George Harrison, lead guitarist for the band that changed the face of music, lost his battle with cancer last week in Los Angeles. He was 58. The Beatles, unlike most bands of the early 1960s, both wrote and performed their songs, and led the way for generations of bands and singer/songwriters to come in this regard.

Even today one would assume that singer/songwriters should be found a dime a dozen, but the truth is few superstar acts can take credit for penning all their hits, but the Beatles did everything from writing the lyrics and music to recording and arranging three-part harmonies. The Beatles did all.

But with this said, things didn’t come easy for Harrison. Overshadowed by the Lennon and McCartney hit-making machine, Harrison was quickly dubbed by the press as "The Quiet One," a label that stayed with him for most of his career with the Beatles.

But George did have his moments in the sun, he was also the most technically sound musician of the group and probably one of the most underrated guitarists of the 20th century. Harrison also wrote and sang some of the Beatles most memorable songs.

Harrison was one of the first rock musicians to experiment with traditional Indian music, a genre that was previously unexplored by pop musicians. In 1965, he studied under sitar maestro Ravi Shanker and employed the antiquated stringed instrument on the Beatles classic "Norwegian Wood" off 1965’s Bob Dylan influenced "Rubber Soul."

After encounters with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the late 1960s, Harrison’s interest in the eastern religion became a permanent part of his life, as he blazed a trail followed by such artists as the Beastie Boys and Perry Farrell.

After the Beatles called it quits in 1970, Harrison released his three-disc, Phil Spector-produced magnum opus "All Things Must Pass," whose "My Sweet Lord" became the first post-Beatles solo single to top the singles chart.

Perhaps George’s finest moment came a year later, when he founded rock’s first major charity event, the blueprint for future charity concerts like Live Aid, Farm Aid and the Tibetan freedom concerts. George’s charity was the Concert for Bangladesh, two shows held at New York’s Madison Square Garden to raise money for the country, which was stricken with famine as a result of the India-Pakistan War.

During the rest of the decade a string of solo albums followed without making much mainstream impact, until the spotlight revisited him with 1981’s "All Those Years Ago" a memorial to Lennon, who was murdered the previous year, by a deranged fan.

In 1995, George collaborated with the surviving Beatles on their highly successful anthology series.

Harrison was also an acclaimed movie producer, and his Handmade Films, which he sold in 1994, was responsible for such classics as "Monty Python’s Life of Brian" and "Time Bandits."

Harrison’s health deteriorated in the late 1990s. He had a malignant lump removed from his neck in 1997, and a cancerous one from his lung. In June of that year he started radiation treatment for the brain tumor that resulted in his death.

Throughout this whole ordeal, Harrison kept his sense of humor, recording a song called "Horse to the Water," and crediting it to "RIP Ltd 2001."

George’s final words were "Love one another." Simple, yet powerfully similar to the music and impact he left for this world. He will be missed.