George Harrison playing guitar

The Beatles' George Harrison Lost His Virginity In Front Of His Bandmates

Home / News / The Beatles' George Harrison Lost His Virginity In Front Of His Bandmates

By Favour Adegoke on December 12, 2021 at 1:30 PM PST
Updated on October 15, 2022 at 11:32 AM PDT

Not everyone is lucky enough to get that one-in-a-lifetime opportunity that changes lives. George Harrison was fortunate to have one of these opportunities when he met Paul McCartney while schooling at the Liverpool Academy.

As two young aspiring musicians, the two boys bonded over their love for music and the guitar, and soon McCartney introduced Harrison to John Lennon, the frontman for the Quarrymen. This was the start of Harrison's journey to becoming the lead guitarist in the most iconic rock band in history.

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A photo showing George Harrison in a black suit, with a white inner T-shirt, and a pair of sunglasses.
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He was often referred to as the quiet and shy Beatle, and as the youngest member, he was more of a baby brother to the more outgoing McCartney and Lennon. However, one wild night in Hamburg, Germany, revealed another side to Harrison. Let's delve right into what happened that night.

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Harrison Lost His Virginity While His Bandmates Listened

In 1960, the band was still trying to make their mark in music. They were living poorly and trying their best to be heard. The day after their first performance at Indra, a club in Hamburg, the owner lodged them in an old, rundown cinema.

According to a post by the German news site, DW, McCartney reportedly said, "We lived backstage in the Bambi Kino, next to the toilets, and you could always smell them. The room had been an old storeroom, and there were just concrete walls and nothing else. No heat, no wallpaper, not a lick of paint; and two sets of bunk beds, like little camp beds, with not very many covers. We were frozen."

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It was in this same dingy, smelly room that the bandmates celebrated a milestone in Harrison's life. At the time, the famous guitarist was just 17 and a virgin. So, he had sex for the first time in that room. Mental floss reported that Harrison said, "They couldn't really see anything because I was under the covers, but after I'd finished they all applauded and cheered."

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'The Beatles' Were Very Close

According to a post by the New York Post, the Beatles spent many nights in the company of strippers, and it was common for them to walk in on each other during s*x. McCartney spoke about this proximity and intimacy that developed between them.

He said, "That was the intimacy we had… I'd walked in on John and seen a little bottom bobbing up and down with a girl underneath him. It was perfectly normal: You'd go, 'Oh … sorry,' and back out the room."

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In "The Beatles: The Authorised Biography" by Hunter Davies, Ringo Starr also spoke about how close they were and said, "We really looked out for each other, and we had so many laughs together. In the old days, we'd have the biggest hotel suites, the whole floor of the hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom to be with each other.

The Women Harrison Married

So, now we know when and how Harrison popped his cherry. Who else was he intimate with that fans know of? Well, he was married twice, so those count. He met Pattie Boyd in 1964 on the set of the film "A Hard Day's Night," and they got married in 1966. They were together until 1974 when they separated and finalized their divorce in 1977.

In several interviews, Boyd revealed that she ended their marriage mainly because of Harrison's infidelities. She said that the last straw was when he had an affair with Starr's wife, Maureen. She also said that she couldn't handle his excessive consumption of alcohol and cocaine, so she left, moved in with Eric Clapton, and later married him.

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In 1978, Harrison married Olivia Arias, who later became the marketing executive of Dark Horse Records. They first met overwork calls and then in person at meetings at the A&M Records office in L.A. They had one son, Dhani Harrison, and were together until Harrison's death.

Harrison Wasn't Always The Shy Beatle

Harrison quickly stood out for his shy, quiet demeanor when the band started, but this didn't last long. When they hit fame, he became more quick-witted and talkative.

A report by Biography stated that when an interviewer asked the band how they slept peacefully with long hair, Harrison immediately countered and asked, "How do you sleep with your arms and legs still attached?"

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A throwback photo of George Harrison in a blue suit at an event.
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However, he was still mild in comparison to the other Beatles. Lennon, for example, reportedly performed in his underwear with a toilet seat on his neck several times. According to Beatlesbible, McCartney once got deported for setting a condom on fire, and Harrison got roped in. Thankfully his deportation was because he was underage and unable to work in the country legally.

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