biography about john lennon

John Lennon

Famed singer-songwriter John Lennon founded the Beatles, a band that impacted the popular music scene like no other.

(1940-1980)

Who Was John Lennon?

John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, during a German air raid in World War II.

When he was four years old, Lennon's parents separated and he ended up living with his Aunt Mimi. Lennon's father was a merchant seaman. He was not present at his son's birth and did not see a lot of his son when he was young.

Lennon's mother, Julia, remarried but visited him and Mimi regularly. She taught Lennon how to play the banjo and the piano and purchased his first guitar. Lennon was devastated when Julia was fatally struck by a car driven by an off-duty police officer in July 1958. Her death was one of the most traumatic events in his life.

As a child, Lennon was a prankster and he enjoyed getting into trouble. As a boy and young adult, he enjoyed drawing grotesque figures and cripples. Lennon's school master thought that he could go to an art school for college since he did not get good grades in school but had artistic talent.

Forming the Beatles

Elvis Presley 's explosion onto the rock music scene inspired a 16-year-old Lennon to create the skiffle band called the Quarry Men, named after his school. Lennon met Paul McCartney at a church fete on July 6, 1957. He soon invited McCartney to join the group, and the two eventually formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in musical history.

McCartney introduced George Harrison to Lennon the following year, and Harrison and art college buddy Stuart Sutcliffe also joined Lennon's band. Always in need of a drummer, the group finally settled on Pete Best in 1960.

The first recording they made was Buddy Holly 's "That'll Be the Day" in 1958. In fact, it was Holly's group, the Crickets, that inspired the band to change its name. Lennon would later joke that he had a vision when he was 12 years old — a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, "From this day on, you are Beatles with an 'A.'"

The Beatles were discovered by Brian Epstein in 1961 at Liverpool's Cavern Club, where they were performing on a regular basis. As their new manager, Epstein secured a record contract with EMI. With a new drummer, Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), and George Martin as a producer, the group released their first single, "Love Me Do," in October 1962. It peaked on the British charts at No. 17.

Lennon wrote the group's follow-up single, "Please Please Me," inspired primarily by Roy Orbison , but also fed by Lennon's infatuation with the pun in Bing Crosby 's famous lyrics, "Oh, please, lend your little ears to my pleas," from the song "Please." The Beatles' "Please Please Me" topped the charts in Britain. The Beatles went on to become the most popular band in Britain with the release of such mega-hits as "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Lennon married Cynthia Powell in August 1962. The couple had one son together, Julian, who was named after Lennon's mother. Cynthia was forced to keep a very low profile during Beatlemania. She and Lennon divorced in 1968. He remarried the following year, on March 20, 1969, to Japanese avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, whom he had met at the Indica Gallery in November 1966.

Beatlemania

In 1964, the Beatles became the first British band to break out big in the United States, beginning with their appearance on television's The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Beatlemania launched a "British Invasion" of rock bands in the United States that also included the Rolling Stones and the Kinks. Following their appearance on Sullivan , the Beatles returned to Britain to film their first film, A Hard Day's Night (1964), and prepare for their first world tour.

The Beatles' second film, Help! , was released in 1965. That June, Queen Elizabeth II announced that the Beatles would be named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In August 1965, the foursome performed to 55,600 fans at New York's Shea Stadium, setting a new record for largest concert audience in musical history. When the Beatles returned to England, they recorded the breakthrough album Rubber Soul (1965), noted for extending beyond the love songs and pop formulas for which the band was previously well-known.

The magic of Beatlemania had begun to lose its appeal by 1966. The band members' lives were put in danger when they were accused of snubbing the presidential family in the Philippines. Then, Lennon's remark that the band was "more popular than Jesus now" incited denunciations and Beatles record bonfires in the U.S. Bible belt. The Beatles gave up touring after an August 29, 1966, concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.

After an extended break, the band returned to the studio to expand their experimental sound with drug-influenced exotic instrumentation/lyrics and tape abstractions. The first sample was the single "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever," followed by the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), considered by many to be the greatest rock project in musical history.

