Justin Harrison is a British vintage guitar dealer from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, born in February 1970. He is best known as the father of global rock star YUNGBLUD (Dominic Harrison). Along with his father Rick Harrison, he ran the iconic Music Ground guitar shop, which attracted legends like Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr. He currently lives a quiet private life in Kirk Smeaton.
Justin Harrison is a British vintage guitar dealer and the father of internationally celebrated rock musician YUNGBLUD, whose real name is Dominic Harrison. Born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 1970, Justin grew up surrounded by music and guitars, eventually co-running the legendary Music Ground shop with his father Rick Harrison. The shop attracted rock legends such as Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, and Bryan Adams. Justin played a deeply formative role in shaping his son’s musical identity, teaching him guitar from an early age. Despite a legal controversy in 2012 involving stolen vintage guitars, Justin rebuilt his life and remains closely connected to his family. Today he is recognized not just as YUNGBLUD’s father but as a man whose passion for music quietly shaped one of Gen Z’s biggest rock stars.
Quick Bio Table
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Justin Harrison |
| Date of Birth | February 1970 |
| Place of Birth | Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Vintage Guitar Dealer, Businessman |
| Known For | Father of YUNGBLUD, Music Ground shop |
| Father | Rick Harrison (musician & businessman) |
| Spouse | Samantha “Sam” Harrison |
| Children | Dominic (YUNGBLUD), Jemima, Isobel |
| Residence | Kirk Smeaton, near Doncaster |
| Famous Shop | Music Ground, Hall Gate, Doncaster |
Introducing: Who Is Justin Harrison?
Justin Harrison is a British vintage guitar dealer known for Music Ground, his complex family story, and his role in shaping YUNGBLUD’s early musical life. In 2026, Justin Harrison is known for many things — he is the father of famous musician YUNGBLUD (Dominic Harrison), and also a former vintage guitar expert who once ran one of the most famous music shops in the UK. But behind the headlines and his famous son’s stage lights, there is a rich, layered human story that most people have never fully explored. Justin Harrison is not just a footnote in YUNGBLUD’s biography — he is the very foundation upon which a rock star was built.
Early Life and Family Roots of Justin Harrison
Justin Harrison was born in February 1970 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. He grew up in a musical household. His father, Rick Harrison, was a musician and businessman. Music was all around Justin from the start. Instead of a normal childhood, he spent much of his time inside the family’s guitar shop. This early immersion in the world of strings, frets, and vintage instruments would shape everything that followed — his career, his identity, and his family’s legacy in the British music scene.
A Childhood Shaped by Strings and Song
There’s also a unique part of Justin’s early story. For a while, he lived in Australia’s Northern Territory, in remote areas like Alice Springs and Katherine. His parents were working with Indigenous communities on health and education projects. Because of this, Justin didn’t attend regular school — he learned through School of the Air and letters sent through the post. While living there, a local tribe gave him the skin name “Jagamara,” which became part of his personal history. This unusual upbringing gave Justin a perspective on the world that was broader than most small-town kids in Yorkshire could ever imagine, and it quietly shaped the open, curious man he would become.
Growing up between remote Australia and Doncaster’s working-class streets gave Justin a dual identity — one foot in raw, rugged experience and the other in the polished, passionate world of vintage music. He absorbed cultures, sounds, and stories from wildly different environments. That combination of grit and musical sensitivity would later define not just his business, but the values he passed on to his children, particularly his eldest son Dominic. It was never just about selling guitars — it was about understanding what music means to people.
The Harrison family’s connection to music was multigenerational. Justin’s family has deep ties to music and culture. His father, Rick, was both a performer and a businessman. Through his father, Justin also has Jewish heritage, something the family has acknowledged with pride. These layers of cultural identity gave the Harrisons a worldview that transcended ordinary guitar dealership. They were custodians of musical history, and Justin understood that role from a very young age, watching his father handle instruments that had passed through the hands of legends.
