<p id=”par-1_54″>In 1971, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/george-harrison/?swcfpc=1″>George Harrison</a> reached out across the rift separating the former members of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-beatles/?swcfpc=1″>The Beatles</a> by inviting <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/paul-mccartney/?swcfpc=1″>Paul McCartney</a> to play in his Concert for Bangladesh. The benefit concert was among the first of its kind and raised money for refugees. McCartney admitted that when Harrison asked him to participate, he felt irritated.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-paul-mccartney-shared-why-he-wouldn-t-play-george-harrison-s-concert-for-bangladesh”>Paul McCartney shared why he wouldn’t play George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh</h2>
<p id=”par-2_39″>After The Beatles broke up, Harrison and John Lennon publicly <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-lennon-wrestled-pig-way-make-fun-paul-mccartney.html/”>aired their grievances with McCartney</a>. Still, Harrison asked him to take part in the benefit concert. McCartney declined, not wanting to reunite the band so soon after breaking up.</p>
<p id=”par-3_83″>“George invited me, and I must say [my reason for declining] was more than just visa problems,” McCartney told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-is-not-dead-and-neither-is-the-past-87779/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Stone</a>. “At the time there was the whole Apple thing. When the Beatles broke up, at first I thought, ‘Right, broken up, no more messing with any of that.’ George came up and asked if I wanted to play Bangla Desh and I thought, blimey, what’s the point? We’re just broken up and we’re joining up again? It just seemed a bit crazy.”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/George-Harrison-Bangladesh.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”George Harrison plays guitar during the Concert for Bangladesh.” class=”wp-image-3719653″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>George Harrison | Icon and Image/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_44″>He admitted he felt irritated that Harrison invited him. At the time, the former Beatles were enmired in a legal battle over their contracts. He felt it was unfair for Harrison to ask him a favor when he was trapped in their partnership agreement.</p>
<p id=”par-5_63″>“There were a lot of things that went down then, most of which I’ve forgotten now. I really felt annoyed – ‘I’m not going to do that if he won’t bloody let me out of my contract.’ Something like that,” he said. “For years there had been problems as to why the other three felt they couldn’t just rip up our partnership agreement.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-he-admitted-that-much-of-his-behavior-at-the-time-was-out-of-bitterness”>He admitted that much of his behavior at the time was out of bitterness</h2>
<p id=”par-6_20″>McCartney admitted that much of his behavior in the immediate aftermath of the band’s split drew fuel from his frustration. </p>
<p id=”par-7_77″>“There was an awful lot of that, and a lot of what I did around about then was just out of bitterness at all that,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is crazy, no one likes me enough to just let me go, give me my little bit of the proceeds and let me split off.’ It was a little tit-for-tat, if you’re not going to do this for me, I’m not going to do that for you.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-like-paul-mccartney-john-lennon-did-not-perform-at-george-harrison-s-benefit-concert”>Like Paul McCartney, John Lennon did not perform at George Harrison’s benefit concert</h2>
<p id=”par-8_43″>Lennon also refused to participate in the concert, though for different reasons. He initially agreed to do it but backed out when Harrison said Yoko Ono could not perform with him. He <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-lennon-said-george-harrisons-concert-bangladesh-absolute-rip-off.html/”>later rolled his eyes</a> at the idea of a benefit concert.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/John-Lennon-George-Harrison.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”A black and white picture of John Lennon and George Harrison standing outside. Lennon wears a turtleneck and glasses and Harrison wears a denim jacket and sunglasses.” class=”wp-image-3719658″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>John Lennon and George Harrison | Keystone Features/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-9_41″>“I am just going to do it privately,” he told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.playboy.com/read/the-playboy-interview-with-john-lennon-and-yoko-ono” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Playboy</a> in 1980. “I am not going to get locked into that business of saving the world onstage. The show is always a mess and the artist always comes off badly.” </p>
<p id=”par-10_16″>Ringo Starr was the only one of Harrison’s former bandmates <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/ringo-starr-said-george-harrison-invite-concert-bangladesh-showed-anyway.html/”>to get onstage</a> at the concert.</p>