Echoed in both their faces are their famous father’s features: that aquiline nose, the long face, the high forehead.
But Julian and Sean Lennon also share something far more special — a true feeling of brotherhood, at last.
Half-brothers Julian and Robert, ages 46 and 58, respectively are currently on a California road trip. Posting a snap on Instagram yesterday, Julian wrote: ‘A lil bit wind blown and tired after a few hours driving through the mountains to the sea but so worth it. A magical day.’
It is too, for their trip along the Pacific Coast Highway is a bit of rock history and a healing moment dubbed ‘life changing’ by Julian.
Julian finally makes peace with the separation from his father that he had before his death. His friendship with Sean seems to be providing the paternal bond that Sean and Julian have long missed.
As Julian says, Sean is ‘the one person I care about more than anything in the world . . . I’m here to love and support you, ’til the end of time and then some.’
It wasn’t always the case. John’s bitter divorce from Julian’s mum Cynthia, and marriage to Sean’s mother Yoko, led to strained relationships. Then, after John’s murder in 1980, there were decades of mistrust — plus a dispute over John’s £250 million legacy.
But, a quiet outbreak of peace followed, and it has grown into a strong, meaningful connection.
John’s bitter divorce from Julian’s mum Cynthia, and marriage to Sean’s mother Yoko, led to strained relationships
A mutual friend told me yesterday: ‘They have been friends for about 20 years, but are growing closer as time passes.
‘People talk about them as if they were enemies, and there was a lot of pain, and a lot of that was very public, but not any more.
‘Yoko said to me about ten years ago: ‘You know that we are a family with Julian, and sometimes families have disagreements.’
‘Julian and Sean have always had a bond outside of all of that. They love each other.’
The LA launch of The Beatles: Get Back, the Disney+ 3-part documentary about The Beatles, opened Friday the public chapter in this brotherly reunion.
They sat next to each other at the screening and, afterwards, mingled at a party thrown by Sir Paul McCartney’s daughter Stella.
Julian wrote that night: ‘The One True thing I can say about it all is that it has made me feel so proud, inspired & feel more love for My/Our family than ever before. And the film has made me love our father again in a way I can’t fully describe. Life changing.’
Julian lives alone in Monaco and Sean, his girlfriend Kemp Muhl is in New York.
Their last public meeting came when the two men recorded a conversation together in October 2020 for the BBC, to mark what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday. The two men reminisced but some memories weren’t too personal to share.
Like how Julian taught Sean to play guitar to George Michael’s Faith, and was so much Sean’s ‘hero’ that Yoko flew 17-year-old Julian out to New York in 1980 to break the news of John’s death to the then five-year-old Sean.
Lennon, who was only five years old when Julian arrived in New York City with Yoko, became a distant parent.
Like how baby Julian’s existence had been hidden at the behest of Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Cynthia, an art student, and Julian, a baby born in Beatlemania’s first year in 1963, lived quietly while John traveled the globe. When Cynthia was seen pushing a pram, Cynthia first revealed his secret family in 1966. John and Cynthia were photographed with a pram in 1966. The union was soon ended when John married Yoko Ono at an exhibition.
When Julian was five years old, he moved to New York City with Yoko. He became a distant parent. Birthday and Christmas presents were dispatched, unseen by him, from The Beatles’ London office.
Julian was taunted at school for having ‘walls papered with £5 notes’ but, in fact, he and Cynthia had no material wealth, and he had next to no contact with John.
When he was 11, Julian was sent to New York for a few, awkward meetings — Julian estimates he saw his father ten times in all.
‘I lived from birthdays to Christmas, just to be with him,’ he said.
Even the visits were full of bizarre events. John once reprimanded Julian for laughing too loudly, fearing that he would wake Sean. He offered him another joint.
John fell in love with Sean, and gave up his job to become a father.