The Harrison Family Name and Its Musical Legacy
Yungblud was born Dominic Harrison on August 5, 1997 in Doncaster, where his father Justin Harrison and grandfather Rick Harrison owned and ran a guitar store named Music Ground. “That shop was where I was brought up,” Yungblud says. “There’s a picture of me on the counter only six hours old with a Beatles ukulele on me.” The Harrison name in Doncaster was synonymous with music, and that reputation was built over years of hard work, deep knowledge, and an almost spiritual devotion to vintage instruments.
Rick Harrison’s influence on Justin was immeasurable. He modeled what it meant to be both a musician and an entrepreneur — two things that rarely coexist comfortably. Justin inherited this dual identity and carried it forward with his own stamp. Where Rick was the visionary who built the foundation, Justin was the operator who expanded and modernized the business. Together, they created something that went far beyond a simple guitar shop — they created a Doncaster institution that drew the biggest names in British rock through its doors.
The bonds within the Harrison family ran deep. Richard John “Rick” Harrison was YUNGBLUD’s paternal grandfather; he, along with Justin Harrison, influenced YUNGBLUD to play the guitar and get into music. He had a great relationship with his grandfather. Justin served as the bridge between generations — inheriting Rick’s love of music and passing it forward to Dominic. This three-generation musical chain is one of the most remarkable aspects of the Justin Harrison story, and it explains why YUNGBLUD’s love of guitars feels so genuine and rooted.
Music Ground — The Legendary Guitar Shop That Made History
Harrison was a vintage guitar dealer and ran Doncaster’s Music Ground guitar shop in Hall Gate for many years. The shop attracted the likes of Noel Gallagher and The Smiths’ Johnny Marr as well as Canadian rocker Bryan Adams during its heyday. Music Ground was not just a retail store — it was a cultural hub where rock legends came to browse, buy, and reconnect with the instruments that defined their sound. The shop had a reputation across the UK and beyond as the place to find rare, extraordinary vintage guitars.
The Stars Who Walked Through Music Ground’s Doors
Walking into Music Ground was, by all accounts, a transformative experience. The shop carried an extraordinary inventory of rare and collectible instruments — Fender Telecasters, Gibson Les Pauls, Rickenbackers, and much more — each with a story, a history, and a personality of its own. An Aladdin’s Cave of curious wonders and rare vintage specimens, as well as entry-level instruments for the uninitiated, Music Ground would serve as a significant landmark within the city’s thriving music scene. The atmosphere was electric, knowledgeable, and deeply passionate about the craft.
The clientele that Music Ground attracted spoke volumes about the shop’s reputation. When Noel Gallagher — one of the architects of Britpop — comes to your shop, you know you have built something special. Johnny Marr’s presence added another layer of credibility. These were not casual shoppers; they were serious musicians seeking serious instruments, and they chose Music Ground because they trusted the Harrisons’ expertise and the quality of what they stocked. Bryan Adams crossing the Atlantic to shop there only underlined how far the shop’s reputation had reached.
Back in the 90s, father and son duo Rick and Justin Harrison ran Doncaster’s iconic instrument shop Music Ground in Hall Gate, which attracted the likes of Oasis legend Noel Gallagher, The Smiths star Johnny Marr and Canadian rocker Bryan Adams as customers. The shop also made news in the 1990s when it became involved in the search for Paul McCartney’s legendary lost Höfner bass — a story that catapulted Music Ground into international headlines and cemented its reputation as a serious player in the world of vintage guitar history.
How YUNGBLUD Was Born Inside Music Ground
While growing up, Dominic spent much of his time in Music Ground, watching his dad work and learning about guitars. Justin didn’t just sell guitars — he taught his son how to play them. This early influence stayed with Dominic. His music, style, and even the guitar he plays today — his Epiphone SG Junior — all reflect the vintage tools and rock vibes he grew up with in his father’s shop. The shop was not just a place of business — it was Dominic’s classroom, his playground, and ultimately his creative inspiration.
