He was the first Beatle to have a solo number one

His memorable use of the sitar on Norwegian Wood was said to be responsible for introducing the Indian instrument to British pop.

The Indian influence was one that would be present in his music and his life for the rest of his career.

After The Beatles split up, Harrison became the first ex-band member to have a solo number one hit when My Sweet Lord reached the top in Britain and America in 1971.

But the gloss of its success wore off when he was successfully sued for plagiarism by the publishers of The Chiffons' 1964 hit She's So Fine.

The song was taken from the acclaimed triple album All Things Must Pass, made up of unreleased material Harrison had been working on for a number of years.

Discography

Albums 1968 Wonderwall 1969 Electronic Sound Albums 1970 All Things Must Pass 1972 The Concert For Bangladesh (with other artists) 1973 Living In The Material World 1974 Dark Horse 1975 Extra Texture 1976 Thirty Three And A Third 1977 The Best Of George Harrison 1979 George Harrison 1981 Somewhere In England 1982 Gone Troppo 1987 Cloud Nine 1989 Best Of Dark Horse 1976-1989 1992 Live In Japan

Next single Bangla Desh was released after a plea from Ravi Shankar to help famine victims in the Indian subcontinent, and was backed by charity concerts featuring Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

His next album, Living in the Material World, was not released until 1973 - but spawned the number one US hit Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).

But from there, his musical career began to lose its way.

Two singles followed in the mid-70s - Ding Dong and You - but only reached number 38 in the UK chart, while a US tour was described as disastrous and a string of albums failed to meet expectations.

In 1980, his record label Warner said his new album Somewhere In England was not good enough - and told him to go back and keep working.

Disappointment

The finished version was approved, and included the track All Those Years Ago, featuring contributions from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

But the disappointment of his follow-up, Gone Troppo, led many to believe his recording career was finished.

After several years of pursuing other projects, he was slowly persuaded back into the recording business - working on a Greenpeace benefit album and a TV tribute to guitarist Carl Perkins, on whom it is said Harrison modelled his style.

Harrison soon rediscovered chart success, hitting number one in the US and number two in the UK with his version of Rudy Clark's Got My Mind Set On You.

Travelling Wilburys

The accompanying album, Cloud Nine, was produced by ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, and saw a return to commercial success for Harrison.

When Harrison and Lynne were working on Harrison's next album in 1988, the only space available to rehearse was Bob Dylan's garage - where they found themselves joined by Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.

The five started working together, decided to form a band and called themselves The Travelling Wilburys, with the result being hit single Handle With Care and two albums.

But Beatles royalties meant he was never forced into projects he did not want to do - especially after the releases of 1995's Anthology and 2000's 1 album.