February 25, 2022, would have been his 79th birthday, and in the years since his tragic death, The Beatles' popularity has grown even stronger. (Express)
George brutally shared his thoughts on other musicians in the industry. In particular, he trashed Neil Young’s music, especially the track Around the World, saying “I can’t stand it,” after he was asked about the popular musician. The feeling wasn’t mutual though, as Young loved the iconic group, even admitting they inspired his career.
In 1975, Young said: “I remember singing Beatles tunes… the first song I ever sang in front of people was It Won’t Be Long and then Money (That’s What I Want). That was in Calvin High School [Winnipeg] cafeteria. My big moment.” (via Rolling Stone)
Young and The Beatles have a complicated history, as the two have crossed paths on several occasions. In 1999, the Heart of Gold singer inducted McCartney into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
However, that same year the Beatles guitarist gave an infamously brutal interview about his contemporary.
During a jamming session between Harrison, Dave Stewart, Chucho Merchán and Bob Geldof, the latter asked The Beatles legend what he thought of Young.
According to Far Out, Harrison replied: “I’m not a Neil Young fan.” Geldof then says he thought Young was a great guitar player, but George hit back saying: “I hate it, yeah I can’t stand it.”
Mimicking Young, Harrison says: “It’s good for a laugh. We did this show with him, I saw it from the other side of the stage and looked around, I looked at Eric and said, ‘What’s going on?’ He did the solo in the middle, then he kind of looked at me like – ‘Don’t look at me, it’s not me.'”
But, he wasn’t the only Beatle to “hate” the singer’s music. In an interview in 1980, John Lennon was asked what he thought of the song Hey, Hey, My, My (Into the Black).
He revealed: “I hate it. It’s better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out. If he was talking about burning out like Sid Vicious, forget it. I don’t appreciate the worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or dead John Wayne. […] No, thank you. I’ll take the living and the healthy.”
