George Harrison was one of the great cultural pioneers of modern times

On the anniversary of the Beatle’s death, Sean Smith celebrates the memory of a man who made a difference not just to music but to the world

George Harrison was the youngest of The Beatles (Getty)

Is it really 21 years since George Harrison became the second Beatle to leave us? He died in a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, after a long struggle with lung cancer on 29 November 2001.

Harrison was so much more than the understated, unfussy lead guitarist with the most famous pop group of all time. He deserves to be recognised as one of the great cultural pioneers of modern times – as a musician, a composer, a film producer, an innovator and as a man who used his fame to advocate for the causes that matter in the modern world.

Everyone has a favourite Beatles song, but those iconic riffs that introduced us to the sound of the Sixties and the hysteria of Beatlemania were based around the maestro of the melody.