John Lennon Once Thought He Was a ‘Jinx’ to His Family, and Paul McCartney Had to ‘Talk Him off the Edge’ 

The members of the Beatles seemed to live charmed lives, but Paul McCartney recently revealed how traumatized his friend, and bandmate John Lennon was by his father’s abandonment, as well as the loss of other family members. 

John Lennon’s troubled family life

Lennon was born to Julia and Alfred Lennon in 1940. Alfred, who was a merchant seaman, was often away from his wife and child but regularly sent money home. However, after going absent without leave in 1944, Alfred briefly disappeared from his family’s lives. 

He came home a few months later, ready to be a family, but Julia had moved on and was pregnant with another man’s child. In 1946, Alfred returned and forced a six-year-old Lennon to choose which parent he wanted to live with. Lennon chose his mother and did not see or hear from his father for almost 20 years. 

Lennon eventually went to live with his aunt and uncle, George and Mimi Smith, where he would stay until he moved to London. Tragically, his uncle died when Lennon was 15. The two were close — George taught Lennon how to read and draw and bought the young rockstar his first harmonica. 

Why John Lennon thought he was a ‘jinx’ on male family members

During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show, McCartney shared Lennon’s feelings about losing his father and uncle. “John confided in me,” McCartney said.

“He said, ‘I think I could be a jinx against the male line,’” referring to the loss of male members of Lennon’s family. The bass player said he had to “talk [Lennon] down, off the edge.” 

He recalled, “I said, ‘No, you’re not … it wasn’t your fault your bloody father left.’” McCartney also spoke about Lennon’s continued loss, saying he “did not have a great life in that department.”

In 1958, Lennon’s mother — who he maintained a close relationship with, despite not living together — was struck by a car and killed just a few yards away from the house Lennon lived in with his aunt and uncle. Her death was extremely traumatic for the then-18-year-old musician. 

Lennon’s only parental figure left was his aunt Mimi, but not for long. After the rise of Beatlemania, Alfred returned and tried to begin a relationship with his estranged son. The pair carried on a relationship for the rest of Alfred’s life but were not close. 

“His dad show[ed] up and want[ed] money,” McCartney explained. “I think that led to a lot of John’s angst.” McCartney spoke about how “there wasn’t a lot of” angst when the pair were together “because we were just friends … we were being creative.”

Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s creative partnership 

Lennon and McCartney are one of music’s greatest co-writing teams, churning out hit albums like A Hard Day’s Night, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band while working with George Harrison and Ringo Starr in the Beatles. 

The Beatles broke up in 1970 when McCartney filed a lawsuit to dissolve the group’s contractual partnership. All four members went on to have successful solo careers. 

Lennon’s life tragically came to an end in 1980 when he was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in New York.