Sean Taro Ono Lennon was born on October 9, 1975 in New York Hospital in the City. Yoko stayed in the same hospital room where Jackie Kennedy had Caroline. Sean was conceived earlier that year. John and Yoko were separated, John was with May Pang.... he came over to see Yoko and never left home. It's no secret that John and Yoko wanted a child together - Sean was York's 4th pregnancy with John. I suppose John told Julian on the phone and Julian was excited! He is (as is Kyoko) 11 years older than Sean. Certainly an age gap. But it didn't matter. Around the time Sean was born, John originally wanted to name him George Washington United States of America Citizen Lennon. I bet Yoko sighed with relief when that didn't happen.
Sean (being held by a nanny) and Julian at a picnic hosted by artist Sari Dienes in Pomona, New York during the Summer of 1976.
Photographed by Paco Underhill
Since Julian lived with his mother in the United Kingdom, he didn't get to meet Sean until the Summer of 1976 when off from school. While overall excited, Julian did have a few anxiety moments - not because of becoming a big brother, but what effect would this be on the relationship with his father? Although there was tons of love between Sean and Julian, he couldn't help but noticed that John showed favoritism towards Sean. John barely knew Julian since John was being a Beatle and rarely home. Meanwhile, John lived with Sean and knew him from skin to bones. John was 22 when Julian was born while Sean was born on his 35th birthday. John was barely a millionaire when Julian was born and had to work for it; by the time Sean was born, John was a millionaire and was able to temporary retire to raise Sean. John was very much aware he was absent from home since the very beginning - he didn't like it at all. John did indeed wanted to be home to be part of Julian's daily life and growth. He was making up for lost time to Sean. When Sean turned 5, John went right back to the studio and planned to revive his music career, including touring. John and Julian were still getting to know each other for the past year (1974). Cynthia was also worried but tried to comfort her son. When the opportunity for a visit came, Julian came with gifts (despite limited sums of money). Sean loved Julian immediately and was always thrilled whenever Julian visited.
"After his son Julian came to visit in the winter of 1977, John seemed down. He indicated to me that he didn't want to do to Sean what he did to Julian, the absences and all that. He was a good father but he was also strict with Sean, especially during the times when they were without a nanny. But he was especially loving to the child."
Michael Allison
“He was strict with me and with Sean. But Sean was handled with kid gloves. There wasn’t a toy in the world that Sean didn’t have. I would arrive in New York and walk into a 40 ft. x 40 ft. room, filled with toys. On birthdays, I would get a toy car and a little gift, a record or a book, and it really upset me when I saw what Sean had.”
Julian, 1999
The last visit of John's life was April of 1979 during Julian's 16th birthday celebration. The next visit after was when John died. Julian rushed over and while Sean was happy to see his brother, he had no idea what for as he didn't know about their father's death yet. Yoko hadn't been able to figure out how. Yoko asked Julian for help and they told Sean together by the third day (December 11). However, when Yoko released her statement that provided her telling Sean, she made no mention of Julian. Ouch. But, what can you do? Julian knew (and was warned) that Yoko would be holding Sean up to the John Lennon Estate torch and in the past recent years, that's exactly what she did after retiring in 2018. As far as I know, Julian has since accepted this and supports Sean. I'm sure Julian lends a silent hand and advice and gets a generous settlement from the estate.
“Yoko made this big story of how difficult it was to tell Sean. That was bullshit. I was there, and she was asking me how to tell him.”
Julian, 1999
"Sean likes the fact that because he was the only child- he was always saying, 'I'm the only child, I mean, I don't have anybody around me,' or something so it was good that he got together with Julian, and also, by the way, he got together with Kyoko too."
Yoko Ono
Yoko, Sean and Julian at the screening of Stand By Me: A Portrait Of Julian Lennon at the Carnegie Hall Cinema in New York City, December of 1985.
Photographed by Bob Gruen
"The one thing that really saddens me is that he's not alive to see his two sons, who are now the best of friends, who are close together.”
Cynthia
"They play music together, they are something that he never saw because he lost both his sons. When he left me, Julian was five, and when he died Sean was five, so he missed all that, the lovely growing up."
Cynthia
"Not all lovely of course because teenagers are something else, but once you get over that sort of awkward time, period of youth and you become young men, which they both are now, I think he'd have been really proud and very happy to have been part of their lives."
Cynthia
“I think because he sees a lot of Dad in me.”
