In December 1963, the Beatles released their first-ever No. 1 single in the U.S., “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and music was never the same. More than six decades later, the Fab Four are still sitting atop just about every critic’s list of the 20th century’s most influential bands. The last few years have sparked renewed curiosity in the boys from Liverpool, with projects like Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series Get Back and Martin Scorsese’s Beatles ’64. But don’t ask Julian Lennon about that. The elder son of late Beatles founder John Lennon says he isn’t in the loop on such things.
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Julian Lennon: “I’m Just as Curious as Anybody Else”
Millions across the globe mourned when news broke on Dec. 8, 1980, that a gunman had fatally shot John Lennon in the archway of his New York City residence. For Julian Lennon, the son of John and first wife Cynthia, the emotions weren’t quite so straightforward.
The musician and photographer was just 5 years old when his parents divorced following his father’s highly-publicized affair with multimedia artist Yoko Ono. Following that, “[It] was just Mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or Dad,” Julian recently told The Guardian. “I visited him on the odd occasion, but we were very much on the outside.”
Julian Lennon
— Steve Nelson (@Nelsong56) January 5, 2025
With his Father and his three Uncles
His stepmother and his brother pic.twitter.com/g6EP1Q5YVw
As a result, the author and philanthropist, 61, isn’t exactly in the know about matters relating to his father’s former bandmates. “It’s news to me half the time,” he said. “I’m not part of the inner circle—I never have been.”
[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know Julian Lennon Wrote for Other Artists]
Still, Lennon remains mostly unfazed by this. “I’d rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do,” he said. “As a fan, I’m just as curious as anybody else, although I do find myself going, ‘How is it possible that there’s another Beatles film?’”
John Lennon’s Sons Get Along “Like a House on Fire”
Six years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono married, the couple had a son, Sean, in 1975. And despite rumors of resentment still simmering between the two, Julian Lennon reiterated to The Guardian that the siblings are “best buddies.”
“I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire,” Julian said. The “Too Late For Goodbyes” singer told People in 2021 that the pair speak “daily.”
“We’re brothers and we love each other deeply on that level,” he said.
Featured image by David Fisher/Shutterstock
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