Julian Lennon

Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist.

He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon.

Julian Lennon was born John Charles Julian Lennon on 8 April 1963 at Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool, to John Lennon and Cynthia Powell.

He was named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon, who died five years before his birth.

The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was his godfather.

Lennon was educated at Ruthin School, a boarding private school in the town of Ruthin, Denbighshire in North Wales.

Lennon inspired one of his father's most famous songs, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", whose lyrics describe a picture the boy had drawn, a watercolour painting of his friend, Lucy O'Donnell, from nursery school, surrounded by stars.

Another composition of his father inspired by him was the lullaby "Good Night", the closing song of The Beatles (also known as The White Album).

Julian inspired three Beatles songs: "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (1967), "Hey Jude" (1968), and "Good Night" (1968).

In 1967, at the age of four, he attended the set of the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour.

His parents divorced in 1968 after his father had an affair with Yoko Ono.

Around the world he has had eight hit singles.

When Julian was five years old, in 1968, his parents divorced, following his father's infidelity with Japanese multimedia artist Yoko Ono.

John Lennon married Ono on 20 March 1969.

Julian would later have a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon.

Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to console him over the divorce; originally called "Hey Jules", McCartney changed the name because he thought that "Jude" was an easier name to sing.

After his parents' divorce, Julian had almost no contact with his father until the early 1970s when, at the request of his father's then-girlfriend, May Pang (Yoko Ono and Lennon had temporarily separated), he began to visit his father regularly.

Recalling his renewed contact with his father in the mid-1970s, Julian said in 2009, "Dad and I got on a great deal better then. We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he was with May Pang. My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear—they were the happiest time I can remember with him".

Julian was excluded from his father's will.

However, a trust of £100,000 was created by his father to be shared between Julian and his half-brother Sean.

John Lennon bought Julian a Gibson Les Paul guitar and a drum machine for Christmas 1973 and encouraged his interest in music by showing him some chords.

Following his father's murder on 8 December 1980, Julian Lennon voiced anger and resentment towards him, saying, "I've never really wanted to know the truth about how dad was with me. There was some very negative stuff talked about me ... like when he said I'd come out of a whiskey bottle on a Saturday night. Stuff like that. You think, where's the love in that? Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit ... more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad".

Julian chafed at hearing his father's peace and love stance perpetually celebrated.

He told The Daily Telegraph, "I have to say that, from my point of view, I felt he was a hypocrite. Dad could talk about peace and love out loud to the world but he could never show it to the people who supposedly meant the most to him: his wife and son. How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces—no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it, not if you're being true and honest with yourself."

Julian added, "Mum was more about love than Dad. He sang about it, he spoke about, but he never really gave it, at least not to me as his son. The darker side definitely comes from Dad. Whenever I get too aggressive, which comes from Dad's side, I try to calm myself down, be more positive."

Lennon started a music career in 1984 with the album Valotte, best known for its lead single "Too Late for Goodbyes", and has since released six more albums.

He has held exhibitions of his fine-art photography and has written several children's books.

Lennon enjoyed immediate success with his debut album, Valotte, released in 1984.

Produced by Phil Ramone, it spawned two top 10 hits, (the title track and "Too Late for Goodbyes") and earned Lennon a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1985.

Music videos for the two hits were made by film director Sam Peckinpah and producer Martin Lewis.

After the album's release, Paul McCartney sent Lennon a telegram wishing him good luck.

Julian sued his father's estate and in 1996 reached a settlement agreement, authorised by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, reportedly worth £20 million.

In 2006, Lennon produced the environmental documentary film Whaledreamers, which won eight international awards.

In 2007, he founded The White Feather Foundation (TWFF), whose stated mission goal is to address "environmental and humanitarian issues".

In an interview with CBS News in 2009, Julian stated, "I realized if I continued to feel that anger and bitterness towards my dad, I would have a constant cloud hanging over my head my whole life. After recording the song 'Lucy,' almost by nature, it felt right to fulfill the circle, forgive dad, put the pain, anger and bitterness in the past, and focus and appreciate the good things. Writing is therapy for me and, for the first time in my life, I'm actually feeling it and believing it. It also has allowed me to actually embrace Dad and the Beatles."

Aside from The Beatles, Lennon was influenced by David Bowie, Keith Jarrett, Steely Dan, and AC/DC.

Lennon made his musical debut at age 11 on his father's album Walls and Bridges playing drums on "Ya-Ya", later saying, "Dad, had I known you were going to put it on the album, I would've played much better!"

In the sleeve notes in the album the song is credited to Julian Lennon "starring on drums" with "dad on piano".

In 2020, Lennon was executive producer of the Netflix documentary Kiss the Ground about regenerative agriculture and the follow-up film Common Ground.

In 2022, Lennon was executive producer of the documentary film Women of the White Buffalo, which chronicles the lives of women living on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.