Julian Lennon Says He Was Never Close to Dad John Lennon: ‘Very Much on the Outside’

Despite his last name, John Lennon’s son Julian Lennon wants to make it clear he rarely has the inside scoop on The Beatles.

“I’m not part of the inner circle — I never have been,” Julian, 61, shared in an interview with The Guardian published Sunday, January 5,. “You have to realize that when dad left, when I was between 3 and 5, it was just mum and me, and we had nothing to do with the Beatles or dad.”

When new Beatles documentaries and projects are released, Julian says, “It’s news to me half the time.”

“I visited him on the odd occasion,” Julian continued about his dad. “But we were very much on the outside.”

John and his first wife Cynthia Lennon were married from 1962 to 1968. During their relationship, the couple welcomed Julian who has gone on to become a singer, author and photographer.

John later married Yoko Ono and welcomed Sean Ono Lennon in 1975. The Beatles member died five years later at the age of 40.

“I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire — we’re best buddies, and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front,” Julian shared in his latest interview. “[It feels] extraordinarily strange, but I’m not upset about it. I’d rather be excited and impressed by what they did and continue to do.”

In recent years, The Beatles have been the subject of various documentaries including Martin Scorsese’s Beatles ‘64, which premiered in November 2024.

While he may not have been close with his father, Julian still has an interest in what John and his bandmates have accomplished.

“As a fan, I’m just as curious as anybody else,” he said. “Although I do find myself going, ‘How is it possible that there’s another Beatles film?’”

Although Julian has found success as a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter, he’s now turning his focus into fine art photography with a new book titled Life’s Fragile Moments.

The body of work spans more than 20 years of work and includes photos taken while traveling the world for his charity, the White Feather Foundation.

When asked about where he gets his positivity and optimism from, Julian gave credit to his mom for how she handled life’s ups and downs.

“Watching how she handled what she was dealt with love and grace and positivity,” he explained. “I saw that that’s the only way forward. You take the high road, you be the better person and try to learn from all the crap that’s thrown at you. Without question, I’ve had my moments of depression and I still deal with some very serious anxiety on occasion, but the only way is to push yourself through. Wallowing’s no good — been there, done that.”