'It's The Last Words I Heard Him Say': Ringo Starr's Final Moment With George Harrison

Ringo Starr has long spoken about his special bond with fellow former Beatle George Harrison, which remained right until the end of the latter's life. In fact, as Starr relayed in the 2011 documentary "George Harrison: Living in the Material World," his friend's last words to him were a very touching offer. 

Fans of the Beatles will likely know that Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. It was a difficult time for Starr, whose daughter, Lee Starkey, was also going through a major health scare and was undergoing surgery in Boston to have a brain tumor removed. Ahead of the surgery and shortly before Harrison's death, Starr had gone to see his bandmate, who was already bedbound at that point, in Switzerland. "I said, 'Well, you know, I've got to go. I've got to go to Boston," Starr recalled telling Harrison (via Songsong). "He goes — it's the last words I heard him say, actually — and he said, 'Do you want me to come with you?'" Starr continued, voice breaking as he recounted the story. Starr went on to point out that it was a testament to Harrison's character, gushing, "That's the incredible side of George." 

Thankfully, Lee, who is Starr's only daughter (he also has sons Zak and Jason Starkey), did survive her operation, and though she tends to keep a low profile, she and her children are said to be close with Starr. Speaking of Starr, he's continued to draw attention to Harrison's legacy, shouting out his late friend's daughter's book of poems in his honor, "Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George," and sharing sweet throwbacks to Instagram. What's more, we have no doubts Harrison would have been thrilled that his team shouted out Starr being honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on his website back in 2010. Gone, but always present.

Ringo Starr wasn't the only Beatle to have spent time with George Harrison shortly before his passing. Paul McCartney has also spoken about the sweet moments they shared towards the end of Harrison's life, and as he had with Starr, McCartney shared that Harrison joked about seeing places and doing things together even though he knew he wouldn't be able to. Speaking to Uncut, McCartney recalled, "He'd been moved from, like, Switzerland to a clinic in New York, and then to a clinic somewhere else — because you do, you sort of follow the treatment — and at one point he said (exasperated), 'Can we just stop in one place?'" (via The Paul McCartney Project). McCartney added that he'd recommended a Tudor tourist attraction in their childhood suburb. "'We should go to Speke Hall.' And he's going, 'Oh, that'd be great,'" McCartney said. 

McCartney also spoke about having held hands with Starr in his interview with Uncut, and again in another conversation with the Mirror. To the latter, he quipped, "The last time I met him he was very sick and I held his hand for four hours. ... I kept thinking, 'He's going to smack me and tell me to f*** off.'" Harrison didn't, though, and McCartney gushed of his friend, whom he said he viewed as a little brother, "What a lovely boy."

Sadly, like Starr, McCartney had also been affected by cancer soon before Harrison died, with his first wife Linda tragically passing away, and he told the Mirror, "Here I was going through it all again with a mate of 50 years. He wasn't my immediate family but almost." Devastating as his passing was, it's beautiful that both Starr and McCartney had such special memories with Harrison right towards the end.