Julian Lennon knows how some people may view him, even more than 40 years after his life as a pop star began with his first and biggest album, Valotte. But speaking from his home in Monaco, he’s trying to find the right word. “Some have said that, with nepotism today, I was a pioneer of…”
Does he mean “….nepo baby”?
“Yeah,” Lennon says, his tone more bemused than bitter. “There weren’t many around, really. I was certainly one of the first in that field to deal with what I had to deal with. But I’m here. I’ve survived, and I’m okay. I’m alive and kicking. I’m pretty happy with my life and my work, and I just get up every day and think the best and hope for the best and pray for the best during these very, very difficult times.”
Lennon may still be known to the majority of the public as John’s son (from his first marriage, to Cynthia Lennon) and as the mullet-sporting newbie who had two massive radio and MTV hits in the Eighties, “Valotte” and “Too Late for Goodbyes.” As he’ll be the first to admit, his experiences in the music business since then have been a mixed bag. But in recent years, he’s ventured into alternative careers as a photographer, a children’s-book author, and documentary producer. In the latter case, he’s not simply working on rock docs: He’s executive producer of Ai Weiwei’s Turandot, a just-released film about the Chinese artist and his debut as a director at the Rome Opera House.
“People only knew me as John’s son, so not only for my own benefit, but for others, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what I set out to do,” he says. “I wanted to build a foundation for myself that was undeniable, regardless of what anybody said.”
And now, after a few years away from it, Lennon, who turned 62 this spring, has returned to music with a four-song EP titled because …, and a new video for “I Won’t Give Up,” the ballad that concludes it and could be seen almost as a statement of purpose. “It can mean whatever you want it to be, and that’s the beauty of it, is it not?” he says of the title. “That’s the beauty of the lyrics we write, the songs we perform, is that you make it what you will.” He talks with Rolling Stone about that new music as well as director Sam Mendes’ in-the-works Beatles biopics and Lennon’s own plans for an as-yet-untitled autobiography.