From the age of three, young Dominic was tuning guitars and dusting shelves at Music Ground. As Yungblud says now, Music Ground was a huge part of his early life. “I worked there from as early as three years old,” he recalls. “Just tuning or dusting or whatever to help out.” And this was pivotal to the life he leads now, as a bona fide rock star. Justin Harrison gave his son something priceless — not just guitar lessons, but an education in the soul of rock and roll, delivered daily through the instruments that passed through their hands.
The impact of those early years at Music Ground is visible in every aspect of YUNGBLUD’s artistry. His raw, vintage-inspired sound, his love of physical guitar playing, his deep knowledge of rock history — all of it traces back to a small shop in Doncaster where his father spent his working life. In Yungblud’s eyes, everything he creates comes with a palpable sense of sweat and authenticity. That authenticity was seeded by Justin Harrison, one guitar lesson at a time.
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The 2012 Legal Controversy and Its Aftermath
No honest account of Justin Harrison’s life can ignore the events of 2012. In February 2012, Harrison and his father, Richard Harrison, were accused of handling stolen guitars worth £170,000. They were both reportedly charged with handling stolen goods and intending or assisting in the retention or disposal of the items between the dates of October 7, 2006, and March 5, 2009. The 26 guitars subject of the charges were believed to be part of a haul of 157 guitars stolen in two burglaries in Verona, Italy, in October 2006.
The Court Case That Shook Doncaster’s Music World
At Leeds Crown Court, Justin admitted to two charges of handling stolen goods, relating to two guitars worth £4,500. He was given a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months, 200 hours of unpaid work, and told to pay £2,500 in court costs. Harrison originally claimed he bought the seized guitars from legal sources and had receipts to prove it. However, slowly the inquiry unearthed more stolen guitars, and it was established that more than 30 seized from Music Ground were part of a 157 haul of stolen guitars.
The judge presiding over the case was notably severe in his assessment of the theft’s significance. Judge Christopher Batty stated: “We are not talking about throw-away items. We are talking expensive property — vintage guitars.” The suspended sentence meant Justin avoided prison, but the reputational damage was significant. The case made national headlines, not least because of its connection to a 2006 museum heist in Italy involving one of the largest collections of vintage guitars ever stolen in Europe.
Following the legal proceedings, the Harrisons faced additional scrutiny. Following their sentence the pair faced an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The ripple effects of this case would change the course of Music Ground as a business, and it marked the end of a certain chapter in Justin’s life. However, it did not define his entire story — and the years that followed would prove that a man’s life is rarely reducible to a single moment of controversy, however public or painful.
Justin Harrison as a Father, Husband, and Family Man
Justin Harrison is married to Samantha “Sam” Harrison, a strong and supportive figure in his life. Together, they’ve raised three children: Dominic (YUNGBLUD), Jemima, and Isobel. Their home today is in Kirk Smeaton, a peaceful village near Doncaster. Despite the public-facing nature of their son’s career, Justin and Sam have largely chosen to live away from the spotlight, building a private life rooted in their community and family.
A Marriage Built on Honesty and Healing
Justin and Sam have openly shared that their relationship was once full of conflict. They had frequent arguments and moments they now call emotionally and physically damaging. But over time, they both committed to healing. They went through marriage counseling, worked through their issues, and stayed together. Their story of a troubled marriage rebuilt through hard work and commitment is a powerful human narrative — one that their son YUNGBLUD has referenced in his music about difficult childhood memories.
The Harrison household was not a quiet or easy place to grow up. His father abused his mother and the family twice went bankrupt. “I grew up in a war zone my whole life — that’s what my therapist says,” Yungblud told Spin. These painful realities, as hard as they are to read, are part of the full picture of who Justin Harrison is — not a sanitized figure, but a complex, flawed, and ultimately growth-oriented man who chose to confront his failures rather than run from them. The courage that took should not be underestimated.
