John Lennon’s Son Believes His Father Sent Him A Message From The Afterlife
When a loved one is taken from us, the pain of loss can seem unbearable. For Julian Lennon, the situation was compounded by the fact that his father was someone who had made such an immense impact on popular culture. But in this bitter tragedy came a beautiful moment of clarity and peace when John Lennon sent his son one last meaningful message that changed Julian’s life for good.
Keep reading through to find out how their strained relationship transformed into something so powerful. Do you believe? Let us know in the comments!
Who Is Julian Lennon?
John Lennon had a son before Sean, Julian. Born in 1963 in Liverpool, he was named after John’s mother, Julia, who passed away a few years earlier.
Though his father wrote many songs about him with The Beatles, Julian felt distant from John at times due to their complicated relationship. Despite this, he is still an important figure in the Lennon family and has received media attention since a young age.
The Media Erupted Over John’s “Secret Wife And Baby”
Julian was born in 1969, six years after The Beatles had formed. His birth coincided with the band’s growing fame. That same year, they released Please Please Me – a huge success that made them famous worldwide.
When Julian was just one-year-old, John Lennon’s life became headline news due to his “secret wife and baby.”
Cynthia Raised Julian Mostly On Her Own
Cynthia Lennon worked hard to raise Julian and protect him from media attention. As a result, Julian felt removed from his father’s presence in the iconic band.
In 1966 they went on a skiing trip together as a family, yet it was overwhelmed by followers who wouldn’t leave them alone.
Julian Inspired His Father’s Work
In 1967, Julian was on the set of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour film. Around the same time, he created a watercolor painting of his friend Lucy in nursery school surrounded by stars – this inspired John Lennon to write “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”
As a token of appreciation, Lennon wrote and recorded “Good Night” for Julian featuring Ringo Starr on lead vocals which closed out The Beatles’ White Album.
More Distance Between Julian And His Father
At five, Julian’s parents divorced and his dad John began a relationship with Yoko. In 1969 they married, which caused tension between The Beatles.
They split shortly after, then John focused on his music releasing an album in 1970. He and Yoko moved to New York the next year so Julian was further away from his dad.
Julian Bonded With Paul McCartney
Julian had mixed feelings about his dad as he got older. He recalled spending more with Paul than John, which was highlighted when Paul wrote the song “Hey Jules” to comfort him during his parents’ divorce.
This was later changed to “Hey Jude” as it suited better melody-wise.
A New Father Figure For Julian
In addition to Paul McCartney, Julian gained a new father figure when his mother remarried in 1970, a year after John married Yoko Ono. She wed Roberto Bassanini, who she’d met while on a trip to Italy with Julian.
Cynthia and Roberto were only married for a few years, after which Julian reunited with his father and enjoyed some of their best years as father and son. In 1978, she had another short-lived marriage to engineer John Twist.
John’s New Relationship Reconnected Him To Julian
When Lennon and Yoko separated in 1973, John developed a romantic relationship with their personal assistant, May Pang. May encouraged John to re-connect with Julian, who he hadn’t seen in two years.
In an interview with The Times, Julian described his time with May Pang and John as “the happiest times” he had with his father. During this time, Julian made his musical debut at the age of eleven when his father unexpectedly used Julian’s drum recording in the song “Ya-Ya” on Walls and Bridges.
Reconciliation With Yoko Ono
At the start of 1975, John Lennon agreed to meet with Yoko Ono after more than a year of separation. The two reconciled and Yoko gave birth to their son, Sean Lennon, later on that year.
In a 1999 interview with Dini Petty, Julian admitted that he felt his father was a hypocrite. He said, “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.”
John Lennon’s Untimely Passing
In December of 1980, John Lennon lost his life to Mark David Chapman while on his way to his Manhattan apartment. A Strawberry Fields memorial was later created in Central Park to honor the late musician.
John was and is still lived on by his two sons, who were five and 17 at the time of his passing. Earlier that year, John Lennon had mentioned in an interview that he loves both of his sons equally and that Julian, “belongs to me, and he always will.”
