Julian Lennon

Julian’s relationship with Yoko Ono, his father’s girlfriend and his half-brother, Sean, was a strained one, following the divorce and the death of his father. However, they soon became ‘cordial’ with each other and Yoko Ono became the trustee of John Lennon’s will.

John Charles Julian Lennon was born to John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, in Liverpool, England. Named after John’s mother, Julia, he was born on the eve of Beatlemania.

It is believed that Julian and Cynthia were kept away from the public glare because the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, believed that a ‘bachelor’John Lennon would be more appealing to female fans.

As a child, Julian Lennon inspired a number of his father’s famous songs, particularly, ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’. Another composition inspired by Julian was, ‘Good Night’ from the album, White Album.

Paul McCartney wrote ‘Hey Jude’ to console him after his parents got divorced when he was only five. Following the divorce, he had no contact with his father till the 1970s.

In 1973, he was gifted a drum machine for Christmas by John Lennon, which encouraged his passion for music. He made his musical debut at the age of 11 in his father’s album, ‘Walls and Bridges’, for the hit single, ‘Ya-Ya’.

Julian Lennon’s musical career got off to a brilliant start with his 1984 debut album, ‘Valotte’. His second album, ‘The Secret Value of Daydreaming’, was not as successful as the first, but still managed to top the ‘Album Rock Tracks’ chart.

Though his first two albums were successful, he never managed to garner the same amount of success with any of his following releases.

He appeared in Mike Batt’s musical, ‘The Hunting of the Snark’, which was based on Lewis Caroll’s poem.

His first ever musical tour in 1985 was documented as a part of the film, ‘Stand By Me: A Portrait of Julian Lennon’. He then went on to appear in a number of other films such as ‘Imagine: John Lennon’, ‘Cannes Man’ and ‘Leaving Las Vegas’.

In 1991, he released the album ‘Help’, from which, one of the singles, ‘Saltwater’ reached the number six position in UK and topped a number of Australian singles charts for weeks in a row. Post-1991, he left the music industry for a couple years and ventured out to do other things such as cooking, sculpting and sailing.

His debut album, ‘Valotte’, catapulted him to fame and was nominated for a Grammy Award for ‘Best New Artist’ in 1985. The album also produced a number of hits, which charted the US, UK and Australian music countdowns. The title track, ‘Valotte’ and ‘Too Late For Goodbyes’, became hit singles and remained popular for weeks together on radio stations across the country.

He produced a documentary, ‘WhaleDreamers’, which narrated the story of an aboriginal tribe in Australia and the special bond they shared with the whales. The documentary was screened at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and also received numerous awards.