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Dhani Harrison

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Dhani Harrison
Harrison performing in Seattle, Washington on 9 November 2010
Harrison performing in Seattle, Washington on 9 November 2010
Background information
Birth nameDhani Harrison
Also known asAyrton Wilbury
Born (1978-08-01) 1 August 1978 (age 46)
Windsor, Berkshire, England
GenresAlternative rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter, author
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, synthesizer, drums, mandolin, ukulele, sitar
Years active1997–present
LabelsDark Horse/EMI

Dhani Harrison (born 1 August 1978) is an English musician and the son of the Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison and Olivia Harrison. Harrison debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album, Brainwashed, and completing it with the assistance of Jeff Lynne after his father's death in November 2001.[1] Harrison formed his own band, thenewno2, in 2006.

Harrison's first name is pronounced similarly to the name Danny but with an aspirated 'd'. He is named after the 6th and 7th notes of the Indian music scale, 'dha' and 'ni'. 'Dhani' is also a raga in north Indian classical music.

Early life

Harrison grew up with his parents in Henley-on-Thames, in Friar Park, the estate on which his father had lived since 1970. One of Harrison's earliest memories, from the age of six, is receiving a drumming lesson from his father's friend and bandmate, "Uncle" Ringo Starr. He recalled that before the lesson, he had been an avid drummer. However, when Starr began to play, the loud noise frightened him so much that he ran out of the room screaming and never used his drum kit again.[2]

Like his father, Dhani Harrison showed a keen interest in Formula One auto racing. He accompanied George to Grand Prix races around the world.

Harrison attended Badgemore Primary school in Henley-on-Thames, then Dolphin School near Twyford, a Montessori method school. He later attended Shiplake College, also near Henley, where he showed a keen interest in rowing.

Harrison is an alumnus of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, where he studied physics and industrial design. After graduating from Brown in 2001, Harrison pursued a career as an aerodynamicist; however, he decided to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional musician.[3]

Musical career

After George Harrison's death on 29 November 2001, Dhani Harrison, in collaboration with Jeff Lynne, completed George's final album, Brainwashed, which was released in 2002.[4] He participated in the Concert for George on the first anniversary of George's death. The concert was organized by Eric Clapton and featured some of George's friends and collaborators, including former Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Clapton, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Jim Keltner, and Joe Brown. Dhani Harrison played backup acoustic guitar for most of the concert. Before the finale, McCartney relayed to the audience, "Olivia said that with Dhani up on stage, it looks like George stayed young and we all got old".[5]

In March 2006, Harrison made a guest appearance on Liam Lynch's Podcast Video Variety Show, Lynchland.[6] They performed a duet that will appear on a Lynch album. He collaborated with Jakob Dylan on the John Lennon song "Gimme Some Truth" for the Lennon tribute album "Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur", which was released on 12 June 2007.[7] Dhani is credited on two unreleased Traveling Wilburys tracks under the pseudonym Ayrton Wilbury, a tribute to Ayrton Senna.[citation needed]

In April 2006, it was announced that Harrison's band, thenewno2, had begun recording. The band released a music video, "Choose What You're Watching", on its website. thenewno2 features Harrison on lead guitar, synthesiser and vocals and Oli Hecks on drums and synths. He also contributed to the 2007 EP by Heather Porcaro and the Heartstring Symphony, Rooney's 2007 CD Calling the World. He was involved in a re-working of the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" entitled "The Heart Gently Weeps", which was the first single on the Wu-Tang Clan's album, 8 Diagrams, released in December 2007.

Thenewno2's debut album, You Are Here was released online on 11 August 2008 and in stores on 31 March 2009.[8] The song "Yomp" was featured as a downloadable song for the Rock Band series, and "Crazy Tuesday" was featured as one of the 20 free songs that were downloadable with the purchase of Rock Band 2.

On 14 April 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce posthumously awarded George Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame. After Olivia Harrison gave a short speech about her late husband, Dhani Harrison uttered the "Hare Krishna" mantra.[9]

In August 2010, Dhani Harrison, Ben Harper and Joseph Arthur joined together to form Fistful of Mercy.[10]

Personal life

Harrison married long-time girlfriend Solveig 'Sola' Karadottir in June 2012. Sola's father is Kári Stefánsson, co-founder of deCODE Genetics.[11]

Video games

In 2009, it was announced that Harrison was collaborating in the development of The Beatles: Rock Band, a music video game released on 9 September 2009 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii gaming platforms. Dhani Harrison was instrumental in the creation of the game and urged McCartney and Starr to participate. When asked about the game production Dhani stated, "I took the project to Apple and sort of convinced everybody to have a presentation. My job description is... being enthusiastic. We've been working on it for the past two years. This is the first one that is going to be totally, historically accurate. It's been a real headache, but it's been the most enjoyable work I've done in my life."[12]

To promote the game's release, he appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on 8 September 2009 and at the end of the show they played "Birthday" with Dhani on drums, Conan O'Brien on bass, and Aaron Bleyaert and Mark Pender on guitar.

Harrison told the Chicago Tribune in an interview that he is "working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game".[13]

References

  1. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (Thursday 8 May 2003). "A Family Affair". Culture/Music news section. The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Ringo Starr/Dhani Harrison (18 November 2003). Concert for George (DVD). Los Angeles, California, USA: Rhino Records. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ^ Cable, Simon (15 June 2011). "Here comes the son: Dhani Harrison is dead-ringer for his father at Beatles show". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  4. ^ New George Harrison Tracks Previewed Online
  5. ^ Simon Briggs (2 December 2002). "Celebrating the quiet Beatle" (Document). Telegraph. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Lynchland Episode 03
  7. ^ Amnesty International USA Artists Unite in Donating Tracks to Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, to be Released by Warner Bros. Records June 12 Retrieved on 2009-03-07.
  8. ^ Gary Graff (13 March 2009). "Beatle progeny Dhani Harrison a reluctant musician" (Document). Reuters. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Solvej, Schou. "Beatle George Harrison gets Hollywood star - The Daily Breeze". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  10. ^ Sellers, Ben (25 August 2010). "Meet Fistful of Mercy". fredricksburg.com. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Dhani Harrison to Wed Iceland deCODE Chief's Daughter". icelandreview.com. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  12. ^ Gary Graff (11 March 2009). "Dhani Harrison Talks New Band, Beatles Video Game" (Document). Billboard. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Greg Kot (6 November 2009). "The ever-changing Thenewno2". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 November 2009.

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