[Edition 47] LONDON, Tuesday: Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, has criticised former Beatle George Harrison for attempting to cash in on the legacy of John Lennon. Harrison, 58, died this week at his home in Los Angeles, following a brief battle with cancer and a long battle with Yoko Ono.

[Edition 47] LONDON, Tuesday: Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, has criticised former Beatle George Harrison for attempting to cash in on the legacy of John Lennon. Harrison, 58, died this week at his home in Los Angeles, following a brief battle with cancer and a long battle with Yoko Ono.

Ms Ono last night derided Harrison’s contribution to the Beatles as miniscule, and slammed his death as derivative of John’s. “George always lacked creative merit,” she said. “He was possibly the worst rhythm guitarist in the history of the world. Indeed as a musician he was on a par with Linda McCartney”.

For many fans Lennon was the soul of the Beatles, his angry cynical compositions often forming a counterpoint to the “silly love songs” that Paul McCartney later happily confessed to writing. Others followed Ringo Starr, loved for his idiosyncratic antics, prominent nose and shameless lack of drumming skill. Many fans were also aware of the presence of George Harrison.

After the Beatles split up in 1970, Lennon moved to New York, released two critically acclaimed solo albums, then slumped into nearly a decade of artistic decline, which saw him produce what many critics say was his most uninspiring work. His death saw a return to form, with record sales picking up strongly on the back of a passing that many saw as “visionary in its finality.”

Speaking at a press conference in London, Ms Ono said, “Dying was John’s thing – the others only really discovered death because John led the way”.

“You just watch: Ringo and Paul won’t be far off, trying to cash in on this death thing themselves in a while … Paul’s always been jealous of John’s ownership of the whole artistic concept of death.”

An earlier dispute between Yoko Ono and the fanatical fans of John Lennon and the Beatles was settled last year, following the payment of an undisclosed sum of money and an agreement by Ono never to sing, perform or record any piece of music in public, ever again.