Why George Harrison said “fuck you” at Harry Nilsson’s funeral
On January 15th, 1994, Harry Nilsson, the eminent American singer-songwriter responsible for hits like ‘Everybody’s Talkin”, ‘Without You’ and ‘Coconut’, died from a heart attack, aged just 52, after a life shadowed by congenital heart problems and a stunning career in pop music.
Thanks to his mixture of commercial ballad-writing, experimental overdub work and powerful tenor vocals, Nilsson became one of the salient solo forces in American music over the late 1960s and ’70s and became a friend of the rock music elite on both sides of the Atlantic.
On January 17th, the day of Nilsson’s funeral in Westlake Village, California, the infamous Northridge Earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, causing 57 deaths and tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.
Recalling the earthquake’s impact on Nilsson’s funeral, singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb told Rolling Stone: “There was no fuss over the fact that he was gone because the Northridge Quake flattened about half of Southern California. It was not a slow news day when he passed over. There have been a lot of things that have conspired that have made him sort of the Unknown Soldier.”
Despite the carnage of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake earlier in the morning, Nilsson’s beloved friends and family congregated to pay their final respects.
“The funeral was beautiful,” journalist Dawn Eden wrote of the occasion. “Mark Hudson and Jimmy Webb were among the speakers. Others in attendance, besides Harry’s wife of over 20 years (Una) and his seven children (the youngest of which, Oscar, is only two), were George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, the songwriter Paul Williams, Henry Gibson, Micky Dolenz, Van Dyke Parks, and Jim Keltner. I was impressed to see such famous people acting completely human. They were obviously there because they really loved Harry Nilsson.”
During the ceremony, former Beatle George Harrison caused a momentary stir after blurting out, “Fuck you,” which was crucially followed by worthy reasoning and a comedic, sentimental sing-along.
Record producer Mark Hudson recalled Harrison’s initially startling exclamation. “There was the time at Harry Nilsson’s funeral,” Hudson said. “Every songwriter was there – Jimmy Webb, Paul Williams, Van Dyke Parks, George, the list of people was scary, and it was the day [of] the last big L.A. earthquake. So, we are all sad and sullen and standing around the grave and George goes, ‘Fuck You.’ And we are all shocked, and we thought he was having some kind of angst. And then he says, ‘That was always my favourite song: You’re Breaking My Heart, Tearing it Apart, Well Fuck you,’ so then we all joined in and sang it.”
Thankfully, Harrison wasn’t subject to an acute bout of Tourette’s. After enjoying the consternation among the mourners, Harrison sang his favourite Nilsson song, ‘You’re Breaking My Heart’ (aka ‘Fuck You’), to add something memorable to the proceedings. Undoubtedly, Nilsson would have looked down on the occasion with a little chuckle.
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