| Julian Lennon |
Julian
Lennon on the cover of his first solo album, Valotte
(1984).
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
John Charles Julian Lennon |
| Also known as |
Jules, Jude |
| Born |
8 April 1963 (1963-04-08) (age 44)
 Liverpool, England |
| Genre(s) |
Rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Musician, Singer-Songwriter,
Writer |
| Instrument(s) |
Guitar, Bass, Piano, Drums |
| Years active |
1984-present |
| Label(s) |
Atlantic
Records, Music From Another Room,
Pinnacle Records |
| Website |
Official
Website |
John Charles Julian Lennon known
universally as Julian Lennon, (born April 8, 1963 in Liverpool, England) is an English singer, songwriter,
musician,
and first son of Beatle John
Lennon and the only child of his first wife Cynthia
Lennon. His godfather was Beatles' manager Brian
Epstein. His father's nickname for him was "JCJ", and he was named
after John Lennon's late mother, Julia.
|
Contents
- 1 Early
childhood
- 2 Musical
career
- 3 Miscellanea
- 4 Discography
- 5 External
links
- 6 Notes
|
Early childhood
Julian Lennon attended the set of The
Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour,
and made his musical debut at age 11 on his father's album Walls
and Bridges playing drums on "Ya-Ya".
Julian Lennon has always lived in the shadow of his famous
father, who split with Cynthia when Julian was only five years old.
Julian has often been somewhat icy toward the subject of his father,
and especially Yoko
Ono and, to a much lesser extent, his half-brother Sean
Lennon, with whom he spent time on tour in 2007. Julian and Sean are
actually quite close. Despite some of Julian's comments about Yoko, it
should be noted that he lived with her and Sean in The Dakota
building (where he learned to play drums) for a period of time in the 1980s.
As a child, Lennon directly inspired the title of one of his
father's most famous songs, "Lucy in the Sky with
Diamonds", whose lyrics describe a picture Julian drew, a watercolour
painting of a girl (a classmate named Lucy) surrounded by stars. Later,
Paul
McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" as a way of consoling him because
of his parents' divorce. "Hey Jude" was meant to be "Hey Jules", but
McCartney changed the name because he thought "Jude" was an easier name
to sing.
"Good Night", a track from The
Beatles' White Album,
although sung by Ringo Starr, is a lullaby
written by John Lennon for his son, causing tension with Cynthia, who
thought it further distanced father and son to have Starr sing the song
instead of Lennon.
Musical career
Julian Lennon has had an inconsistent career as a musical
artist; he did enjoy immediate success with his debut album Valotte
and hit song "Too Late for Goodbyes" in 1984, only to see his second album, 1986's The Secret Value of
Daydreaming, fail both critically and
commercially. Although further US success eluded him post-Valotte,
Lennon hit #5 in Australia with the 1989 single "Now You're In Heaven". Two
years later, "Saltwater" reached #6 in the UK and topped the Australian
singles charts for four weeks. After 1991, Lennon left the music business for
several years.
Lennon's debut album Valotte was produced
by Phil
Ramone, who also produced albums for artist Billy
Joel. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Act in 1985,
and produced two top ten hits, the title track "Valotte", and "Too Late
For Goodbyes". This album was promoted with music videos made by
legendary movie director Sam Peckinpah and producer Martin
Lewis of these songs. Lennon's first-ever tour in the spring of 1985
was documented as part of the film Stand
By Me: A Portrait Of Julian Lennon — a film
profile started by Peckinpah but directed by producer Martin
Lewis after Peckinpah's death.
Julian Lennon has always had cordial relationships with the
other members of The Beatles, particularly Paul
McCartney. McCartney and his late wife Linda
McCartney visited him in 1974 to take photographs of him for John
Lennon. When Julian Lennon released Valotte, Paul
sent him a telegram wishing him good luck. In 1984 the two met up
backstage at the New York studios of the TV show Friday
Night Videos. In 1991, George
Harrison and Dennis Tarczynski played on
Lennon's album Help Yourself
but were not directly credited. He also recorded the song "Because"
which was made famous by The Dave Clark Five in
England for Clark's 1986 musical, Time (The single
is out-of-print).