The Beatles Break Up

The Beatles then suffered a huge blow when Epstein died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills on August 27, 1967. Shaken by Epstein's death, the Beatles retrenched under McCartney's leadership in the fall and filmed Magical Mystery Tour . While the film was panned by critics, the soundtrack album contained Lennon's "I Am The Walrus," the group's most cryptic work yet.

Magical Mystery Tour failed to achieve much commercial success, and the Beatles retreated into Transcendental Meditation and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which took them to India for two months in early 1968. Their next effort, Apple Corps Ltd., was plagued by mismanagement. That July, the group faced its last notably hysterical crowd at the premiere of their film Yellow Submarine . In November 1968, the Beatles' double-album The Beatles (also known as The White Album ) displayed their divergent directions.

By this time, Lennon's artist partnership with second wife Ono had begun to cause serious tensions within the group. Lennon and Ono invented a form of peace protest by staying in bed while being filmed and interviewed, and their single "Give Peace a Chance" (1969), recorded under the name "the Plastic Ono Band," became a national anthem of sorts for pacifists.

Lennon left the Beatles in September 1969, just after the group completed recording Abbey Road. The news of the break-up was kept secret until McCartney announced his departure in April 1970, a month before the band released Let It Be , recorded just before Abbey Road.

Solo Career: 'Imagine' Album

Not long after the Beatles broke up, in 1970, Lennon released his debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band , featuring a raw, minimalist sound that followed "primal-scream" therapy. He followed that project with 1971's Imagine , the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed of all Lennon's post-Beatles efforts. The title track was later named No. 3 on Rolling Stone magazine's "All-Time Best Songs" list.

Peace and love, however, was not always on Lennon's agenda. Imagine also included the track "How Do You Sleep?," a vehement response to veiled messages at Lennon in some of McCartney's solo recordings. The friends and former songwriting duo later buried the hatchet, but never formally worked together again.

Lennon and Ono moved to the United States in September 1971, but were constantly threatened with deportation by the Nixon Administration. Lennon was told that he was being kicked out of the country due to his 1968 marijuana conviction in Britain, but the singer believed that he was being removed because of his activism against the unpopular Vietnam War. Documents later proved him correct. (Two years after Nixon resigned, in 1976, Lennon was granted permanent U.S. residency.)

In 1972, while battling to stay in America, Lennon performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City to benefit mentally handicapped children and continued to promote peace. His immigration battle took a toll on Lennon's marriage, and in the fall of 1973, he and Ono separated. Lennon went to Los Angeles, California, where he partied and took a mistress, May Pang. He still managed to release hit albums, including Mind Games (1973), Walls and Bridges (1974) and Rock 'n' Roll (1975). During this time, Lennon famously collaborated with David Bowie and Elton John .

Lennon and Ono reconciled in 1974, and she gave birth to their only child, a son named Sean, on Lennon's 35th birthday (October 9, 1975). Shortly thereafter, Lennon decided to leave the music business to focus on being a father and husband.

Tragic Death

In 1980, Lennon returned to the music world with the album Double Fantasy , featuring the hit single "(Just Like) Starting Over." Tragically, just a few weeks after the album's release, Mark David Chapman, a deranged fan, shot Lennon several times in front of his apartment complex in New York City. Lennon died at New York City's Roosevelt Hospital on December 8, 1980, at the age of 40.

Lennon's assassination had, and continues to have, a profound impact on pop culture. Following the tragic event, millions of fans worldwide mourned as record sales soared. And Lennon's untimely death still evokes deep sadness around the globe today, as he continues to be admired by new generations of fans. Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: John Lennon
• Birth Year: 1940
• Birth date: October 9, 1940
• Birth City: Liverpool, Merseyside, England
• Birth Country: United Kingdom
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Famed singer-songwriter John Lennon founded the Beatles, a band that impacted the popular music scene like no other.
• Astrological Sign: Libra
• Quarry Bank High School
• Liverpool College of Art
• Death Year: 1980
• Death date: December 8, 1980
• Death State: New York
• Death City: New York
• Death Country: United States

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: John Lennon Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/john-lennon
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: April 14, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliché that should have been left behind in the '60s, that's a problem. Peace and love are eternal.
• The more that I see, the less that I know for sure.
• All you need is love.
• There is nothing conceptually better than rock.
• We're all responsible for war ... we all must do something, no matter what.
• The thing the '60s did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.
• If there is such a thing as genius, I am one. And if there's not, I don't care.
• I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity.
• What we got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we'll sink.
• You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
• Declare it—just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace ... we just need to declare it.
• Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
• Let it be. Whisper words of wisdom. Let it be.
• As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.
• Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.
• We're more popular than Jesus now.

