Julian Lennon Wasn’t Sure If He Was ‘Comfortable’ With Paul McCartney Bringing John Lennon to Life on Tour: ‘It Shocked Me’
Julian Lennon, son of John Lennon, confessed that seeing his father “brought to life” for a performance with Paul McCartney was an experience that initially “shocked” him.
McCartney said the “special” reunion delighted him, but Julian wasn’t sure he was comfortable with it. So, he previewed it before seeing it live. But how did he feel after he watched the performance in person?
Peter Jackson helped Paul McCartney bring John Lennon’s music back to life
The Beatles: Get Back director Peter Jackson helped make Lennon’s most recent reunion with McCartney possible with technology. “We developed a machine learning system that we taught what a guitar sounds like, what a bass sounds like, what a voice sounds like,” he explained to Variety. “In fact, we taught the computer what John sounds like and what Paul sounds like.”
Jackson separated Lennon’s vocals so McCartney could sing with him on “I’ve Got a Feeling” during live shows. “That is so special for me,” McCartney told the crowd at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, adding that sentiment comes even though the reunion was virtual. “There I am singing with John again,” he noted, “we’re back together.”
Julian Lennon was initially ‘shocked’ by Paul McCartney bringing John Lennon’s voice back to life
Julian Lennon said he had to prepare to see McCartney’s virtual reunion with his late father, who was murdered in December 1980. “I watched it on YouTube — and I kind of went, ‘Errrr . . . I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.’ It shocked me,” he told Mojo magazine (per Daily Mail).
He confessed he had difficulty processing seeing Lennon “brought to life” for a reunion with his old Beatles bandmate. But he eventually decided to see McCartney’s performance for himself and concluded, “I actually enjoyed it.”
Julian Lennon found a ‘place of peace’ after estrangement from John Lennon before his murder
Though Julian has since forgiven his father, he said he’s had to “work through a few knots here and there” to deal with negative feelings about their past.
Notably, Lennon left his first wife, Julian’s mother, for a relationship with Yoko Ono. Unfortunately, Julian said they only “saw each other a couple of times” between the time Lennon left and his murder.
“It was very much reflective, looking in the mirror deeply and trying to find that place of peace,” Julian told People of his healing process. “I found it one or two times before, but it got lost in the muddle of life.”
He added, “When you hold a grudge or when there’s negativity in your life, it doesn’t necessarily hurt other people, it hurts you. And when you feel that damage on a physical and emotional level over the years, it can break you down.”
“I haven’t carried any negativity with me for a long, long time. But you still have to work through a few knots here and there, just to relax properly. And I think probably the last few years have done that for me,” he explained.