Due to his similarities in looks, singing voice and style, it
was often speculated that Lennon would join Paul McCartney, George
Harrison and Ringo Starr to form a band.
However, in the Beatles Anthology series in 1996,
the three surviving Beatles expressed disdain at the idea of using
Julian Lennon as part of a Beatles reunion, with McCartney nodding at
the camera and saying "why would we want to subject him to all of
this?" People worldwide are hoping for a Beatles reunion with Julian,
Paul McCartney, Dhani Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Julian has done some
acting, and appears as himself in the videos The Rolling
Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1996), Cannes Man
(1996), Imagine: John Lennon (1988), and Chuck
Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987). Julian provided the
voice for the title role in the animated David
Copperfield (1993).
His official website is currently
undergoing reconstruction - it is intended to return to coincide with
the release of his new album, which is going to be called Conscious.
Julian
also has an official MySpace profile, where early mixes of 3
new songs and a remixed version of "Saltwater" are available for
listening.
Julian Lennon is also the producer of the documentary called
"WhaleDreamers" about an aboriginal tribe and its special relationship
to the whales. It also touches on a lot of environmental issues. This
film has received many awards and was shown at the 2007 Cannes Film
Festival. For more information, go to http://www.whaledreamers.com/
Miscellanea
- In the early 1980s, Lennon roomed for a time with percussionist
Ray
Cooper.
- For a brief time John Lennon concealed the fact he was
married and had a child, in keeping with the conventional wisdom of the
era that female teenage fans would not be as enamoured of married male
pop stars. However, when the British media discovered that Lennon was a
married father, it did not affect his popularity with fans. (Julian
then became subject to some fan attention).
Discography
- Chart certifications from [1][2]; (U.S.) [3];
(UK), [4]; (Japan).
Albums
- Valotte (1984) # 20
U.K, #17 U.S.Platinum
- The Secret Value of
Daydreaming (1986) #32U.S.Gold
- Mr. Jordan (1989)
#87 U.S.
- Help Yourself
(1991)
- Photograph Smile
(1998) #70 Japan
- VH-1 Behind the Music - Julian Lennon
(2001)
- Conscious (working title) - Release Date
TBD (2007) - Go to Julian's
MySpace profile for details.
Other releases: Dave Clark's Time (soundtrack album) — Time
Will Teach Us All, Because, If you Only Knew.
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
| US Hot 100 |
US Modern Rock |
US Mainstream Rock |
UK |
| 1984 |
"Valotte" |
#9 |
- |
#6 |
#55 |
Valotte |
| 1985 |
"Too Late For Goodbyes" |
#5 |
- |
#11 |
#6 |
Valotte |
| 1985 |
"Say You're Wrong" |
#21 |
- |
#18 |
#75 |
Valotte |
| 1985 |
"Because" |
- |
- |
- |
#40 |
Dave Clark's Time Soundtrack |
| 1985 |
"Jesse" |
#54 |
- |
#24 |
- |
Valotte |
| 1986 |
"Stick Around" |
#32 |
- |
#1 (2 weeks) |
#86 |
The Secret Value Of Daydreaming |
| 1989 |
"Now You're in Heaven" |
#93 |
#27 |
- |
#59 |
Mr. Jordan |
| 1991 |
"Saltwater" |
- |
- |
- |
#6 |
Help Yourself |
| 1991 |
"Help Yourself" |
- |
- |
- |
#53 |
Help Yourself |
| 1992 |
"Get A Life" |
- |
- |
- |
#56 |
Help Yourself |
| 1995 |
"Cole's Song" |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Mr. Holland's Opus Soundtrack |
| 1998 |
"Day After Day" |
- |
- |
- |
#66 |
Photograph Smile |
External links
Notes
-
Barry
Miles (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now.
New York: Henry Holt & Company, 465. ISBN
0-8050-5249-6.