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Biography Online

Biography John Lennon

“If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that’s his problem. Love and peace are eternal.”

– John Lennon

Short Biography of John Lennon

John Lennon was born, October 1940, during a German air raid in Oxford Street Maternity hospital, Liverpool. During his childhood, he saw little of his father Freddie, who went AWOL whilst serving in the navy. For several years, John was brought up by his mother’s sister Mimi.

In his early years, John was a mischievous student, who would be quick to take the mickey out of teachers and other students. His school reports were often scathing. “ Certainly on the road to failure … hopeless … rather a clown in class … wasting other pupils’ time. ”

Whilst in his early teens he got his first guitar and would spend many hours playing. His aunt Mimi used to regularly say:

“The guitar’s all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living out of it.”

After the Beatles were famous, John presented Mimi with a silver platter with this quote written on.  He failed all his O-Levels but was still accepted to the Liverpool College of Art. However, he was expelled from College before his final year because of his disruptive behaviour.

In the late 1950s, John formed a rock group called the “Quarry Men Skiffle Band”, which was a precursor to the Beatles. In 1957, he met and formed a successful musical partnership with Paul McCartney . They complemented each other very well. Lennon focused on the more satirical aspects and McCartney veered towards the more optimistic cheerful qualities. Lennon was considered the leader of the Beatles, due to his superior age and also his musical abilities. It was, however, McCartney who persuaded Lennon to allow George Harrison to enter the band as lead guitarist.

The first concert of the Beatles was at the Cavern Club in Liverpool on 21st March 1961. After being rejected by many music labels, they eventually signed an agreement with Parlophone in 1962. George Martin who was responsible for signing the Beatles, later said he was not particularly impressed by their demo tapes, but liked their wit and humour – of which Lennon was usually at the forefront.

During the great success of the Beatles during the 1960s, John Lennon would often be seen as the figurehead for the group, although they maintained that the decisions of the group were democratic.

Paul, George and John Lennon

In 1961, the Beatles travelled to Germany, where they played many concerts in Hamburg. After two successful years, they returned to England and concentrated on recording singles. In 1963, the group’s profile took off with hit singles, such as “Please Please Me” and “She Loves You.” The popularity and enthusiasm for the Beatles were such that it led to the term “Beatlemania” being used. Lennon and the Beatles began a hectic schedule of recording, live performances and media appearances.

Despite his natural rebelliousness, Lennon agreed to the suggestion of manager Brian Epstein to dress smartly and have a similar haircut. In the early years of the Beatles, the smart-suited Beatles were part of their cultivated image.

In 1964, they released the single “ I Want to Hold Your Hand ” – it entered the US charts in early 1964 and soon sold over two million copies. Beatlemania was now a global phenomenon. It marked a shift in musical attitudes, especially in the US. The Beatles success of 1964, was known as the start of the “British Invasion”. In 1964, they toured the US for the first time, and in February appeared on the Ed Sullivan tv show.

The Beatles in 1964, JFK airport US.

John Lennon was no stranger to controversy. In 1966, he made an off the cuff remark in an interview with the Evening Standard.

“Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink   … We’re more popular than Jesus now—I don’t know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity.”

He claimed this was a mere observation, which was probably true in England. Nevertheless, it led to a boycott in the US, especially in the deep south. There was also a wave of record burnings – although Lennon wryly remarked that to burn them they had to buy them first.

John Lennon and Meditation

In 1967, John Lennon and the Beatles became more interested in meditation and Eastern religions. They spent several weeks in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi . Although John later broke ties with the organisation, he continued to advocate meditation.

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.”

“I’m not a god or the God, but we’re all God and we’re all potentially divine — and potentially evil. We all have everything within us and the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh and within us, and if you look hard enough you’ll see it.”

