George Harrison 'Active, Very Well'

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/23/2001 at 12:43 PM EDT

George Harrison, 58, and his wife, Olivia, 54, have issued a statement in London, saying that reports of the former Beatle's imminent demise from cancer have left him "disappointed and disgusted." The reclusive star, who earlier this month confirmed reports that he had been treated at a cancer hospital in Switzerland (reportedly for a brain tumor), said in the statement that he was "active and feeling very well." Earlier this year, Harrison was treated for removal for a tumor on his lung, and he has acknowledged that he fought throat cancer in 1998, a condition he blamed on years of cigarette smoking. A London paper over the weekend quoted longtime friend and Beatles producer George Martin as saying Harrison did not have long to live. But in a strongly worded response, Harrison and his wife said Martin had denied giving any interview on the subject of Harrison's death. "The reports were unsubstantiated, untrue, insensitive and uncalled for," the statement said. "George Martin. . . has emphatically denied speaking to any newspaper."