A blue plaque has been placed at George Harrison‘s childhood home in Liverpool.
The late Beatles member’s widow Olivia Harrison unveiled the tribute at the house in Arnold Grove, Liverpool. Per the BBC, she went on to say that it was “a source of family pride”.
The rock icon – who passed in 2001 at the age of 58 after battling cancer – was born in 1943 and lived in the terraced house in the Wavertree district of the city until the age of seven.
The plaque is one of the first official English Heritage blue plaques to be placed on a property outside London.
Literally today in Beatles history Olivia Harrison unveiled the Blue Plaque for George at his childhood home Arnold Grove. #GeorgeHarrison #OliviaHarrison #LiverpoolBeatlesMuseum #MathewStreet #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/C8whMBuBXE
— Liverpool Beatles Museum (@beatlesmuseum_) May 24, 2024
#Video: Olivia Harrison talks of her pride that a blue plaque has honoured her late husband @GeorgeHarrison, at the home he was born in.
It's just the 3rd blue plaque outside of London as part of a new @HistoricEngland scheme.
➡️ https://t.co/zcMELAyNzf#TheBeatles pic.twitter.com/DpH6rlHr4E
— Liverpool City Council (@lpoolcouncil) May 24, 2024
What a fantastic day celebrating the unveiling of the @HistoricEngland Blue Plaque on 12 Arnold Grove – the childhood home of George Harrison.
Thank you so much to Historic England and to Olivia Harrison for such a great day! pic.twitter.com/VDNGpLb3pq
— Strawberry Field Liverpool (@strawberryfield) May 24, 2024
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“To look at, it is just like Coronation Street: no garden, door straight on to the street. It was OK that house, very pleasant being little and it was always sunny in summer,” wrote Harrision of the home in his 1980 memoir I, Me, Mine.
“There was something about these small family places and how you learn to respect other people’s space,” Harrison’s widow said (per the BBC). “He had a freedom where he could go run down the alley and visit his nan and then back home. That was a big deal for a little five-year-old kid.
“This was his cocoon, and out of that came such an incredible man with such vision and compassion and sensibility.”
Steve Rotheram, mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said (per The Independent): “Throughout his incredible life, George would often come home to Liverpool to relive the memories that shaped his childhood.”
He continued: “His career might have taken him around the world – but he never lost his love for this city. He was also a deeply spiritual man who used his platform to spread a message of peace and acceptance, which are values that Scousers are renowned for.
“It is for that reason that George will always be regarded as one of Liverpool’s greatest sons and it is wonderful to see a permanent tribute to his life in the community that helped to raise him.”
Harrison’s blue plaque marks the third to be displayed outside of London after the scheme was recently extended beyond the capital.
In other news, Paul McCartney was recently confirmed as becoming the first billionaire musician in the UK, with his net worth skyrocketing over the past year.