– John Lennon, The Beatles Anthology (2000)

In India, they composed music for their albums The Beatles and Abbey Road . The visit also saw more Eastern musical influences begin to percolate into their music.

John Lennon Solo Career

John Lennon by Roy Kerwood

In 1969, the Beatles started to split up; Lennon was keen to branch out musically and develop his own solo career. There were also frictions over the presence of his wife, Yoko Ono in the Beatles recording sessions.  After the break-up of the Beatles, Lennon pursued a very successful solo career. His first album was released in 1970 with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970).

“It was just a gradual development over the years. Last year was “All You Need Is Love.” This year it’s “Give Peace a Chance.” Remember love. The only hope for any of us is peace…. Get out there and get peace. Think peace, live peace, and breathe peace and you’ll get it as soon as you like.” (Statement to the press,  July 1969)

In the early 1970s, John Lennon also became a figurehead for those opposed to the Vietnam War. His song “ Give Peace a Chance ” became an anthem for the anti-war movement. Due to his anti-war stance, the Nixon administration tried to have him deported, but after a long struggle, he was able to gain a green card in 1976. His song “ Imagine ” has also become a tremendously influential song; it has been voted ‘the most popular song’ by the British public.

In 1975, he retreated from the music world, preferring to spend time looking after his new son, Sean.

John Lennon married Cynthia Powell in 1963, though the marriage was kept secret. They had one son, Julian. The marriage broke down in 1967. Lennon married Yoko Ono in March 1969.

In October of 1980, Lennon made a return to music recording. But, just two months later on 8 December 1980, John Lennon was shot dead in Dakota, New York. He was shot by David Chapman – an obsessed fan. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was imprisoned for life.

By 2012, John Lennon has sold 14 million solo albums, whilst the Beatles have become the best-selling group of all time – with an estimated 600 million recording sales worldwide.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of John Lennon” , Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net , 28th May. 2007. Updated 25 January 2018.

