During his 40 years as a health-care industry leader, including as CEO of the multinational Cardinal Health, George Barrett ’77 rarely revealed his nighttime artistic life—writing lyrics, playing guitar and piano, and jamming with fellow musicians. “I was reluctant to share my music even though I couldn’t imagine life without it, fearful that work colleagues wouldn’t see me as committed,” he said.

But in 2014, Cardinal Health hired The Who’s Roger Daltrey to perform at the company’s conference. Barrett was one of the speakers. Daltrey heard that Barrett was a talented guitarist, so the rock star invited Barrett to perform alongside him. Because Barrett had only packed dress shirts, Daltrey loaned the CEO a Who T-shirt. That experience, said Barrett, familiarized his colleagues with his musical side: “I was relieved they embraced the whole me.”

Barrett, a yearslong trustee of the Corporation of Brown University,  retired from Cardinal in 2017. He released his first album, Not Alone, in 2023. His second, Rearrange Things, was released in 2025. He collaborated on those albums with award-winning producer/composer Brian Keane, who has worked with artists including Linda Ronstadt and Elvis Costello. 

Rearrange Things is written in the folk tradition, and includes “Clotheslines,” a song that holds special meaning for Barrett, as his lyrics combine his mother’s poetry with his memories of their last conversation before she passed, enhanced by melodic backup instrumentation.