'70s Guitar Legend Reveals 'Greatest Moment of His Career' in New Documentary
Last week, the Tribeca Festival hosted the premiere of Frampton, the new documentary covering the life and career of legendary guitarist Peter Frampton. The documentary takes an honest and intimate look at the legendary musicians highest and lowest moments across his career, as well as the battles he is facing today with his health.
Spanning across the seven decades of Frampton's career, the documentary is full of incredible revelations and tidbits about the life of this absolute icon, the main one being the proudest moment of his career.
In the first half of the film, Frampton takes the crew of the documentary on a tour of Abbey Road Studios, and reminisces about the work he did with George Harrison of The Beatles.
Frampton, along with many other iconic musicians including Nick Drake, helped fill in some guitar parts for the iconic album "All Things Must Pass." Harrison's masterpiece and immediate follow-up to the ending of The Beatles, the album is famous for its massive sound, achieved in large part by producer Phil Spector and his "wall of sound" style.
Frampton was specifically called in to add acoustic guitar work, which can be heard on the beautiful and iconic "My Sweet Lord." I've listened to this song for years, and never knew that I was listening to Peter Frampton too. Frampton himself added that he appears on pretty much every song on the album, he just doesn't remember specifically where.
Walking the documentary crew through the recording space, Frampton recalls the exact places he sat when working with Harrison. Bringing the group all the way to just in front of the machine room, he begins to speak on "the greatest moment of his career," and that was getting to jam with George Harrison while they wound the tape up after recording.
Not the massive success of "Frampton Comes Alive!" or his legendary live work, but just getting to play with his hero. It's a wonderful and human moment in the documentary that won me over immediately.
Unlikely Friendships
Another one of the most touching and surprising revelations of the film to me was Frampton's relationship with the late great David Bowie. The two went to primary school together, with Frampton's father being Bowie's art teacher.
Frampton tells a touching anecdote about how Bowie got him his first job. Bowie worked at a record store in the town they grew up in, but was looking for different work because "there weren't enough girls in the store." He went to his friend Peter, and asked if he'd like to take his place at the store.
Later, Bowie would hook Frampton up with another, more important job, and that was Frampton career resurrecting place on Bowie's "Glass Spider" tour.
Frampton credits his continued success today to Bowie, as he was in a drought for work at the time after being stood up for a touring spot by The Who. He was in the dumps, and Bowie lent him a hand and got things rolling again.
Modern Struggles
Today, Frampton is battling Inclusion Body Myositis, which is a degenerative muscle condition that threatens to stop him from being able to play. In the documentary, he every candidly explores the struggles the disease has brought him, and how he has exercised everyday to slow the progress of the condition down.
He also talked about how it has been a wake up moment for him, and how it has strengthened his relationship with his family. Frampton's resilient spirit shines through the documentary, and gave me an intense amount of appreciate for him and his artistry.
The film is currently starting its festival run now. Be sure to support it where you can, as it is a remarkable story about an artist that I feel hasn't been given all the credit he deserves for being one of the greatest to ever do it.
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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 7:44 AM.