Where is Julian Lennon now? A look at what John Lennon's son has been doing
Julian Lennon, full name John Charles Julian Lennon, was born on April 8, 1963 to John and Cynthia Lennon. A singer, musician, photographer and philanthropist, Julian is the founder of the White Feather Foundation, an organization raising funds for environmental and humanitarian causes. Julian was also the direct inspiration for some of the most popular Beatles' songs like 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' (1967), 'Hey Jude' (1968), and 'Good Night' (1968). John and Cynthia, his parents, divorced in 1968.
In his professional career, Julian has produced a number of albums and has held exhibitions of his photography. Julian also produced the environmental documentary film 'WhaleDreamers', and in 2020, worked on the documentary film 'Women of the White Buffalo' as one of the executive producers.
Relationship with John Lennon
Julian's relationship with his legendary father was rather strained. Following Lennon's murder, Julian voiced anger and resentment towards him, saying, "I've never really wanted to know the truth about how dad was with me. There was some very negative stuff talked about me...like when he said I'd come out of a whiskey bottle on a Saturday night. Stuff like that. You think, where's the love in that? Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit...more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad."
He also spoke angrily about his father's famous peace and love stance to the Telegraph saying, "I have to say that, from my point of view, I felt he was a hypocrite. 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. How can you talk about peace and love and have a family in bits and pieces — no communication, adultery, divorce? You can't do it; not if you're being true and honest with yourself."
Later, speaking about the time the father and son got back in touch in the '70s, Julian, in 2009, said, "Dad and I got on a great deal better then. We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he was with May Pang (music executive who dated Lennon for 18 months starting 1973). My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear — they were the happiest time I can remember with him."
After Lennon's shocking death, Julian was excluded from his will. A trust worth $130,000 (£100,000) was created to be shared between him and half-brother Sean, but Julian later sued his Lennon's estate and, in 1996, reached a settlement agreement with his widow Yoko Ono reportedly worth $13million (£20 million).
Where's Julian now?
Julian has a reasonably cordial relationship with Ono and gets along well with his half-brother Sean. Julian saw Sean perform live for the first time in 2006 in Paris and they spent time together on tour in 2007. Julian has never married or had children. His difficult relationship with his famous father discouraged him from doing so. Talking about this decision, Julian said, "He (John) was young and didn't know what the hell he was doing. That's the reason I haven't had children yet. I didn't want to do the same thing. No, I'm not ready. I want to know who I am first." He has stayed friends with Paul McCartney though they had a public falling out in 2011 when Julian wasn't invited to McCartney's wedding to Nancy Shevell.
He's made numerous talk-show appearances like on 'Late Night with David Letterman', 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno', 'The Howard Stern Show', 'Daybreak', 'Larry King Now', 'Chelsea Lately', and 'The View'. Most recently, Julian was seen on 'Home and Family' in 2018, an episode of 'The View' in 2019, and 'Home and Family' once again in 2019.
In February 2020, Julian said he discovered a growth on his head forcing him to have an emergency cancer operation to remove it. As reported by The Sun, he had a biopsy which revealed the mole on his head was malignant and should be removed immediately. Speaking of the scare, he said: "The trouble is...you think you have time...a few days ago, I went to visit my dermatologist, here in LA, when she noticed a little bump on my head that was actually a mole that had been there, along with a birthmark, for the last 57 years. But this time, it looked & felt a little different. Hopefully, we managed to remove all that was cancerous, but the mole is being sent off again, for a further, deeper analysis and I’ll have those results next week."
Julian's mother Cynthia died on April 1, 2015, at her home in Majorca, Spain with her son by her side.