It’s hard to be a musician when your father is John Lennon. Those are big shoes to fill, and detractors will always evaluate your work. That may explain why Julian Lennon has avoided performing his father’s classics, especially Imagine.
Julian stated Imagine would require the end of the planet. Ukraine’s sad position since Russia invaded seems to meet this requirement. He recorded the song acoustically in a candlelit room to communicate hope for the future.
He stated, “The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for.” This concert must be one of the most moving by a musician who has inspired and raised awareness of the Ukrainian humanitarian issue.
Julian was born April 8, 1963, as John Charles Julian Lennon. He was born to John Lennon and Cynthia, his first wife. They selected Julian after John’s mother Julia. Due to John’s increasing friendship with Yoko Ono, Julian’s parents split when he was five. Julian lost communication with his father for years after the divorce.
Despite their difficult relationship, Julian followed his father’s footsteps and became a musician. He played drums, guitar, and keyboard and debuted at eleven. He drummed on Ya Ya on his dad’s Walls and Bridges.
Valotte was his 1984 debut album. It was an immediate hit and Grammy nominee. Music critics panned his second album. The Secret Value Of Daydreaming reached number 32 on the Billboard 200, and Stick Around became Julian’s first number one.
He appeared in Mike Batt’s 1987 musical The Hunting Of The Snark. A musical event at the Royal Albert Hall raised money for the deaf. An all-star group, including Billy Connolly, John Hurt, and Roger Daltrey, honored the Duchess of York. He included George Harrison on Saltwater on his 1991 third album, Help Yourself.
Julian left music in the 1990s to focus on philanthropy. His path change begins intriguingly. “Dad once said that if he passed away, if there was some way to let me know he was going to be OK – that we were all going to be OK – the message would come to me in the form of a white feather.” Julian visited Australia and met two Mirning Tribe members. He received a white feather and was instructed to give them a voice. He made a tribe documentary and founded the White Feather Foundation in 2007 to address environmental and humanitarian issues.
