Stand By Me

In 1989, Julian was on tour to support his Mr. Jordan album in America. At the same time, Cynthia was helping Sid Bernstein to organize a concert dedicated to John (more detailed post another day). On August 3rd, both mother and son were in New York City. Cynthia thought that the John tribute concert could use an extra touch: Yoko's blessing. So, she and her boyfriend Jim Christie went to The Dakota where John used to live to meet with Yoko to discuss. It was the first and only time Cynthia visited The Dakota. After the meeting, Cynthia and Jim raced to get to the Beacon Theater for Julian's concert. Yoko, Sean, and Yoko's companion Sam Havadtoy arrived at the concert late and sat a couple of rows behind Cynthia and Jim. In between songs, Julian invited his brother on stage to join him.

"My brother came out with a record. Boom! It was gold; he was playing the Beacon Theater in New York. It was mad."

Sean Lennon, 1998

With Sean on acoustic guitar, he and Julian sang Stand By Me, much to the audience's delight. Stand By Me was originally recorded by Ben E. King in 1961; John later covered the song in 1975 (well, technically in 1974 but was released in 1975 on his Rock and Roll album). When John performed it (for a television special; now considered to be an official music video), he gave Julian a shout out. After when Ben E. King died in 2015 (April 30th… Cynthia died the 1st), Julian wrote in his tribute that John used to sing the song to him. Julian also covered the song and it became a song he performed often in his performances. That night, both of John's sons sang the song.

Afterwards, an after-party was held at A Hard Rock Cafe. For the first time ever, pictures of Cynthia and Yoko together were taken. According to her John book, Cynthia beamed while Yoko managed a small smile but there was definitely tension between the two.