Editing John Lennon (section)

==Personal relationships==
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===Cynthia Lennon===
[[File:John and Cynthia Lennon, 1964.jpg|thumb|John and [[Cynthia Lennon]] sitting in an airplane on a stopover in Los Angeles in 1964]]
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Lennon met [[Cynthia Powell]] (1939–2015) in 1957, when they were fellow students at the [[Liverpool College of Art]].{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=17–23}} Although Powell was intimidated by Lennon's attitude and appearance, she heard that he was obsessed with the French actress [[Brigitte Bardot]], so she dyed her hair blonde. Lennon asked her out, but when she said that she was engaged, he shouted, "I didn't ask you to fuckin' marry me, did I?"{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=21}} She often accompanied him to Quarrymen gigs and travelled to Hamburg with McCartney's girlfriend to visit him.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=89–95}}

Lennon was jealous by nature and eventually grew possessive, often terrifying Powell with his anger.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=492–493}} In her 2005 memoir ''[[John (2005 book)|John]]'', Powell recalled that, when they were dating, Lennon once struck her after he observed her dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=37}} She ended their relationship as a result, until three months later, when Lennon apologised and asked to reunite.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=38: "After three months, he phoned me and asked me to go back to him. It had taken him that long to pluck up the courage. He apologized for hitting me and said it would never happen again"}} She took him back and later noted that he was never again physically abusive towards her, although he could still be "verbally cutting and unkind".{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=38: "He was deeply ashamed of what he had done: I think he had been shocked to discover he had it in him to hit me. So, although he was still verbally cutting and unkind, he was never again physically violent to me. As we grew closer, in the second phase of our romance, even his verbal putdowns and attacks diminished"}} Lennon later said that until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitude towards women. He said that the Beatles song "[[Getting Better]]" told his (or his peers') own story. "I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace".{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=182}}

Recalling his July 1962 reaction when he learned that Cynthia was pregnant, Lennon said, "There's only one thing for it Cyn. We'll have to get married."{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=91}} The couple wed on 23 August at the [[Mount Pleasant, Liverpool|Mount Pleasant]] [[Register Office]] in Liverpool, with Brian Epstein serving as best man. His marriage began just as [[Beatlemania in the United Kingdom|Beatlemania]] was taking off across the UK. He performed on the evening of his wedding day and would continue to do so almost daily from then on.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=493–495}} Epstein feared that fans would be alienated by the idea of a married Beatle, and he asked the Lennons to keep their marriage secret. Julian was born on 8 April 1963; Lennon was on tour at the time and did not see his infant son until three days later.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=113}}

Cynthia attributed the start of the marriage breakdown to Lennon's use of [[LSD]], and she felt that he slowly lost interest in her as a result of his use of the drug.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=496–497}} When the group travelled by train to [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]], Wales in 1967 for the [[Maharishi Yogi]]'s Transcendental Meditation seminar, a policeman did not recognise her and stopped her from boarding. She later recalled how the incident seemed to symbolise the end of their marriage.{{sfn|Warner Brothers|1988}} After spending a holiday in Greece,{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=211–213}} Cynthia arrived home at [[Kenwood, St. George's Hill|Kenwood]] to find Lennon sitting on the floor with Ono in terrycloth robes{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=213}} and left the house to stay with friends, feeling shocked and humiliated.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=214–215: "I was in shock, [...] It was clear that they had arranged for me to find them like that and the cruelty of John's betrayal was hard to absorb", "I felt utterly humiliated, and longed to disappear. [...] Their intimacy had been so powerful that I had felt like a stranger in my own home"}} A few weeks later, [[Magic Alex|Alexis Mardas]] informed Powell that Lennon was seeking a divorce and custody of Julian.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=221}} She received a letter stating that Lennon was doing so on the grounds of her adultery with Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, an accusation which Powell denied.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=222: "It was laughable. Roberto had been kind and a good friend, but I had never been unfaithful to John. It was his attempt to make himself feel better about what he was doing"}} After negotiations, Lennon capitulated and agreed to let her divorce him on the same grounds (adultery).{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=229}} The case was settled out of court in November 1968, with Lennon giving her £100,000, a small annual payment, and custody of Julian.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=305–306: "He had agreed that I should have custody of Julian", "He raised his offer to £100,000"}}