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John Lennon

• Born October 9 , 1940 · Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK
• Died December 8 , 1980 · New York City, New York, USA (murdered by gunshot)
• Birth name John Winston Lennon
• Height 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
• John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon , a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith . In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, which he attended) who, with the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison , later became The Beatles . After some years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, "Beatlemania" erupted in England and Europe in 1963 after the release of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me". That same year, John's first wife Cynthia Lennon welcomed their only son Julian Lennon , named after John's mother. The next year the Beatles flew to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka The Ed Sullivan Show), and Beatlemania spread worldwide. Queen Elizabeth II granted all four Beatles M.B.E. medals in 1965, for import revenues from their record sales; John returned his four years later, as part of an antiwar statement. John and the Beatles continued to tour and perform live until 1966, when protests over his calling the Beatles phenomenon "more popular than Jesus" and the frustrations of touring made the band decide to quit the road. They devoted themselves to studio work, recording and releasing albums such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Magical Mystery Tour" and the "White Album". Instead of appearing live, the band began making their own "pop clips" (an early term for music videos), which were featured on television programs of the time. In the late 1960s John began performing and making albums with his second wife Yoko Ono , as the Beatles began to break up. Their first two albums, "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions", were experimental and flops by Beatles standards, while their "Wedding Album" was almost a vanity work, but their live album "Live Peace In Toronto" became a Top Ten hit, at the end of the 1960s. In the early 1970s John and Yoko continued to record together, making television appearances and performing at charity concerts. After the release of John's biggest hit, "Imagine", they moved to the US, where John was nearly deported because of his political views (a late-'60s conviction for possession of hashish in the U.K. was the excuse given by the government), but after a four-year legal battle he won the right to stay. In the midst of this, John and Yoko separated for over a year; John lived in Los Angeles with personal assistant May Pang , while Yoko dated guitarist David Spinozza . When John made a guest appearance at Elton John 's Thanksgiving 1974 concert, Yoko was in the audience, and surprised John backstage. They reconciled in early 1975, and Yoko soon became pregnant. After the birth of their son Sean Lennon , John settled into the roles of "househusband" and full-time daddy, while Yoko became his business manager; both appeared happy in their new life together. After a five-year break from music and the public eye, they made a comeback with their album "Double Fantasy", but within weeks of their re-emergence, Lennon was murdered on the evening of December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman , a one-time Beatles fan angry and jealous over John's ongoing career, who fatally shot Lennon four times in the back outside his apartment building, The Dakota, as Lennon was returning from a recording session. Within minutes after being shot, John Lennon was dead at age 40. His violent death was a sudden and tragic end to the life of a talented singer and musician who wanted to make a difference in the world. - IMDb Mini Biography By: paulabb
• Spouses Yoko Ono (March 20, 1969 - December 8, 1980) (his death, 1 child) Cynthia Lennon (August 23, 1962 - November 8, 1968) (divorced, 1 child)
• Children Sean Lennon Julian Lennon Kyoko Ono Cox
• Parents Alfred Lennon Julia Lennon
• Relatives Mimi Smith (Aunt or Uncle) Julia Baird (Half Sibling)
• Round-framed glasses and army-surplus jacket
• Songs about personal issues, political and social themes
• His Rickenbacker 325 guitar (replaced later with an Epiphone Casino)
• Bizarre, humorous personality and outspoken, rebellious nature
• He frequently wrote songs about love being the answer to the world's problems
• During the 1960s he had attempted to instigate a live action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien 's "Lord Of The Rings" books (of which he was a fan), starring himself and his Beatle bandmates. Lennon had expressed interest in the role of Gollum, with Paul McCartney playing Frodo, Ringo Starr playing Sam and George Harrison playing Gandalf.
• In a 2007 interview on the BBC Radio program Desert Island Discs, his wife, Yoko Ono , revealed what his last words were. She said that he wanted to go home and see son Sean before he went to sleep rather than go out for dinner after leaving the recording studio. According to Ono: "I said 'Shall we go and have dinner before we go home?' and John said, 'No, let's go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.'" Moments later, he was gunned down in front of the historic Dakota building where the family lived in New York City.
• Elton John is the godfather of his son Sean Lennon
• It was after hearing Paul McCartney 's new single "Coming Up" that Lennon decided to return to music in early 1980. His reported response was, "Oh shit, I've got to get back." Lennon loved the song.
• His mother Julia Lennon (44) was killed by a drunk driver when John was seventeen; his stepfather broke down at the news, and John had to go with the police to identify her body (he later named his first son [ Julian Lennon ] for her, and remembered his mother in the song "Julia", ten years after her death). His best friend and former band mate Stuart Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in 1962, when they were both 21; John asked Stuart's mother for the old scarf he'd worn to art school, and kept it as a memento.
• When real music comes to me - the music of the spheres, the music that surpasseth understanding - that has nothing to do with me, 'cause I'm just the channel. The only joy for me is for it to be given to me, and to transcribe it like a medium...those moments are what I live for.
• Will all the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry. [At Royal Variety Performance 4th November 1963]
• God is a concept by which we measure our pain.
• My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.
• Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

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John Lennon

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INDUCTED BY

Paul McCartney (The Beatles)

In the Beatles, the alliance of John Lennon and Paul McCartney produced some of music’s greatest songs.

Never content with the status quo, Lennon then launched a solo career marked by experimentation, political activism, embrace of the counterculture and more enduring songs: “Imagine,” “Working Class Hero,” “Instant Karma!” and “#9 Dream.”

HALL OF FAME ESSAY

By Dave Marsh

Imagine no John Lennon. A dozen years after his assassination, it remains no easier to even try.

That’s so not only because John should be with us tonight, feisty and fiftyish, but because in many ways, he, his music and his ideas remain with us, day in and day out, as powerfully as any figure in the history of rock & roll.

Lennon still speaks to us so often and so directly because he was rock’s first true polymath.

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John Lennon

You make your own dream. That’s the Beatles’ story, isn’t it? That’s Yoko ’s story. That’s what I’m saying now. Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

• An overview of John Lennon's life , with information on key events from his childhood through to The Beatles and his solo years.
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Short Bio » Rock Singer » John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon , MBE was an English singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles (1960-70), the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia (née Stanley) (1914-1958) and Alfred Lennon (1912-1976), a merchant seaman of Irish descent, who was away at the time of his son’s birth.

Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager; his first band, the Quarrymen, evolved into the Beatles in 1960. When the group disbanded in 1970, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine , and songs such as “Give Peace a Chance”, “Working Class Hero”, and “Imagine”. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon.

By 2012, Lennon’s solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994.

At around 10:50 p.m. (EST) on 8 December 1980, as Lennon and Ono returned to their New York apartment in the Dakota, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times in the archway of the building. Lennon was taken to the emergency room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:00 p.m. (EST). Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman.

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Who are John Lennon’s kids? All about Julian and Sean

John Lennon left behind a huge legacy when he was assassinated in 1980 at the age of 40: music he made with The Beatles , his thriving solo career (including classic songs like “Imagine”) and his two sons.

Over the years, Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon have forged paths through the entertainment industry, making their own unique brands of music, but always with the shadow of their father (and, in the case of Sean, his equally artistic mother, Yoko Ono) close by.

Below, everything to know about the two men, each of whom had very different relationships with their father. Study up before watching the restored version of the 1970 film “Let It Be,” now streaming on Disney+ .

Julian Lennon

With looks and a singing voice that could help him pass for his father’s doppelgänger, Julian Lennon is now 61. A philanthropist, author and photographer, he’s also a musician whose discography can be found on his website .  

Born in 1963 as John Charles Julian Lennon (he officially changed his name to Julian in 2020) to Cynthia and John Lennon in Liverpool, United Kingdom, he was named after his father’s mother, Julia Lennon. His early childhood, spent in London and nearby Surrey, was shaped by the rise of The Beatles. When he was around 3 years old, Julian brought home a drawing from school that became the inspiration for the band’s “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” 

“It was just a bunch of stars and this blond girl I knew at school,” Julian told Rolling Stone in 1984. “Dad said, ‘What’s this?’ I said, ‘It’s Lucy in the sky ,’ and, well, you know the rest.”

Both Julian and John quashed myths claiming the song’s title was code for the drug LSD. The real story is that the blonde girl was Lucy O’Donnell (later Vodden), a real person who died of lupus in 2009. According to the Lupus Foundation of America , Lennon released the song “Lucy” to honor her memory and donated the funds to lupus research.

Julian was also the inspiration for The Beatles’ hit “Hey Jude,” which Paul McCartney wrote after John left Cynthia for Yoko Ono in 1968. Rolling Stone recalled that McCartney said the lyrics were meant to be a “ hopeful message ” for the boy (though, apparently, John thought the lyrics were about him and Ono).

“I have a love-hate [relationship] with it,” Julian told the L.A. Times in 2023. “I’ve probably heard that song and heard renditions of it more than most people alive. And even my dear friends send me babies in nappies playing guitars [and] singing, ‘Hey Jude’, which I really don’t need.”

As a kid, Julian was immersed in the music industry (making his debut at just age 11, when he played the drums on a remake of Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya,” which appeared on his father’s 1974 album, “Walls and Bridges”). Later that year, his dad gave him a drum machine.

Julian went on to record seven albums of his own between 1984 and 2022, finding his biggest chart successes with debut “Valotte” (1984) and “The Secret Value of Daydreaming” (1986).

Two early videos stand out: “Too Late for Goodbyes,” which features a long-haired man in a white outfit popping in and out of a doorway — a puckish evocation of John Lennon — and was directed by legendary movie director Sam Peckinpah; and “Stick Around,” which includes cameos from ’80s stars including Joe Piscopo, Jami Gertz and Michael J. Fox.

But “Valotte,” a song dedicated to the fractured relationship with his father (who left Julian out of his will, per Antonelli & Antonelli ), remains one of his best.

After his father’s death, Julian stayed in touch with McCartney, sharing with Rolling Stone, “I remember rolling about on the floor, wrestling with Paul, when I was a kid. He always sends me telegrams on my birthday, which is nice, and he sent me one about the record (“Valotte”) a couple of days ago: ‘Good luck, old fruit.’”

Beyond music, Julian branched out into other interests. In 1987, he appeared in a benefit musical, “ The Hunting of the Snark ,” and in 1995, he makes a cameo in “ Leaving Las Vegas .” By 2002, he gave commercials a try, re-recording The Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-Four” for an AllState Insurance ad.

