News Julian Lennon’s favourite album of all time
It might sound like life would be easier for you if you were born into a rich family, but the opposite happened to Julian Lennon. Despite now being able to look back on his relationship with his father relatively positively, Julian did have some choice words to say about his dad. He would reflect on how his father spoke about him and some of the things he did with his life and call him a hypocrite because of it.
“I have to say, from my point of view, I felt he was a hypocrite,” he said. “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.”
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Julian Lennon’s favourite album of all time
Dale Maplethorpe
Fri 1 March 2024 20:30, UK
It might sound like life would be easier for you if you were born into a rich family, but the opposite happened to Julian Lennon. Despite now being able to look back on his relationship with his father relatively positively, Julian did have some choice words to say about his dad. He would reflect on how his father spoke about him and some of the things he did with his life and call him a hypocrite because of it.
“I have to say, from my point of view, I felt he was a hypocrite,” he said. “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.”
There were also a plethora of lawsuits that followed his father’s death after it was revealed that he had been left out of the will. Eventually, though, he managed to move forward, “I realised if I continued to feel that anger and bitterness towards my dad, I would have a constant cloud hanging over my head my whole life.”
Due to the initial friction between Julian and his father, he hasn’t lived a life in John Lennon’s shadow. Instead, Julian has had some hits of his own and pursued a photography career. He listens to the Beatles and recognises that the music is good and what kind of influence it has, but it’s not what he describes as his favourite.
favourite steps away from some of those rock influences, though. He has confessed to being a Bowie, AC/DC, and Steely Dan fan, but the one he holds in the highest regard is Simple Things by Zero 7. In an interview, Julian admitted he was a big fan of Zero 7’s work, but something about Simple Things speaks to him the most.
He said: “[Their] others are great; they’ve got great songs on them, but as a whole, to play it from start to finish, it’s one of my real go-to albums. If I literally had one album left in the world to listen to, it would likely be this album, believe it or not. I think you need to hear it to understand what it’s about, but it’s groove-oriented, it’s melody-oriented.”
Given that he decided to try to separate himself from his father, it’s not a surprise that Julian Lennon’s favourite album isn’t one by The Beatles. That being said, he does recognise their work, and the melody and groove they inserted in their songs stay with him, as they are two of the factors that make up his favourite record, Simple Things.