Following In His Father’s Footsteps
Shortly after his father passed, Julian followed in his footsteps by putting out his first album, Valotte. Julian told Rock Beat that one of the album’s songs, “Well I Don’t Know,” was “about looking for signs of the afterlife from Dad.”
He’d inherited his father’s songwriting ability and his voice was regarded by music critic Robert Christgau as being eerily similar to that of John. The album earned Julian a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1985.
The Rise Of Julian’s Music Career
Julian’s next album, The Secret Value of Daydreaming, reached number 32 on the Billboard 200. It also featured the single “Stick Around,” which was Julian’s first song to reach number 1 on the US Album Rock Tracks.
His second single to top the Album Rock Tracks was “Now You’re In Heaven,” which peaked at number 5 in Australia. His single “Saltwater” on his 1991 album topped Australian charts for a month and featured former Beatles member George Harrison on the guitar.
Something Incredible Happened While On Tour In Australia
The track “Saltwater” was famous in Australia for a reason, as it was an environmentally conscious ballad that transcended the decade. Julian’s touching lyrics attracted the attention of aboriginal leaders, who met with the musician while he was on tour.
They asked Julian if he would use his fame to help bring them awareness. The elder of the tribe known as Mirning was a woman who handed him a gift. When Julian took it, he could hardly believe his eyes.
A White Feather Full Of Meaning
The aboriginal leader had handed Julian a white feather. He later told Today that John Lennon had once told him that a white feather would be his way of communicating to his son that we were all going to be alright.
His plea from his first album’s track “Well I Don’t Know” for his father to send him a sign seemed to have been answered. Julian realized at that moment that he needed to do something meaningful with his career.
Staying True To His Word
Julian stayed true to his promise that he would help the Aboriginal Australians. In 2006, he produced and narrated the film Whaledreamers, which illuminates an aboriginal tribe’s meaningful relationship with Australian whales that are at risk of extinction.
The documentary outlines various environmental issues and was shown at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It won several awards, including Best Film by the Byron Bay Film Festival and Best Music/Song by the Tahoe/Reno Int’l Film Festival, and raised funds for Greenpeace and Elcho Island Elder Burmulla.
Julian’s White Feather Foundation
Julian didn’t just stop at highlighting the issues plaguing the aboriginals; that was just the beginning. In 2009, he started the White Feather Foundation, named after the encounter that he considers a sign from his late father.
The organization sets out to raise funds for both environmental and humanitarian issues and to bring attention to those who are setting out to make a difference. To Julian, the white feather represents peace on account of its influence in his life.
Julian Was Inspired By An Old Friend
The same year that Julian founded the White Feather Foundation, he also raised funds for an illness that took his late friend’s life. He partnered with Meagher and Birch to create the revolution, LLC, through which he released the EP “Lucy.”
The song was a tribute to Lucy Vodden, the little girl he painted in nursery school that inspired John’s song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Half of the proceeds from “Lucy” were to be donated to Lupus research since that was the disease that took her life.
Sean And Julian’s Relationship Has Blossomed
After all Sean and Julian went through, they came out on the other side as strong brothers and allies in the music industry. In 2011, Julian told The Express that he loves his brother Sean deeply, and that’s why he needed to “get over” the past.
Sean stated in 2010 that his big brother is the reason he started playing music. Interestingly, Sean’s music is what prompted Julian to dive into photography, a habit that flourished after he photographed Sean’s music tour in 2007.
Honoring His Father In The Name Of Peace
Also in 2010, Julian joined his mother Cynthia in the unveiling of the John Lennon Peace Monument in Liverpool. The beautiful, 18-foot sculpture is a colorful sphere covered with music notes and peace signs and topped with silver birds.
It reads “Peace On Earth For The Conservation Of Life In Honour of John Lennon 1940-1980.” Julian said at the ceremony, “We come here with our hearts to honor Dad and pray for peace and say thank you to everybody who is celebrating today.”
