Sir George donated a magnificent item of Beatles memorabilia to a charity auction for tsunami relief -- this gold satin bomber jacket presented to him by the Beatles in 1977 at the conclusion of his musical direction for the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It came with an certificate of authenticity and an autographed photo of Sir George himself holding the jacket. The auction was open until 13 March 2005 and funds raised will go to the charity Rebuilding Sri Lanka.

Sir George has a brand new DVD currently in production! The Playback DVD is a follow-up to his 2002 autobiography, and will be released as a limited-edition boxed set. Although based on a series of exclusive interviews with Sir George himself, other star contributors to the project include Ringo Starr, Ravi Shankar, Cilla Black, Billy Preston, Brian Wilson, Robin Gibb and Bill Wyman. Stay tuned for details...

On 11 October 2002, Sir George released Playback, his lavish limited-edition autobiography, at a very special launch event in Sydney, Australia. Click the star to visit the official site for purchase information, or jump to our books page for further details, photographs, and the latest links. Don't miss our reviews page, which currently features eyewitness accounts of the launch and the promotional tour!

Sir George has lent his services to a 6CD series of classical music compilations, entitled Sir George Martin Presents. The CDs include "Bach and the Baroque," "Beethoven," "Debussy and Ravel," "Holst and Vaughan Williams," "Mozart" and "Tchaikovsky." Visit the official website for audio and video files, track listings and sample liner notes, and drop by at the BBC for a news story which says Sir George hopes the CDs will turn young people on to classical music.

Sir George was a creative director for the Queen's Jubilee Concert on 3 June 2002, alongside his son Giles and fellow producer Phil Ramone. At the star-studded "Party at the Palace," which featured Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Brian Wilson, and more than a handful of Beatlesongs, Sir George paid tribute to the Beatles legend, and led the UK in "three cheers for Her Majesty"!

In July 2001, EMI/Capitol released Produced By George Martin: 50 Years In Recording, a limited-edition 6CD retrospective of recordings produced (and in some cases, composed, arranged and/or conducted) by Sir George from 1951 to 1998. Click the star to visit the official site for the press release and track-listing, or jump to the recent albums page for our selection of links and images!

29 October 2003 ~ The Mirror: Sir George has attended an event in Swansea, UK, to launch the re-release of the Dylan Thomas play Under Milkwood, which he originally recorded 15 years ago with Tom Jones and Aled Jones. At the launch, Sir George criticised the judges on Britain's TV talent show Pop Idol for humiliating the contestants, saying "It's awful to see people pulled apart like that."

16 August 2003 ~ Western Morning News: Sir George has paid tribute to the late composer Ron Goodwin, with whom he worked at Parlophone on such hits as "Goodness Gracious Me." Sir George remarked, "Ron was a brilliant musician and a very dear man...Ron was best man at my wedding -- and that really is the best way of describing him."

23 May 2003 ~ Yahoo: The musical score for the film The Family Way, which Sir George and Paul McCartney collaborated on in 1966, has just been re-released on CD. The album features the original performance by the Claudel String Quartet, with additional treatments by the George Martin Orchestra and Carl Aubut.

13 March 2003 ~ CNN: Sir George will present the closing address on "Cultivating Creativity in the Workplace" at this year's Marketing Forum and Human Resources Forum in May. The press release says Sir George will discuss "teamwork and creativity, relating much of his finest work to the principles he uses to motivate teams in today's business environment."

29 November 2002 ~ BBC: Sir George was among the 5000-strong audience at the George Harrison memorial concert in London. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Monty Python and many more of George's friends gathered with Olivia and Dhani to mark one year since George's passing.

November 2002 ~ On his first visit to Cuba, Sir George visited the sculpture dedicated to John Lennon, conducted the Cuban symphony orchestra and held a conference about the making of Sgt. Pepper. He was presented with a copy of "Here Comes...El Son," an album of Beatles songs with a Cuban twist. (Thank you to Alfredo Alvarez Calderón from Miami, who was there!)

31 October 2002 ~ Sir George, accompanied by his wife Judy and son Giles, has travelled to Cuba as part of a visit organised by the British Ambassador. Sir George is to conduct a local orchestra alongside Cuban composer Leo Brower, and will present a speech the following day.

October 2002 ~ Before his recent triumphant tour of Australia, Sir George attended a black-tie dinner given by the CISAC (the World Federation of Authors and Composers), and received a Gold Medal for Services to the Arts alongside Sir Peter Blake. In the coming weeks, Sir George will give a presentation at London's Royal Albert Hall to his long-time friends Cleo Laine and John Dankworth, as they celebrate "Fifty Years of Harmony." He will also travel to Belgium for the Flanders Film Festival, where he will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Film.

4 September 2002 ~ Microsoft: Sir George, James Cameron and LL Cool J joined Bill Gates to help demonstrate new IT innovations for artists, entertainers and their public at the launch of Windows Media 9.

28 July 2002 ~ Sir George is believed to have attended a private memorial service for George Harrison, held by his wife Olivia at their former home in Henley-on-Thames, UK. Paul and Ringo are also said to have been among the close friends in attendance.

24 June 2002 ~ BBC: Sir George was one of 700 admirers attending a remembrance service in central London for British comedian Spike Milligan, who passed away in February. Sir George produced a number of Spike's comedy records, both as a solo act and as part of the acclaimed trio, the Goons.

11 June 2002 ~ BBC: Sir George and Ringo Starr were among the guests at Paul McCartney's wedding at Castle Leslie in Ireland. As the couple walked down the aisle following the ceremony, the organist played the Wedding March from the film The Family Way, whose soundtrack Paul and Sir George composed together in the mid-1960s.

11 May 2002 ~ Sir George and his wife Judy made a special trip to the US to attend Paul McCartney's "Driving Rain" concert in Dallas, and they both kept Paul company during a recent webchat.

27 February 2002 ~ BBC: Spike Milligan, the grandfather of British comedy, has died at the age of 83. He was the driving force behind the well-loved BBC radio classic The Goon Show, a childhood favourite of John Lennon and George Harrison. Sir George produced several Goons records, and his connection with the surreal trio impressed the Beatles from their first meeting. Goon but not forgotten.

26 February 2002 ~ BBC: Paul McCartney, Elton John and Eric Clapton are among the stars to perform at the Queen's Jubilee concerts in June. Sir George, who is a musical director for the event, will drawn on "the enormous contribution that British artists and composers have made to the world of entertainment over the past 50 years."

7 February 2002 ~ Abbeyrd's Beatle News Briefs: Tomorrow marks 40 years since Brian Epstein visited London's Oxford St HMV store to cut extra demo discs in his quest to secure the Beatles a recording contract. This would lead to a meeting with Parlophone's young producer, George Martin, and the most successful music team in history.

18 January 2002 ~ Billboard: Sir George has been made musical director of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee in London this June. An evening of classical music is planned, while Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger will perform at a rock'n'roll night to celebrate the Queen's 50th year on the British throne.