Rhino Historic Tours: Lowell George Benefit Concert

36 years ago today, friends of the late Little Feat frontman Lowell George joined forces to deliver a concert which allowed them to pay tribute to their deceased friend and fellow musician while also helping to earn money for the family George left behind.

When George died on June 29, 1979 at the age of 34, he did so after living a life of excess, leaving behind friends and family who may have been shocked but couldn’t have been completely surprised. While the cause of George’s death was officially heart failure, reasonable suspicions abounded that the combination of his addictions and his obesity – he was reportedly fond of the incredibly unhealthy trifecta of junk food, liquor, and speedballs – led to his demise at such a young age.

When he died, George left behind his wife, Elizabeth George, and his five-year-old daughter, Inara George, who followed in her father’s musical footsteps and can be heard as half of the duo The Bird and the Bee. In order to help Elizabeth and Inara make it through the sudden loss of their husband and father, respectively, not to mention their family’s abrupt loss of income, several of George’s friends put together a concert at the Los Angeles Forum, with proceeds going to the Georges. With a lineup featuring Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Nicolette Larson, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, and the surviving members of Little Feat, you can imagine that it was a very emotional occasion for all involved, but by all accounts it proved to be a lucrative one as well.