===Brian Epstein===
[[File:Aankomst Brian Epstein (manager Beatles) op Schiphol (Grand Gala du Disque 1965), Bestanddeelnr 918-2516 ShiftN.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Brian Epstein]] in 1965]]
The Beatles were performing at Liverpool's [[The Cavern Club|Cavern Club]] in November 1961 when they were introduced to [[Brian Epstein]] after a midday concert. Epstein was homosexual and [[closeted]], and according to biographer [[Philip Norman (author)|Philip Norman]], one of Epstein's reasons for wanting to manage the group was that he was attracted to Lennon.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} Later biographer [[Mark Lewisohn]] called the claim unsubstantiated and wrote: 

{{Block quote|text=Suggestions that it was ''only'' homoerotic fantasy that drew Brian Epstein to the Beatles are distortion{{nbsp}}... and perform a malign disservice to both him and them. It may have been part of the mix, but he was, above all else, simply the latest in an ever-lengthening line of people seduced by the Beatles' singular mix of talents.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013}}}}

Almost as soon as Julian was born, Lennon went on holiday to Spain with Epstein, which led to speculation about their relationship. When he was later questioned about it, Lennon said, "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship. It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. We used to sit in a café in [[Torremolinos]] looking at all the boys and I'd say, 'Do you like that one? Do you like this one?' I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this."{{sfn|Harry|2000a|p=232}} Soon after their return from Spain, at McCartney's twenty-first birthday party in June 1963, Lennon physically attacked Cavern Club master of ceremonies [[Bob Wooler]] for saying "How was your honeymoon, John?" The MC, known for his wordplay and affectionate but cutting remarks, was making a joke,{{sfn|Harry|2000a|pp=1165, 1169}} but ten months had passed since Lennon's marriage, and the deferred honeymoon was still two months in the future.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=94, 119–120}} Lennon was drunk. He later said: "He called me a [[queer]] so I battered his bloody ribs in."{{sfn|Harry|2000a|p=1169}}

Lennon delighted in mocking Epstein for his homosexuality and for the fact that he was Jewish.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=232}} When Epstein invited suggestions for the title of his autobiography, Lennon offered ''Queer Jew''; on learning of the eventual title, ''[[A Cellarful of Noise]]'', he parodied, "More like ''A Cellarful of Boys''".{{sfn|Coleman|1992|pp=298–299}} He demanded of a visitor to Epstein's flat, "Have you come to blackmail him? If not, you're the only bugger in London who hasn't."{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=232}} During the recording of "[[Baby, You're a Rich Man]]", he sang altered choruses of "Baby, you're a rich fag Jew".{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=503}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=206}}

===Julian Lennon===
[[File:Julian Lennon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Julian Lennon]] at the unveiling of the John Lennon Peace Monument]]
During his marriage to Cynthia, Lennon's first son [[Julian Lennon|Julian]] was born at the same time that his commitments with the Beatles were intensifying at the height of [[Beatlemania in the United Kingdom|Beatlemania]]. Lennon was touring with the Beatles when Julian was born on 8 April 1963. Julian's birth, like his mother Cynthia's marriage to Lennon, was kept secret because Epstein was convinced that public knowledge of such things would threaten the Beatles' commercial success. Julian recalled that as a small child in [[Weybridge]] some four years later, "I was trundled home from school and came walking up with one of my watercolour paintings. It was just a bunch of stars and this blonde girl I knew at school. And Dad said, 'What's this?' I said, 'It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds.{{'"}}{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=517}} Lennon used it as the title of a [[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds|Beatles song]], and though it was later reported to have been derived from the initials [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]], Lennon insisted, "It's not an acid song."{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=574}} Lennon was distant from Julian, who felt closer to McCartney than to his father. During a car journey to visit Cynthia and Julian during Lennon's divorce, McCartney composed a song, "Hey Jules", to comfort him. It would evolve into the Beatles song "[[Hey Jude]]". Lennon later said, "That's his best song. It started off as a song about my son Julian{{nbsp}}... he turned it into 'Hey Jude'. I always thought it was about me and Yoko but he said it wasn't."{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=341}}

