Julian Lennon set the record straight on his relationship with brother Sean Lennon in a recent interview, telling Esquire that rumors of their so-called feuds are “such bull.”
The elder son of John Lennon discussed attending the 2021 Get Back premiere with his younger brother, who had reservations about going. “He felt overwhelming pressure. And I didn’t particularly want to go,” Lennon said. “But he said he felt obligated to go, so because I love him so much I said, ‘Listen, I’m coming with you. We’ll face the demons together.’ And it’s funny because there’s always been, especially in the U.K. press, ‘Lennon Sons Feuding,’ this, that. We’ve never had a fight in our life. It’s such bull.”
Still, Lennon acknowledged that things weren’t always smooth between him and his family as they grappled with the weight of the Beatles’ legacy. “I posted lots of happy pictures of us [Sean and me] doing nothing but smiling, laughing and acting like idiots,” he said. “This was important for me and for the peace and for family, because there has been friction, no question, in the past between everybody. But we’re all getting a bit older, and as we get older we lose people and we realize now what’s most precious in life.”
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That sentiment extends to the surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as the band members’ children. “The love for Sean, and the love for Yoko [Ono], and Stella [McCartney], and Paul, and Mary [McCartney], and Dhani [Harrison] and Zak [Starkey] — it’s a big old, weird family,” Lennon added. “But as they say, families are always a bit screwed up.”
Julian Lennon Says ‘Hey Jude’ Can Be a ‘Good or a Slightly Frustrating Thing’
Lennon also reflected on “Hey Jude,” the chart-topping Beatles tune that McCartney wrote for Julian when his parents, John and Cynthia Lennon, divorced. “It’s a beautiful sentiment, no question about that, and I’m very thankful — but I’ve also been driven up the wall by it,” he said. “I love the fact that he wrote a song about me and for Mom, but depending on what side of the bed one woke up on, and where you’re hearing it, it can be a good or a slightly frustrating thing. But in my heart of hearts, there’s not a bad word I could say about it.”
Lennon launched his own musical career with 1984’s Valotte. His latest album, Jude, arrived in 2022. “It just felt like the right title and the right thing, and owning it,” he explained. “It’s about also breaking through any fear and anxiety I used to have about the Beatles, about Dad, about everything.”
