George Harrison’s 16 Top 40 Hits After The Beatles
Stepping out solo could have been intimidating, but George Harrison made it look almost too easy.
Guitars shimmer, melodies drift in, and suddenly that “quiet Beatle” label starts feeling a little misleading.
Songs land softly, stick around loudly, and turn a solo run into something that still feels just as alive years later.
1. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
Close your eyes and picture a warm morning where the whole world feels, for just one moment, genuinely okay.
That is exactly the mood this song delivers every single time. Released in 1973, it reached No. 1 in the United States, becoming one of Harrison’s most beloved solo statements.
The slide guitar hums like a lullaby for grown-ups. Signature line: peace never sounded so effortlessly groovy.
2. What Is Life
Rarely has an opening guitar riff in pop history hit with such immediate force and momentum.
It became one of Harrison’s biggest early solo hits in 1971, “What Is Life” carried a wave of joyful energy that felt almost reckless. Written during the Let It Be sessions, George Harrison held it back until the timing felt right.
Saving it paid off completely, turning the track into pure rocket fuel in song form.
3. Handle With Care
Five rock legends squeezed into a garage, started laughing, and somehow stumbled into one of 1988’s catchiest songs.
Basically, the real story behind the Traveling Wilburys track paired Harrison with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, and while it peaked at number 45 in the U.S., it rose higher elsewhere and drew real critical praise.
Rarely do supergroups sound so relaxed, modest, and genuinely warm.
4. All Those Years Ago
Written as a direct tribute to John Lennon after his tragic 1980 passing, this song carries real emotional weight in every single bar.
Remarkably, both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr contributed to the recording, making it a rare post-Beatles reunion of sorts. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981.
Grief and gratitude wrapped in one shimmering, bittersweet melody.
5. When We Was Fab
Knowing wink at the past defines this 1987 track, with George Harrison gently poking fun at Beatlemania while clearly enjoying every second of it.
Production from Jeff Lynne piles on psychedelic references with playful intensity, while Ringo Starr drops in on drums for a familiar touch.
Chart success followed as the song reached the top 25 in the UK. Nostalgia slips into full view, wearing a surprisingly groovy disguise.
6. My Sweet Lord
Late in 1970, the arrival of this track gave a former Beatle his first number-one solo single and made the musical landscape feel slightly different afterward.
Built around a gorgeous slide guitar line and a devotional lyric blending Christian and Hindu prayer, it carried equal parts boldness and beauty. Later came a copyright lawsuit, which added a more complicated chapter to the song’s legacy.
7. Blow Away
Everyday calm settles in when everything feels a little easier and lighter than usual. “Blow Away” captures that exact sensation in three minutes of breezy pop perfection.
Released in 1979 on the album George Harrison, the track reached the top 20 in the United States and showed how easily he could craft bright, effortless pop.
Genuinely one of the most underrated songs in his entire catalog.
8. Got My Mind Set On You
Nobody expected the quiet Beatle to drop the biggest pop hit of late 1987, but here we are.
A cover of a James Ray song from 1962, Harrison’s version went straight to number one in both the U.S. and UK, powered by an impossibly catchy hook and a wonderfully silly music video. Signature line: sometimes the best trick is making the obvious look effortless.
Pure chart-topping fun from start to finish.
9. You
Originally written for Ronnie Spector and produced by Harrison back in 1971, this funky track sat waiting before Harrison reclaimed it for himself.
Released in 1975, it reached the top 20 in the U.S. and showed off a grittier, more rhythmically charged side of his personality. The groove hits differently than most of his catalog.
Signature line: sometimes your best song is the one you kept for yourself.
10. This Song
Legal trouble from the My Sweet Lord lawsuit could have gone a lot of directions, but humor ended up winning. Instead of staying quiet, George Harrison turned the whole situation into “This Song,” a track that openly pokes at the absurdity of it all.
Lines land with a knowing grin, making the legal mess feel less heavy and a lot more ridiculous.
Chart success followed in 1976 with a top 25 spot in the United States, along with a music video packed with the same playful energy.
11. Crackerbox Palace
Borrowing the nickname of comedian Lord Buckley’s home, this quirky 1976 single leans fully into its own charming weirdness.
Shot at Harrison’s Friar Park estate, the music video places him in a string of delightfully absurd scenes that play like a Monty Python sketch with slide guitar.
Along the way, it climbed into the top 20 in the U.S. Only Harrison could make spiritual whimsy sound this catchy and completely natural.
12. Dark Horse
Raspy, raw, and road-worn, this title track from the 1974 tour arrived with Harrison’s voice nearly shot from exhausting tour schedules.
Ironically, that roughness gave the song a gritty edge that somehow made it even more compelling, and it climbed into the top 15 in the U.S. The tour itself was famously controversial, but the record stood strong.
Signature line: even a dark horse can gallop straight into the charts.
13. Bangla Desh
Long before charity singles became a standard move in the industry, George Harrison helped shape the format. Released urgently in 1971, “Bangla Desh” raised awareness and funds for refugees during the Bangladesh crisis with a direct, compassionate approach.
Impact of the track set a template many artists would follow for decades.
Chart success followed as it reached the top 25 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Three minutes of music carried a genuine attempt to make a difference on a global scale.
14. Any Road
Issued posthumously in 2003, this sunny, ukulele-flavored track plays like a warm farewell letter written with a grin.
Recorded before Harrison’s passing in 2001, its message of joyful uncertainty, more or less accepting the road as it comes, lands as deeply moving once the context is known.
In the UK, it went on to reach the top 40. Knowing where you are headed barely matters when a song can make wandering sound this peaceful.
15. Ding Dong, Ding Dong
Holiday single energy masks a New Year’s message in this 1974 release, bursting to life from the very first bell chime. Celebration takes over immediately in “Ding Dong, Ding Dong,” leaning fully into a loud, joyful spirit without holding anything back.
Written as a note of renewal, George Harrison encourages listeners to leave the past behind and step into something new.
Chart presence followed with a top 40 spot in both the United States and the United Kingdom. No one quite ushers in a fresh chapter like he does here, using actual bells to make the moment impossible to miss.
16. My Sweet Lord (2002 Reissue)
When a song is good enough to chart twice across three decades, that says everything you need to know.
The 2002 reissue of ‘My Sweet Lord’ followed Harrison’s passing in November 2001 and returned the song to No. 1 in the U.K.
Signature line: some songs do not age because they were never really about time to begin with.
Note: This article is provided for general informational and entertainment purposes.
Chart positions, release details, and image credits should be checked against current official chart archives and exact source pages before publication, especially when combining U.S. and U.K. chart histories in one list.
