Dhani Harrison, son of famed Beatles guitarist George Harrison, became the second child of the former Mop Tops to win a Grammy Award. Zak Starkey (son of Ringo) won the Grammy for producing Got to Be Tough, Best Reggae Album by Toots & The Maytals in 2021.
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Dhani took home his first Grammy at the recent 64th Annual Grammy Awards this year for remastering his father’s legendary album, All Things Must Pass, in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
While other children of the Beatles, including perhaps most notably Julian Lennon, have been nominated for the award, Dhani and Zak are the two that have taken one home.
Dhani was not at the award show to accept it, but his mother, Olivia, was on hand to pick up her son’s trophy, which he earned for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for the anniversary work.
A statement on George’s official website read, “Decades in the making and lovingly crafted by the Harrison family, All Things Must Pass has now been completely remixed from the original tapes for this stunning release that fulfills Harrison’s longtime desire.”
Said Olivia in her acceptance speech, “58 Years ago George Harrison got his first Grammy when The Beatles won Best New Artist. It’s here for you. This music is here for you. It’s full of hope and compassion and healing and rock and roll.”
Olivia, herself, is now the third wife (or widow) of a Beatle to win a Grammy, following Linda McCartney (who won two with her husband Paul for their work in the band Wings). Yoko Ono also won Album of the Year with her late husband John for their work on his last album.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Dhani said, “We wanted it to be a time capsule, something that will last another fifty or a hundred years, so that’s why we put it in this artisanal-looking Victorian ale chest, something that captured the feeling of Friar Park and the passing of time.
“I’m really trying to draw everyone into the feeling of what it must have been like for him to start off at 27, renovating a house that took him the rest of his life, and at the same time, his band had broken up, he had Hare Krishnas living here, he was separating from his wife, his mother passed away during the making the record—it was a lot of really spiritual moments for my dad with this record.”
Photo by Richard Dilello