Lennon's relationship with Julian was already strained, and after Lennon and Ono moved to New York in 1971, Julian did not see his father again until 1973.{{sfn|Pang|2008|loc=back cover}} With Pang's encouragement, arrangements were made for Julian and his mother to visit Lennon in Los Angeles, where they went to [[Disneyland]].{{sfn|Lennon|2005|pp=252–255}} Julian started to see his father regularly, and Lennon gave him a drumming part on a ''[[Walls and Bridges]]'' track.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=258}} He bought Julian a [[Gibson Les Paul]] guitar and other instruments, and encouraged his interest in music by demonstrating guitar chord techniques.{{sfn|Lennon|2005|p=258}} Julian recalls that he and his father "got on a great deal better" during the time he spent in New York: "We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general."{{sfn|Times Online|2009}}

In a ''Playboy'' interview with David Sheff shortly before his death, Lennon said, "Sean is a planned child, and therein lies the difference. I don't love Julian any less as a child. He's still my son, whether he came from a bottle of whiskey or because they didn't have pills in those days. He's here, he belongs to me, and he always will."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=63}} He said he was trying to reestablish a connection with the then 17-year-old, and confidently predicted, "Julian and I will have a relationship in the future."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=63}} After his death it was revealed that he had left Julian very little in his will.{{sfn|Badman|2003|p=393}}

===Yoko Ono===
{{redirects here|John and Yoko}}
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[[File:Lennons by Jack Mitchell.jpg|thumb|Lennon and Ono in 1980 by [[Jack Mitchell (photographer)|Jack Mitchell]]]]
[[File:John Lennon en zijn echtgenote Yoko Ono op huwelijksreis in Amsterdam. John Lenn, Bestanddeelnr 922-2305.jpg|left|thumb|280x280px|Lennon with Ono in 1969]]
Lennon first met Yoko Ono on 9 November 1966 at the [[Indica Gallery]] in London, where Ono was preparing her conceptual art exhibit. They were introduced by gallery owner [[John Dunbar (artist)|John Dunbar]].{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=682}} Lennon was intrigued by Ono's "Hammer A Nail": patrons hammered a nail into a wooden board, creating the art piece. Although the exhibition had not yet begun, Lennon wanted to hammer a nail into the clean board, but Ono stopped him. Dunbar asked her, "Don't you know who this is? He's a millionaire! He might buy it." According to Lennon's recollection in 1980, Ono had not heard of the Beatles, but she relented on condition that Lennon pay her five [[wikt:shilling|shillings]], to which Lennon said he replied, "I'll give you an imaginary five shillings and hammer an imaginary nail in."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=104}} Ono subsequently related that Lennon had taken a bite out of the apple on display in her work ''[[Apple (artwork)|Apple]]'', much to her fury.<ref name='MOMA'>{{cite web |title=Apple. Yoko Ono. 1966. |url=https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/15/368 |publisher=Museum of Modern Art|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=13 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113092939/https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/15/368|url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|According to McCartney, he himself met Ono a few weeks before this event,{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=246}} when she visited him in the hope of obtaining a Lennon–McCartney song manuscript for a book [[John Cage]] was working on, ''[[Notations]]''. McCartney declined to give her any of his own manuscripts but suggested that Lennon might oblige. When asked, Lennon gave Ono the original handwritten lyrics to "[[The Word (song)|The Word]]".{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=272}}}}

Ono began to telephone and visit Lennon at his home. When Cynthia asked him for an explanation, Lennon explained that Ono was only trying to obtain money for her "avant-garde bullshit".{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=683}} While his wife was on holiday in Greece in May 1968, Lennon invited Ono to visit. They spent the night recording what would become the ''[[Two Virgins]]'' album, after which, he said, they "made love at dawn".<ref>''[[Two Virgins]]'' liner notes</ref> When Lennon's wife returned home she found Ono wearing her bathrobe and drinking tea with Lennon who simply said, "Oh, hi."{{sfn|Lennon|1978|p=183}} Ono became pregnant in 1968 and miscarried a male child on 21 November 1968,{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=510}} a few weeks after Lennon's divorce from Cynthia was granted.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=800}}