Diving into photography, he curated an exhibition called “ Timeless ” for Art Basel in 2010, and still impresses with his artsy Instagram account . In 2015, he launched The Cynthia Lennon Scholarship for Girls in Kenya (The Cynthia Lennon Foundation is part of Lennon’s White Feather Charity) and began publishing children’s books about the environment a couple of years later. Furthering his resume in the film industry, he executive produced “ Women of the White Buffalo ,” a documentary about Lakota women, in 2022.

Today, Julian lives in Europe. He’s never been married or had children, sharing that his father’s relationship with his mother has made him hesitant to commit.  

“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 ,” he told The Times of London in 2011.

In another interview that same year, this one with Record Collector, he said, “ He was young and didn’t know what the hell he was doing. That’s the reason I haven’t had children yet. I didn’t want to do the same thing. No, I’m not ready. I want to know who I am first.”

Sean Ono Lennon

Sean Taro Ono Lennon, born in 1975 on his father’s 35th birthday in New York City, has led an eclectic, fiercely independent artistic life heavily influenced by his mother, Yoko Ono.

Over the decades, the 48-year-old musician has proved adept with various bands and genres. His newest album, “Asterisms,” dropped in February, with Rolling Stone calling it “a genreless wash of instrumental music that flirts with jazz, rock, and electronic.”

Early on, Sean received a lot of attention from John, as the former Beatle stepped away from music to be a stay-at-home dad, per NBC News . He has a very famous godfather — Elton John, per Far Out magazine — and his school life is just as impressive.

After attending kindergarten in Japan, as he told New York magazine in 2006, he went to preschool in San Francisco, private school in New York City, and then boarding school in Switzerland.

In 1984, Sean was back in New York City for his birthday, when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs presented him with one of the first Macintosh computers. Photos on X, formerly Twitter , show Sean checking it out alongside legends including Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. (Author David Sheff’s account of the evening, published on his website , is absolutely worth a read.)

By this time, Sean musical career was on the rise. In 1981, he recited a story on his mother’s album “Season of Glass” and continued collaborating with her throughout his teen years.

In 1988, he appeared in Michael Jackson’s musical anthology film “ Moonwalker ,” and in 1990, he starred in a Sony promotional short film called “ Infinite Escher .”

He gave college the old, well, you know, but Columbia University proved not to be his cup of tea. After three semesters, he dropped out to focus on music, according to AAE Speakers .

“People have said, ‘Why don’t you just do things under a pseudonym and then see what people’s true reaction would be?’” he told The Guardian in 2015. “I always felt like doing that, though, would be sort of disrespectful to my dad and my family and myself. It’s like oh, well, I can’t be proud of who I am? I didn’t want to hide.”

Sean has been bouncing around the industry ever since. See his website for proof. He’s recorded albums with Cibo Matto; with his band, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (which is composed of him and his girlfriend since 2006, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, per the L.A. Times ).

Further collaborations include albums with Plastic Ono Band, Mystical Weapons and The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Sean has also contributed to no fewer than six film scores, one of which was for 2007’s “Friendly Fire,” starring Carrie Fisher and Lindsay Lohan — which he also co-wrote.

Like his brother and his parents, Sean is involved in philanthropic efforts. In addition to organizing the Tibetan Freedom Concert Lineup with Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch from 1996 to 1999, he performed for Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City in October 2011, per Billboard . The following year, he had an anti-fracking essay published in The New York Times .

In 2018, Sean collaborated with Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson on a cover of his parents’ “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” which they performed on “Saturday Night Live.”

And in 2024, Paul McCartney’s son, James McCartney, credited him as a co-writer on the song “Primrose Hill,” reported by The Guardian — proving the Lennon-McCartney songwriting team can carry over into the next generation.

Like his half-brother, Sean has never been married and has no children. But he still has a lot of love around him.

In 2019, Sean posted an image to Instagram of him and his sibling with the caption, “Was fun having this guy in New York for a bit.”

“The only reason I’m interested in art and music at all is because of my parents,” he told The Guardian in 2015.

“Respect for them is at the heart of everything I do. It defines me. ... I sort of hero-worshipped them as a child, then went to work making music on my own,” he added.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com