Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr pay emotional tribute to Beatles bandmate George Harrison on 20th anniversary of his death: ‘I miss my friend so much’

Paul and Ringo have spoken out about their late friend (Picture: Rex)

Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr have posted poignant tributes to their fellow Beatles bandmate George Harrison on the 20th anniversary of his death.

Harrison died at the age of 58 from cancer on November 29, 2001, having undergone an operation in May to remove a cancerous growth from his lung and been treated for a brain tumour in July of that same year.

Fourth Beatle John Lennon had been the band’s first loss when he was tragically shot dead by a gunman outside his apartment in New York in 1980.

Sir Paul took to Twitter to mark the date of Harrison’s death, sharing a throwback picture of them jamming together on their guitars in the studio, writing: ‘Hard to believe that we lost George 20 years ago. I miss my friend so much. Love Paul.’

Drummer Sir Ringo shared an even earlier photo of him and George together in their earlier Beatles bowl-cut heyday, dressed in black tie and puffing away on cigars.

‘Peace and love to you George, I miss you man,’ he commented, before signing off with his customary ‘Peace and love, Ringo’.

Harrison found worldwide fame with the Beatles from the age of 20 in 1963, after the huge success of their fourth single She Loves You.

Following the band’s split in 1970, he went on to a successful solo career, including early smash hit My Sweet Lord, and in 1988 he co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty.

He was married twice – first to model Patti Boyd from 1966 to 1977, and then to Olivia Arias from 1978 until his death.

The Beatles in 1964 with bandmate John Lennon, who was killed in 1980 (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

His and Olivia’s son, Dhani Harrison, enjoys a successful career as a musician, composer and singer-songwriter in his own right.

The Beatles have recently been in the headlines as fans celebrated the release of Peter Jackson’s new documentary, The Beatles: Get Back.

The three-part docuseries is centered not just on the lives and careers of John Lennon, Sir Ringo, Sir Paul and George Harrison, but also focuses on the creation of their final album, Let It Be.

Harrison with Ringo and Paul in 1968 (Picture: Bill Zygmant/Rex)

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After being announced almost three years ago, and the release date pushed back multiple times, the first part of Get Back was released on Thursday, and critics’ reviews are already lauding it as a success.

The documentary is made entirely from never-before-seen footage which has been expertly restored and colourised, after Lord of the Rings filmmaker Jackson gained access to 150 hours of audio and 60 hours of video.

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