Two years before the Beatles disbanded, Lennon and Ono began public protests against the [[Vietnam War]]. They were married in [[Gibraltar]] on 20 March 1969,{{sfn|Coleman|1992|p=705}} and spent their honeymoon at the [[Hilton Amsterdam]], campaigning with a week-long bed-in. They planned another bed-in in the United States, but were denied entry,{{sfn|Kruse|2009|p=16}} so held one instead at the [[Queen Elizabeth Hotel]] in Montreal, where they recorded "[[Give Peace a Chance]]".{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=276}} They often combined advocacy with performance art, as in their "[[Bagism]]", first introduced during a Vienna press conference. Lennon detailed this period in the Beatles song "[[The Ballad of John and Yoko]]".{{sfn|Coleman|1992|p=550}} Lennon changed his name by [[deed poll]] on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name. The brief ceremony took place on the roof of the [[Apple Corps]] building, where the Beatles had performed [[The Beatles' rooftop concert|their rooftop concert]] three months earlier. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, some official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon.{{sfn|Coleman|1984b|p=64}} The couple settled at [[Tittenhurst Park]] at [[Sunninghill, Berkshire|Sunninghill]] in [[Berkshire]].{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=615 et seq}} After Ono was injured in a car accident, Lennon arranged for a king-size bed to be brought to the recording studio as he worked on the Beatles' album, ''[[Abbey Road]]''.{{sfn|Emerick|Massey|2006|pp=279–280}}

Ono and Lennon moved to New York, to a flat on [[Bank Street (Manhattan)|Bank Street]], Greenwich Village. Looking for somewhere with better security, they relocated in 1973 to the more secure [[The Dakota|Dakota]] overlooking [[Central Park]] at 1{{nbsp}}West{{nbsp}}[[72nd Street (Manhattan)|72nd Street]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/nyregion/07appraisal.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/nyregion/07appraisal.html |archive-date=3 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Sharing the Dakota With John Lennon |work=The New York Times |date=6 December 2010|access-date=19 April 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

===May Pang===
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[[File:May Pang, Famous Music.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Picture of an Asian woman in her thirties sitting on a table|May Pang in 1983]]
ABKCO Industries was formed in 1968 by [[Allen Klein]] as an umbrella company to [[ABKCO Records]]. Klein hired [[May Pang]] as a receptionist in 1969. Through involvement in a project with ABKCO, Lennon and Ono met her the following year. She became their personal assistant. In 1973, after she had been working with the couple for three years, Ono confided that she and Lennon were becoming estranged. She went on to suggest that Pang should begin a physical relationship with Lennon, telling her, "He likes you a lot." Astounded by Ono's proposition, Pang nevertheless agreed to become Lennon's companion. The pair soon left for Los Angeles, beginning an 18-month period he later called his "[[May Pang#"Lost Weekend"|lost weekend]]".{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=698–699}} In Los Angeles, Pang encouraged Lennon to develop regular contact with Julian, whom he had not seen for two years. He also rekindled friendships with Starr, McCartney, Beatles roadie [[Mal Evans]], and [[Harry Nilsson]].

In June, Lennon and Pang returned to Manhattan in their newly rented penthouse apartment where they prepared a spare room for Julian when he visited them.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=700}} Lennon, who had been inhibited by Ono in this regard, began to reestablish contact with other relatives and friends. By December, he and Pang were considering a house purchase, and he refused to accept Ono's telephone calls. In February 1975, he agreed to meet Ono, who claimed to have found a cure for smoking. After the meeting, he failed to return home or call Pang. When Pang telephoned the next day, Ono told her that Lennon was unavailable because he was exhausted after a hypnotherapy session. Two days later, Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment; he was stupefied and confused to such an extent that Pang believed he had been brainwashed. Lennon told Pang that his separation from Ono was now over, although Ono would allow him to continue seeing her as his [[mistress (lover)|mistress]].{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=700–701}}

===Sean Lennon===
[[File:Sean Lennon.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Sean Lennon]] at a [[Free Tibet]] event in 1998]]
[[Sean Lennon|Sean Ono Lennon]] was born on 9 October 1975, his father's 35th birthday. Ono had previously suffered three [[miscarriage]]s in her attempt to have a child with Lennon. After Ono and Lennon were reunited, she became pregnant again. She initially said that she wanted to have an abortion but changed her mind and agreed to allow the pregnancy to continue on the condition that Lennon adopt the role of [[househusband]], which he agreed to do.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=535, 690}}

