As a bandmate Paul McCartney would later note, “The Beatles” of John Lennon short life was full of tragedies.
Grew up in a turbulent family dynamic after his father Alfred he also left his mother at an early age Julia let her sister Mary “Mimi” Smith raised him, John’s family life has never been smooth sailing.
As an adult, John welcomed two sons, Julian Lennon, 61, and Sean Ono Lennon, 49, – and was a radically different father to each before his untimely death at 40 in December 1980.
These days, the brothers “face demons together,” according to Julian in an interview with Esquire in 2021
After 55 years, Julian Lennon has made peace with ‘Hey Jude’. Julian, 60, recently spoke about the song Paul McCartney wrote to comfort him while his parents John Lennon and Cynthia Lennon (née Powell) went through a divorce. “It was originally ‘Hey Jules,’ but that didn’t sit well rhythmically,” Julian told Esquire (…)
“It’s funny because there’s always been, especially in the British press, ‘feud between Lennon’s sons’, this, that. We have never fought in our lives. This is such bull,” he said.
Scroll on for more information on key family members during John’s life.
Julian Lennon
Julian and John Lennon.
(Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)John’s foray into fatherhood got off to a controversial start when he and girlfriend at the time Cynthia Powell discovered they were expecting a child after not using contraception.
When John (then 21) found out that Cynthia (then 22) was pregnant, he decided they would get married – and they married in 1962. Their son Julian was born in April 1963, but John missed the birth due to his responsibilities with The Beatles.
While John was around for the first few years of Julian’s life, he eventually leave Cynthia for Yoko Ono and had a strained relationship with Julian for much of his life.
John Lennon’s son Julian Lennon is battling cancer. Julian, 61, confirmed his diagnosis in a lengthy X post on Wednesday, December 18, sharing photos of his recovery. “Well, here’s how it goes… Before I flew to New York from Los Angeles, for Good Morning America Sirius XM, iHeart Radio and My Fotografiska Q&A Book Signing Event, I (…)
Julianne later reflected on her difficult relationship with John in an interview with The Guardian in 2020
“Then all of a sudden my father literally disappeared off the face of the planet. At least it seemed so to me. He and Yoko Ono were deeply and publicly in love. And I felt like me and my mom were thrown away,” he told the publication. “It’s been maybe 10 years that me and my dad barely spoke. I was very angry at how he left the family. Thanks to my mother, we started talking again. She was such a gentle soul, never vindictive in any way, shape or form. She always wanted me to have a relationship with him.
Julian, who is the inspiration Paul McCartney the song “Hey Jude” written for him after John and Cynthia’s divorce, also shared that he eventually reconnected with his father before his death.
“I was scared the first time I went to visit him in the US after my parents divorced. I was beginning to realize the greatness of this man,” he said The Guardian. “To my great relief, the visit was a success. My father was charming, funny and warm. From that trip on, I remember we got along better.
Sean Ono Lennon
Sean Ono Lennon and John Lennon.
(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)In stark contrast to his parenting style with Julian, John was a more hands-on father the second time around.
John welcomed his youngest son Sean into the world in October 1975. with his second wife Yoko and took a break from music to become a house husband.
In an interview with Playboy which took place in September 1980. and was published in January 1981, John shared how well he took to the role.
“I was baking bread and looking after the baby … because bread and babies, as every housewife knows, is a full-time job,” he told the magazine at the time.
unfortunately John was fatally shot in December 1980 when Sean was just five years old.
Speaking of Rolling Stone in 2020 Shawn reflects on how his father’s death affected him and explains that he still has memories of his father when he was alive.
“A lot of people don’t remember when they were five,” he said during the interview. “I’ve never asked a psychologist, but I assumed that because my father’s death was so traumatic for me, a lot of those early memories just stuck around. I have more memories of being five and four than 16.’
Julia and Alfred Lennon
John and Julia Lennon.
(Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)John’s parents Julia and Alfred Lennon they first met when they were teenagers and married in secret a decade later in 1938. John was born in 1940, but his parents did not raise him – Julia let her sister Mary “Mimi” Smith to raise his son.
Fellow Beatle McCartney spoke about John’s troubled upbringing at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.
“As a child, his mother was determined not to be good enough to raise him… His father had left home when John was 3 years old. So that’s not very great,” McCartney, 82, recalled. “It made me realize why he had this vulnerability. I always admired the way he handled it because I’m not sure I would have handled the things he went through as well.
Legendary rock band The Beatles are releasing new music more than 50 years after their breakup. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have teamed up to complete the band’s latest unfinished track ‘Now and Then’, which will be released on Thursday, November 2. The tune was originally written by the late John Lennon and worked on by McCartney, (…)
Julia died tragically after being hit by a car aged 44 in 1958. John was a teenager then.
“It was another big trauma for me. I lost her twice. When I was five and I moved in with my aunt, and then when she died physically,” he said Playboy in 1980 “That made me more bitter; the chip on my shoulder that I had as a youngster got really big then. I was just really reconnecting with her and she was killed.
John and Alfred were estranged for much of their lives, but reconnected on Alfred’s deathbed in 1976.
Mimi Smith
John was raised by his aunt Mimi and her husband George Smith. Mimi and John remained close throughout his life. After his success with the Beatles, John bought a property for Mimi in Dorset, UK, where she lived until her death in 1991.
