George Harrison

As Beatlemania raged in the early ’60s, the press dubbed him The Quiet One on account of his dry, diffident media presence—not to mention the fact that his first contribution to the group was a song called “Don’t Bother Me.” But that nickname proved all the more apt as George Harrison became the unassuming catalyst of The Beatles’ radical sonic evolutions over the decade.

Born in Liverpool in 1943, Harrison swiftly moved beyond his formative Chuck Berry mimicry to develop the jangly Rickenbacker sound that defined mid-’60s milestones like Help! and Rubber Soul (and spawned a million power-pop bands in their wake).

At the same time, his growing fascination with Indian music introduced the sound of the sitar to Western pop audiences, cracking open the portal into The Beatles’ groundbreaking psychedelic explorations (as well as his own pioneering adventures in electronic and tape-loop experimentation on 1968’s Wonderwall Music).