Beatles' Son Looks Back With Anger
To mark the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death, the pop legend's 37-year-old son, Julian, has written about the breakdown of their relationship and his love for younger half-brother, Sean.
A statement on Julian Lennon's official Web site said that his father lived with him and his mother, Cynthia Lennon, for only a few years, and that "after that, I only saw him a handful of times before he was killed. Sadly, I never really knew the man."
Mark David Chapman fatally shot John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, outside the New York City apartment where the ex-Beatle lived with his second wife, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean.
Julian Lennon's Internet statement was clearly disapproving of Ono.
"I wonder what it would have been like if he were alive today. I guess it would have depended on whether he was 'John Lennon' (Dad) or 'John Ono Lennon' (manipulated lost soul)."
"Once I began to look at his life and really understand him, I began to feel so sorry for him, because once he was a guiding light, a star that shone on all of us, until he was sucked into a black hole and all of his strength consumed," the statement said.
"Although he was definitely afraid of fatherhood, the combination of that and his life with Yoko Ono led to the real breakdown of our relationship."
"I just wanted to say that wherever he is I hope he realizes the mistakes he's made as I realize them and hope never to repeat them, as he did his father's."
Julian Lennon wrote that he felt "a great deal of anger towards Dad because of his negligence and his attitude to peace and love. That peace and love never came home to me."
But he expressed devotion to Sean Lennon.
"I have a brother and I love Sean very much and I hope that he's able to cope with his destiny," Julian Lennon wrote. "One thing's for sure he's got a big brother who will protect him and love him til the end, whatever happens."
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