John became obsessed with Sean. He had quit his job in order to become a father. Julian said: ‘When I saw the fact that, you know, he’d basically given up music for a couple of years to look after Sean, you know, that was — it was hurtful. I thought, “Well, why didn’t he do that for me?” I was a bit jealous, but I never said anything.’
Another interview revealed that he was upset about the neglect. ‘I felt he was a hypocrite. Dad could talk about peace and love to the world, but that peace and love never came home to me.’
Mark Chapman shot John to death in 1980. This was an utterly devastating blow.
Julian was taken on Concorde from London to New York. There, he found Yoko’s grief hard to handle. She had wanted to wait until Julian arrived to tell Sean about John’s death, and she wanted Julian’s advice on breaking the news.
They rehearsed what Yoko would speak over and over again. ‘I remember seeing the glint in Sean’s eye, when he actually understood what had happened. And then the tears started rolling,’ he said.
Julian told an interviewer in 1985 Sean adored him for his physical resemblance to John
Deeply in mourning, Yoko invited Julian to join them in New York. However, he decided that he wanted to be with his mother in Wales and so left.
Julian had very little contact with Yoko or Sean for the next five-years.
In 1985, Julian said to an interviewer that Sean loved him because of his physical resemblance with John. However, Yoko felt that he wanted him closer.
His first album Valotte was a hit, and the single Too Late For Goodbyes — in which he sounded hauntingly like his father — an international hit.
Julian began partying with Brooke Shields, Kylie Minogue and dated Brooke Shields. Sean was at the Swiss boarding school.
Yoko was sending Julian dribs, drabs, and lots of money. But Julian demanded a settlement. The settlement was long overdue and involved a lot of legal battles.
A deal settled in 1996 gave him a percentage of John’s royalties and a lump sum said to be £20 million.
As Julian reflected in 2010: ‘It’s just not worth the stress. Sean is the most important thing about all of this. If I hurt Sean’s mother, then I hurt Sean.
‘It’s a roundabout way of thinking about things. But because I love Sean so much, I just don’t want to hurt him. I can get over it. Have gotten over it.’
Julian had homes in Monaco and France as well as LA, LA, and London. He also enjoyed holidaying with his wealthy, connected friends.
With an album called Photograph Smile, he returned to the music scene in 1998. It was a modest success — but it was outshone by Sean’s first album, Into The Sun, which came out in the same month. Julian was sure it wasn’t a coincidence, and thought Yoko was behind the clash.
He was also unhappy that his brother could be away for three to four more years. ‘If I move, I always give Sean my new number. I call him from time to time, but I never get a return call,’ he said.
The two men met in Los Angeles for a couple of hours, Cynthia prodding them.
Sean and Julian attended the Disney+ premiere of Get Back about the Beatles’ breakup.
They found that they had much in common and, in 2007, went to Boujis nightclub in London’s Kensington.
Then, when Sean was playing in Prague later that year, Julian joined the tour unannounced and stayed on the musicians’ bus as it moved through Croatia and Slovenia.
Sean said: ‘How sweet is that? This is truly amazing and touching. It’s really fun having him on the bus. It’s nice to have some quality time with him. None of my friends are willing to rough it on the tour bus, so I am very impressed.’
The contact continued following the tour. Sean was able to attend the opening of a Julian and Yoko photograph exhibition. Cynthia said that night: ‘I’ve never seen my son so happy as he is now.’ Julian chimed in: ‘There’s a lot of forgiveness now.’
Sean still makes music and tours, but Julian now focuses on photography and philanthropic projects. He runs The White Feather Foundation, which works on environmental and humanitarian issues, and is behind a scholarship dedicated to women’s education founded in his mother’s memory. Cynthia passed away in 2015. He’s also written children’s books.
Both men go out of their way to support one another, and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. Yesterday, Yoko’s spokesman Murray Chalmers said: ‘Sean and Julian have been as close as brothers can be for a long, long time.’
After their years of estrangement, each other’s company must be a greater treasure than they ever imagined.