John Lennon’s Estranged Father Shared How the Musician Disappointed Him
From 1945 to 1964, John Lennon did not see or hear from his father. His parents had separated, and they had fallen out of contact, meaning that Lennon’s father was mostly absent from his life. In the 1960s, though, Lennon’s father, Fred Lennon, reached out to his son. Their meeting didn’t go as planned, but Fred gave interviews about his son. He once said that Lennon had let him down twice with his behavior.
John Lennon’s father said his son disappointed him twice
Though Lennon and Fred did not have a strong relationship, Fred carefully watched his son’s career progression. Over the years, he took note of two things that disappointed him.
“He’s only let me down twice,” Fred said, per The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “Once was accepting that MBE. I wouldn’t have done it. Royalty can’t buy me.”
With this, he referred to the honor each of the Beatles received from the royal family. Lennon had been hesitant to accept but eventually did, believing it would be worth it to annoy people. He later returned the MBE as a form of protest.
“The other time was not speaking at the Foyles’ literary lunch,” Fred continued. “I would definitely have given them a speech, and a song too.”
Lennon was an honoree at the Foyles’ literary lunch for his book In His Own Write. He hadn’t realized how important the honor was, so he and his wife had gone out the night before. They arrived at the luncheon incredibly hungover and stressed. When it came time for Lennon to give a speech, he stood up, briefly thanked the crowd, and sat back down. The audience was so appalled that they booed him.
John Lennon’s father was largely absent from his life
After Fred and Lennon’s mother, Julia, separated, he disappeared from his son’s life. After nearly 20 years without contact, Fred rediscovered his son because of his music.
“One day the washing-up woman said to me, ‘If that’s not your son, Freddy, then I don’t know what,'” Fred recalled. “She said there was a boy in this group with the same name as me and the same sort of voice, though he didn’t sing as well as me. I’d never heard of them.”
He reached out to his son, and they met once, briefly. After that, though, Lennon rejected his father’s attempts to reestablish a relationship. This didn’t mean Fred stopped trying, though.
“Just to let him see what sort of bloke I really am,” he said.
This was all a publicity grab
After two decades of no contact, Fred’s efforts to give fatherly advice to Lennon through interviews were likely just part of a grab for publicity. When he realized his son was a famous singer, Fred quickly started giving interviews and even sold his life story to a magazine. He was also a musician and tried to use his connection to Lennon to establish a music career. While he recorded an album, it didn’t go anywhere.
His attempts to reconnect with Lennon likely didn’t work because of this. In interviews, he criticized his son’s choices and his singing voice in an underhanded way. He saw an opportunity and jumped at it, but it didn’t work out for him.
