Dhani Harrison

Dhani Harrison came to music somewhat later than many, moving away from automotive design only after his father George Harrison died in November 2001. At first he concentrated on safeguarding his father’s catalog, helping family friend Jeff Lynne finish the posthumous 2002 album Brainwashed, yet he soon launched thenewno2 with Oliver Hecks. Harrison kept touring and recording with thenewno2 through the 2010s while steadily expanding into film and television scoring. His first solo album, IN///PARALLEL, finally appeared in 2017, though he continued screen composition in the years leading to his second album, Innerstanding, released in 2023.

Born August 1, 1978, Dhani Harrison is the only child of Beatle George Harrison and Olivia Harrison. The family raised him at George’s Friar Park estate in Henley-on-Thames, where he was surrounded by both music and cars. After secondary school he attended Brown University in the United States to study industrial design. Once he received his bachelor’s degree, Harrison joined McLaren Automotive as a designer.

George’s death in 2001 led Harrison to leave McLaren. Completing Brainwashed—George’s first collection of new songs in fifteen years—became Dhani’s initial major musical task. Its November 2002 release was paired with Concert for George, a tribute concert featuring the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, plus Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Tom Petty, Ravi Shankar, and Dhani on acoustic guitar.

In 2006 Harrison formed thenewno2 with Oliver Hecks, Nick Fyffe, and Paul Hicks. The band’s debut full-length, You Are Here, arrived in 2008, followed by steady activity that produced thefearofmissingout in 2012. During the same period Harrison also scored films, collaborating with Paul Hicks on Beautiful Creatures in 2013 and Learning to Drive in 2014. The pair later composed for the television series Good Girls Revolt and Outsiders.

October 2017 brought Harrison’s solo debut, IN///PARALLEL. He maintained his film-composing work afterward, contributing to the HBO documentary The Case Against Adnan Syed. Harrison returned with his second album, Innerstanding, in October 2023. The introspective, atmospheric set drew on his cinematic experience and featured Graham Coxon, Mereki, and Liela Moss.