Today, Justin’s relationship with his children, particularly YUNGBLUD, is one of genuine pride and support. Justin played a quiet but powerful role in helping his son become YUNGBLUD. He attends concerts, celebrates his son’s milestones, and remains a present, engaged father. His daughters Jemima and Isobel have also carved out their own paths, with Isobel building a following as a fashion-focused social media personality, and Jemima staying closer to home and connected to the family’s daily life.
Justin Harrison’s Place in British Music History
Even without his famous son, Justin Harrison’s contribution to British music culture through Music Ground is worthy of recognition. For decades, the shop served as a bridge between rock music’s past and its future — connecting musicians with the instruments that had made history, and enabling new generations to hold those sounds in their hands. Few vintage guitar shops in the UK ever achieved the level of reputation that Music Ground built under the Harrison family.
A Legacy That Lives On Through YUNGBLUD
Justin Harrison played a quiet but powerful role in helping his son become YUNGBLUD. Even though Justin Harrison built a strong name in the music world, things took a sharp turn in 2012. But the legacy of Music Ground and Justin’s lifelong passion for instruments did not disappear — it was absorbed into YUNGBLUD’s DNA and broadcast to millions of fans worldwide. Every time Dominic picks up a vintage-style guitar on stage, he carries a piece of his father’s world with him.
The connection between Justin Harrison and British rock culture runs deeper than most fans realize. Through Music Ground, the Harrison family was part of the ecosystem that kept Britain’s vintage guitar market alive and thriving during the 1990s and 2000s. They were not passive participants — they were active curators of musical heritage, handling instruments of extraordinary historical value and connecting them with players who could bring them back to life on new stages.
Rick Harrison: tributes poured in after the death of the Doncaster businessman, Yungblud’s grandad, and guitar supplier to Oasis. When Rick Harrison passed away in 2023, the tributes that followed were a testament to the family’s enduring impact. Justin lost not just his father but his longest creative partner. The closure of that chapter only deepened Justin’s significance as the living link between the Harrison musical legacy and the next generation carrying it forward in arenas around the world.
Conclusion
Justin Harrison is a man whose life resists simple summary. He is a vintage guitar dealer, a family man, a Doncaster icon, and — perhaps most significantly — the quiet force behind one of rock music’s most exciting contemporary voices. His story encompasses passion, controversy, pain, healing, and an enduring love for music that has echoed across three generations of the Harrison family. From the shelves of Music Ground to the sold-out arenas where YUNGBLUD performs, Justin Harrison’s fingerprints are everywhere. He may prefer the shadows, but his influence stands loud and clear in the spotlight his son commands.
FAQs About Justin Harrison
Who is Justin Harrison?
Justin Harrison is a British vintage guitar dealer from Doncaster, England, and the father of global rock star YUNGBLUD (Dominic Harrison). He co-ran the famous Music Ground guitar shop with his father Rick Harrison.
What is Justin Harrison’s relationship to YUNGBLUD?
Justin Harrison is YUNGBLUD’s father. He taught Dominic to play guitar from an early age and ran the Music Ground shop where Dominic spent much of his childhood.
What was Music Ground?
Music Ground was a legendary vintage guitar shop on Hall Gate in Doncaster, run by Justin and his father Rick Harrison. It attracted famous customers including Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, and Bryan Adams.
What legal trouble did Justin Harrison face?
In 2012, Justin Harrison admitted to handling two stolen vintage guitars at Leeds Crown Court. He received a six-month suspended sentence, 200 hours of unpaid work, and £2,500 in court costs.
Is Justin Harrison still involved in the music business?
Justin Harrison now lives a private life in Kirk Smeaton near Doncaster. He no longer runs Music Ground, though he remains connected to music through his support for his son YUNGBLUD.
Who are Justin Harrison’s children?
Justin Harrison has three children with his wife Samantha: Dominic Harrison (YUNGBLUD), Jemima Harrison, and Isobel Harrison, who is active on social media as a fashion personality.
What happened to Rick Harrison, Justin’s father?
Rick Harrison, Justin’s father and co-founder of Music Ground, passed away in April 2023. Tributes described him as a Doncaster music legend and guitar supplier to major artists including Oasis.
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