George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' Gets Star-Studded Music Video Featuring Ringo Starr, Fred Armisen and More

More than 40 famous faces teamed up to celebrate "My Sweet Lord" by giving the hit 1970 single its very first official music video

Fifty-one years after its release, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" is getting its first music video — with a little help from the late Beatle's nearest and dearest.

More than 40 musicians, actors, comedians, directors and artists — including Harrison's wife and son and collaborators like Ringo Starr — joined forces for a zany clip that features two metaphysical secret agents (played by Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer) on the hunt for a mysterious something.

Director Lance Bangs tells PEOPLE that his goal in creating the video was to serve the chart-topping hit well, and infuse it with the comedic thread Harrison was known for.

"I was thrilled to work with the Harrisons creating a video which serves the song, and reflects the playfulness and sense of humor that George effortlessly seemed to maintain in all of his videos," Bangs says. "Many of the people who contributed to the video had been fairly isolated during the pandemic, and it was a strange joy to see each other again."

He adds, "It felt like a warm step out into overlapping friendships after an unexpected hibernation. George seemed to draw interesting musicians, comedians, and personalities into his world, and that spirit felt like it was happening around us throughout the shoot."

The music video is a who's who of famous faces, and features cameos from everyone from Jeff Lynne, Harrison's Traveling Wilburys bandmate, and Eagles rocker Joe Walsh, to Jon Hamm, Taika Waititi and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

George Harrison in 1969. Ethan A. Russell / © Apple Corps Ltd.

Star Wars legend Mark Hamill kicks things off as the head of a secret agency, answering a mysterious call that requires SNL vets Armisen and Bayer to head "back in the field" to track down "more reports" of "something out there."

Using flashlights, they dig around The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, but come up empty, prompting Armisen to relocate his efforts to a local movie theater.

As he heads to meet Darren Criss at the theater, he sees Lynne waving to him from the side of the road, and encounters Yankovic handling drinks behind the snack bar.

Armisen and Criss continue their hunt in the dark of the theater, which is showing videos of Harrison, and in a funny moment, approach Starr and Walsh as they munch on popcorn.

As the search continues, more stars such as Anders Holm, Rupert Friend, George's son Dhani Harrison and wife Olivia Harrison pop up, though Armisen and Bayer's eventual post-search debrief reveals they both came up short in what they were looking for.

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At the video's conclusion, they turn on the radio to the sweet sounds of "My Sweet Lord."

Bangs said in a statement that the video, which was executive produced by Dhani, George's only child, and David Zonshine, was meant "to represent the song visually while these agents and inspectors kept missing the metaphysical wonder around them."

"I tracked down vintage prime lenses from some of the films George's HandMade Films had produced, and I hope that viewers can feel a sense of wonder and searching while they watch it, and that the song continues to add to all of our lives," Bangs said.

"My Sweet Lord" became the very first song by a former Beatle to hit No. 1 after the famed group called it quits. The track, a spiritual ode to the Hindu god Krishna, was featured on Harrison's seminal album All Things Must Pass, his first post-Beatles solo work.

The 12-time Grammy winner died of lung cancer at 58 years old in November 2001.