(Feb. 24, 1943 - Nov. 29, 2001) George Harrison was a popular British guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a member of The Beatles. George Harrison was the lead guitarist of The Beatles. During the band's extremely successful career, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were its main songwriters. However, Harrison usually wrote and sang lead on one or two songs per album. Harrison also had an uneven but sometimes very successful solo career after the break-up of The Beatles.