George Harrison's Final Words To Ringo Starr Sum Up Their Entire Friendship

When Ringo Starr visited his old friend George Harrison in 2001, the former Beatles had an emotional exchange. The two men, who’d been as close as brothers at times but also weathered some potentially devastating storms, let everything crumble away and were simply there for each other. In fact, Harrison’s final words to Starr will bring a tear to the eye of fans of any age.

Beatlemania

Honestly, The Beatles need no introduction, beyond some simple table-setting. So, here’s the gist: their eight years as the biggest band in the world changed music, profoundly shaped mainstream culture, and turned four young lads from Liverpool into lifelong icons. In fact, they were so vitally important that when they broke up in 1970, their fans were bereft, almost as if they’d lost a loved one.

The break-up

In truth, the disbanding of The Beatles had been building for several years before Paul McCartney sent out his earth-shattering press release. Being the most famous people in the world had become an albatross around the necks of the boys in the band. They were burned out and their personal relationships had begun to suffer under the weight of such intense expectation.

Internal power struggle

To most fans, the song-writing partnership of McCartney and John Lennon is what drove the band to global success. But behind the scenes, the two pals would butt heads constantly, with Lennon admitting in a 1973 interview, “If you can’t scream and yell at your best friend, who can you scream and yell at?” They wound up in a power struggle for creative control of the band.

The Quiet Beatle

In the end, it’s believed that the other group members all became disillusioned with McCartney’s dominating presence. And another spanner in the works came when George Harrison, often dubbed the “Quiet Beatle,” felt his burgeoning song-writing talents were being ignored. He once complained that the band would record eight Lennon/McCartney songs before any of his efforts were given a chance.