison occasionally dipped his toes into the arena of live performance, with his final concert taking place at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall in 1992.
With The Beatles, Harrison famously stopped touring in 1966 following an extensive, pioneering set of shows across the United States. It made logical sense for the Fab Four to focus on studio recordings instead of playing live, as there was a severe lack of infrastructure to cater to the demands of their performances. For example, many in the crowd at their historic concert at New York’s Shea Stadium were unable to actually hear the band’s music.
Additionally, touring was yet to become the lucrative business it is today, and selling records was far more profitable. Therefore, stepping back from the road allowed The Beatles to spend more time at home with their families and focus on being prolific in the studio.
Once the group went their separate ways, Paul McCartney was the only member to devote himself to touring. However, half a decade after their split, Harrison finally committed to hitting the road alongside Ravi Shankar at the end of 1974. The duo played 45 dates, marking his last set of shows for 16 years.
In 1991, Harrison teamed up with Eric Clapton for a run of performances in Japan, but again, it didn’t lead to a permanent love affair with the art of playing live. Following the end of the tour, Harrison would only make two more appearances, with his final show at Madison Square Garden in October 1992 during a tribute concert for Bob Dylan.
While it was his last public appearance, as he only played two songs, it can’t be classified as his final concert. Instead, that mantle belongs to a show he delivered at London’s Royal Albert Hall on April 6th, 1992, for the National Law Party.
The political party were recently formed and shared the same belief system relating to Transcendental Meditation as Harrison. Despite his attempts to raise money for the NLP, they failed to connect with the general public. They only received 0.19% of votes at the general election despite contesting 310 seats across the United Kingdom.
While they failed to bring about meaningful change, the formation of the NLP did cause Harrison to grace the Royal Albert Hall stage to deliver his final full-length concert. The setlist primarily consisted of tracks from The Beatles, with Harrison delighting the audience with hits such as ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘Something’, ‘Piggies’ and ‘Taxman’.
Furthermore, during the encore, Harrison was also joined by Ringo Starr to perform ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Roll Over Beethoven’. In total, The Beatles guitarist played 19 songs for the London crowd.
Following the end of his tour with Clapton, it needed to be a worthwhile cause to entice Harrison to hit the stage. As Dylan was a close friend, he wasn’t prepared to miss the opportunity to pay his respects, and he also fervently believed in the NLP, hence why he helped their fundraising campaign. Perhaps, if it wasn’t for his illness, Harrison would have again returned to the stage, but it’s unlikely he’d have ever agreed to another extensive tour.
Watch footage from Harrison’s final complete performance below.
