Dhani Harrison | |
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_(53273959061)_(cropped).jpg) Harrison performing in 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Ayrton Wilbury |
| Born | (1978-08-01)1 August 1978 (age 46) Windsor,Berkshire, England |
| Origin | London, England |
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| Years active | 2001–present |
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Dhani Harrison (/ˈdæni/DAN-ee; born 1 August 1978) is a British-American musician, composer and singer-songwriter. He is the only child ofGeorge Harrison, lead guitarist ofthe Beatles, andOlivia Harrison. Dhani debuted as a professional musician assisting in recording his father's final album,Brainwashed, and completing it with the assistance ofJeff Lynne after his father's death in November 2001.[1]
Harrison formed his own band,thenewno2, in 2002 and has performed at festivals, includingCoachella, whereSpin magazine called their performance one of the "best debut performances of the festival." The band also playedLollapalooza three times, with Harrison joining the festival's founderPerry Farrell on a cover ofThe Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" at 2010's event.[2] In 2017, Harrison released his debut solo albumIn Parallel. The 2019 filmIn///Paralive, showcases the live version of his debut solo album and was recorded in the round atHenson Studios in Los Angeles. Harrison's 2019 single, "Motorways (Erase It)", was described byRolling Stone as "a psychedelic track with a robust beat".[3]
In 2013, Harrison launched his career as a composer. Alongside his writing partnerPaul Hicks, Harrison scored theWarner Bros. movieBeautiful Creatures. Harrison has gone on to score the music for the TV showGood Girls Revolt, AMC'sThe Divide,Seattle Road,[4]Learning to Drive,[5] and for thePaul Giamatti–produced showOutsiders.[6] In 2018, Harrison and his writing partner Hicks received a nomination for 'Best Music Score' at theInternational Documentary Association Awards for their work on theSundance Film Festival Award Winning documentaryMatangi/Maya/M.I.A. Most recently, Harrison wrote and recorded the title song for theNetflix original seriesDogs and, along with Paul Hicks, scored the four-partHBO documentary seriesThe Case Against Adnan Syed, theBill Gates Netflix docuseriesInside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, and the 2020RZA movieCut Throat City.
Harrison's music collaborations span a diverse range of genres that have seen him tour withEric Clapton, appear on theWu-Tang Clan track "The Heart Gently Weeps", and joinPearl Jam live on stage several times over the years.[7] One of Harrison's notable collaborations was in 2004 at theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he appeared alongsideTom Petty, Jeff Lynne, andPrince on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",[8] which was performed to mark the posthumous induction of his father. Harrison guests on theUNKLE albumThe Road: Part II/Lost Highway, and also appears onPerry Farrell's solo album,Kind Heaven. Harrison united with his long-time family friend Jeff Lynne when he opened for Lynne's bandELO on the band's sold out 2019 North American summer tour.
Harrison was born on 1 August 1978 at HRH Princess Christian's Hospital inWindsor, Berkshire.[9] Harrison is named after the sixth and seventh notes of theIndian music scale,dha andni.[citation needed]Dhani is also araga inNorth Indian classical music.
He grew up with his parents inHenley-on-Thames, inFriar Park, the estate on which his father had lived since 1970. His mother, Olivia Harrison, is an American of Mexican descent. 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.[10]
Harrison attendedDolphin School nearTwyford, aMontessori method school, followed by Badgemore Primary School, Henley-on-Thames. He later attendedShiplake College, also near Henley, where he enrolled in theCombined Cadet Force,[11] and showed a keen interest in rowing which continued into his later years.[12]
Harrison is an alumnus ofBrown University, Rhode Island, where he studied industrial design and physics, earning a bachelor's degree.[13] Harrison pursued a career as a car designer atMcLaren Automotive[14] before deciding to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional musician.
Harrison assisted his father in home recording sessions which eventually became part of theBrainwashed album project. In this process he gained experience in performing and production techniques.
After his father's death in 2001, Harrison, in collaboration with Jeff Lynne, completed his father's final album,Brainwashed, which was released in 2002[15] and went on to win a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, in "Marwa Blues", at the46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004. Harrison participated in theConcert for George on the first anniversary of his father's death. The concert was organized byEric Clapton and featured some of his father's friends and collaborators, including former Beatles bandmatesPaul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Clapton,Billy Preston,Ravi Shankar, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty,Jim Keltner, andJoe Brown. Harrison played backup acoustic guitar for most of the concert. Before the finale, Paul McCartney relayed to the audience, "Olivia said that with Dhani up on stage, it looks like George stayed young and we all got old", referencing the physical similarities between father and son.[16]
In 2004 Harrison appeared onstage with Tom Petty,Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, Prince and others for a performance of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" during his father's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In March 2006, Harrison made a guest appearance onLiam Lynch's Podcast Video Variety Show,Lynchland.[17] They performed a duet that will appear on a Lynch album. He collaborated withJakob Dylan on theJohn Lennon song "Gimme Some Truth" for the Lennon tribute albumInstant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, which was released on 12 June 2007.[18]
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 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 theWu-Tang Clan's album8 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.[19] The song "Yomp" was featured as a downloadable song for theRock Band series, and "Crazy Tuesday" was featured as one of the 20 free songs that were downloadable with the purchase ofRock Band 2.
In August 2010, Dhani Harrison,Ben Harper andJoseph Arthur joined to formFistful of Mercy.[20]
In 2013, Harrison was the face ofGap's fall global campaign, entitled "Back To Blue."[21]
Harrison's dedication to his father's musical legacy resulted in a week long run of shows onConan in September 2014, dedicated to George Harrison,[22] which culminated in a sold outGeorge Fest event atThe Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, which was later released as an album and documentary. He participated inThe Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles the same year.
Harrison producedGeorge Fest, a live album and concert DVD package documenting The George Fest tribute concert in honor of his father. The tribute was held at theFonda Theatre in Los Angeles on 28 September 2014. The album and documentary were released on 26 February 2016.[23]
In 2017 Harrison played his first-ever solo show at thePanorama Festival in New York City.[24] Harrison released his first solo album,In Parallel, in October 2017.[25]
In 2019, he toured as the opening act forJeff Lynne'sELO, and typically performed with the group singing the vocals for theTraveling Wilburys song "Handle with Care."[26]
Following two live performances in Omeara, London, on 18 and 19 October 2023, Harrison's second solo album,Innerstanding, was released on 20 October 2023.[27]
In between working on albums, Harrison, along with Paul Hicks, began their film composing partnership scoring the 2013 filmBeautiful Creatures.[28] In 2014, they scored the filmLearning to Drive[29] and the television seriesThe Divide.[30] In 2016, they composed music for theAmazon Video television seriesGood Girls Revolt[31] and continue scoring the WGN TV seriesOutsiders.[32]
More recently, Harrison wrote and recorded the title song for theNetflix original seriesDogs and, along with Paul Hicks, scored the four-partHBO documentary seriesThe Case Against Adnan Syed and the 2020RZA movieCut Throat City.
Harrison married Sólveig "Sóla" Káradóttir in 2012. They announced their separation in 2016.[33][34] The couple had no children.[33]
Harrison collaborated in the development ofThe Beatles: Rock Band, amusic video game released on 9 September 2009 on theXbox 360,PlayStation 3 andWii gaming platforms. He 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 toApple 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."[35]
To promote the game's release, he appeared onThe 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 andMark Pender on guitar.
In 2009, Harrison told theChicago Tribune in an interview that he was "working onRock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game".[36]
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