Madison Square Garden in New York City will mark the 35th anniversary of George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh by installing a permanent plaque in the famed arena’s “Walk of Fame.” The honor will be presented to Harrison’s widow, Olivia Harrison, in a special ceremony on Aug. 1 to commemorate the anniversary.
This plaque will be set alongside music legends such as the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead and fellow Beatle Paul McCartney. The presentation will mark the first time in Garden history that a concert or event is honored on the “Walk of Fame.”
The Concert for Bangladesh—actually two concerts, one in the afternoon and one that evening—took place at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971 to support relief efforts by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. Harrison persuaded such friends and fellow musicians as Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Badfinger and Eric Clapton to perform at the benefit concert, which Harrison arranged in just five weeks. The concert is considered the first-ever star-studded benefit concert, well preceding such mega-events as Live Aid, Farm Aid and Live 8.
The concert was released a film for theatrical release and a triple-album set on Apple/Capitol and was re-released in 2001 as a two CD set. In October 2005, Apple and Rhino Entertainment jointly re-released the concert album and film on remastered CD and as special edition two-DVD set. The latter features a documentary where Harrison, Starr and many of the musicians weigh in on the various challenges and magical moments in producing and performing the concerts.