Following Sean's birth, Lennon's subsequent hiatus from the music industry would span five years. He had a photographer take pictures of Sean every day of his first year and created numerous drawings for him, which were posthumously published as ''Real Love: The Drawings for Sean''. Lennon later proudly declared, "He didn't come out of my belly but, by God, I made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and to how he sleeps, and to the fact that he swims like a fish."{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=535}}

===Former Beatles===
{{Further|Collaborations between ex-Beatles}}
[[File:The Beatles arrive at JFK Airport.jpg|thumb|alt=Black-and-white picture of four young men outdoors in front of a staircase, surrounded by a large assembled crowd. All four are waving to the crowd.|Lennon (left) and the rest of the Beatles [[The Beatles#First visit to United States and British Invasion|arriving in New York City in 1964]]]]
While Lennon remained consistently friendly with Starr during the years that followed the Beatles' break-up in 1970, his relationships with McCartney and Harrison varied. He was initially close to Harrison, but the two drifted apart after Lennon moved to the US in 1971. When Harrison was in New York for his December 1974 ''[[Dark Horse (George Harrison album)|Dark Horse]]'' tour, Lennon agreed to join him on stage but failed to appear after an argument over Lennon's refusal to sign an agreement that would finally dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=195}}{{refn|group=nb|Lennon eventually signed the papers while he was on holiday in Florida with Pang and Julian.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=195}}}} Harrison later said that when he visited Lennon during his five years away from music, he sensed that Lennon was trying to communicate, but his bond with Ono prevented him.{{sfn|Doggett|2010|pp=247–48}}{{sfn|The Editors of ''Rolling Stone''|2002|p=146}} Harrison offended Lennon in 1980 when he published ''[[I, Me, Mine]]'', an autobiography that Lennon felt made little mention of him.{{sfn|Tillery|2011|p=121}} Lennon told ''[[Playboy]]'', "I was hurt by it. By glaring omission{{nbsp}}... my influence on his life is absolutely zilch{{nbsp}}... he remembers every two-bit sax player or guitarist he met in subsequent years. I'm not in the book."{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=327}}

Lennon's most intense feelings were reserved for McCartney. In addition to attacking him with the lyrics of "[[How Do You Sleep? (John Lennon song)|How Do You Sleep?]]", Lennon argued with him through the press for three years after the group split. The two later began to reestablish something of the close friendship they had once known, and, on one occasion in 1974, even recorded music together (later bootlegged as ''[[A Toot and a Snore in '74]]'') before eventually growing apart once more. During McCartney's final visit in April 1976, Lennon said that they watched the episode of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' in which [[Lorne Michaels]] made a $3,000 offer to get the Beatles to reunite on the show.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=934–935}} According to Lennon, the pair considered going to the studio to make a joke appearance, attempting to claim their share of the money, but they were too tired.{{sfn|Sheff|2000|pp=81–82}} Lennon summarised his feelings towards McCartney in an interview three days before his death: "Throughout my career, I've selected to work with{{nbsp}}... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono{{nbsp}}... That ain't bad picking."{{sfn|Cohn|2010–2011|p=95}}

Along with his estrangement from McCartney, Lennon always felt a musical competitiveness with him and kept an ear on his music. During his career break from 1975 until shortly before his death, according to Fred Seaman, Lennon and Ono's assistant at the time, Lennon was content to sit back as long as McCartney was producing what Lennon saw as mediocre material.{{sfn|Seaman|1991|p=122}} Lennon took notice when McCartney released "[[Coming Up (song)|Coming Up]]" in 1980, which was the year Lennon returned to the studio. "It's driving me crackers!" he jokingly complained, because he could not get the tune out of his head.{{sfn|Seaman|1991|p=122}} That same year, Lennon was asked whether the group were dreaded enemies or the best of friends, and he replied that they were neither, and that he had not seen any of them in a long time. But he also said, "I still love those guys. The Beatles are over, but John, Paul, George and Ringo go on."{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=82}}