Julian, 1985
Julian did his best to visit Sean and Yoko as much as he could when his career in music took off by 1984. Julian taught Sean the guitar and often baby sat. There was even a moment when Sean lived with Julian for a short time in Los Angeles. Sean met Julian's mother Cynthia at the documentary film premiere of Imagine: John Lennon on October 7, 1988 at the National Theatre in New York. I don't think they saw each other often since then (Julian's concert in 1989; Aunt Mimi's funeral in 1991; Julian's photo exhibit in 2010).
I have covered quite a bit on Julian and Sean's relationship on this blog - you can access and read the archives in the Labels section on the side of the blog ➡ (Sean). But, in case you're lazy and don't want to go through the posts, here's the most notable concerning this post:
“He got attacked, destroyed.He’d say stuff to me like, 'Be careful. They’re really gonna get you.'”
Sean Lennon, 1998
“I think it was especially hard for him. The press was really mean to him and he had a really difficult situation with his management and his record company – they really tried to exploit him and exploit his name. I really tried to learn from the difficulties that he had been through, and I think it paid off.”
Sean Lennon
By the time the 1990s rolled in, Sean turned 20 and started his own music career. His first album Into the Sun came out in 1998 .... the same week as Julian's Photograph Smile. That may have been the tipping point for Julian to unleash his anger publicly towards Yoko. He felt it was a deliberate thing to have Sean overshadowed himself. Honestly, I don't know if Yoko got an advanced date of Julian's release date and decided to have Sean's out that time. I don't even think she has that kind of power to order a record company to make a date of an album release? There's a lot to go on from album design, copy and printing CDs and cassettes, merchandise, etc. If Yoko had released her albums around Julian's albums instead through the years as competition, then Julian's point well taken. I just think it was an odd and ironic coincidence by the record companies. Anyway, during that moment, I think Sean took a step back from his relationship with his brother. Both of them have since insisted that they were never estranged but there was a time period that they didn't talk much. Maybe it wasn't anger or Sean being protective towards his mother, but Sean was indeed growing up as an adult and was going through what Julian went through in the 1980s; Julian was going through his own issues just the same. They both needed space. I don't think it helped when Cynthia's book John came out in 2005, reviving the drama of Yoko vs. Cynthia and Julian that continued the space between brothers.
“Whether Sean realizes it, or is able to acknowledge it. Yoko plays a serious hand in his career. His mother has spent an awful lot of money on ensuring that Sean succeeds, way above and beyond my success…She always has to be the winner. That is essential to her. Sean may discover things about Yoko that he does not like. I shall always keep an eye out for him.”
Julian, 1999
“He is blood, I will be there whenever he needs me. I love Sean to death, I think he’s a very smart kid. It’s been a little difficult with Sean, because every time I go to New York, or it’s his birthday or Christmas, I try and see him or call him or whatever, but I also think he’s at an age – early 20s – when your older brother is not so important.”
Julian, 1999
"I think the last time that they saw each other was when they both had their albums out at the same time. Sean was in Japan and Julian went to see his show. That's the last time they spoke."
Cynthia, 2005
"I don't know if Sean and Julian have a relationship. I think so, they talk well of each other, but I'm really an aunt to Julian”
Julia Dykins Baird
"There have been a few occasions when I have tried to repair a few bridges with Yoko but we are too opposite. I feel sad that Julian and Sean are half brothers and should be enjoying time together."
Cynthia, 2005
"And there's a certain point when you stop hitting your head against a brick wall. The reason I did it [to get along with Yoko] was that there are two boys there, Sean and Julian. They're half-brothers, they have the same father - they should be best buddies, they could really be helping each other, working with each other and enjoying each other's company, but that wasn't to be."
Cynthia, 2005
Then in February of 2007, Julian surprised Sean while on his European tour (read Surprise Tour Guest as listed earlier). Since then, Julian and Sean kept in contact often, try to see each other as often as they could.
"We're as close as close can be. The media have said that we've been feuding for years. We've never had an argument in our lives. I'm trying to be clear the record because it hurts Sean and it hurts his mum, too. We've always been close. To me, he's blood."
Julian, 2010
"Yes, it's mind-blowing. He says that he learnt to play the guitar from me, which I was amazed at. He was at the exhibition in New York and we try to catch up whenever we can."
Julian, 2010
"I have a lot of love and respect for Sean, whatever he does."
Julian
"Well, look, the idea that Julian and I were ever not close is wrong. That’s something that the press made up. I think it’s because my mother and he had some disputes, and his version of that story he was very public about. That’s his right to do that. I tend to not want to talk about family things like that. Just my personal style—I think I inherited it from my mother. But Julian and I have always been close. He was my hero when I was young. He taught me to play guitar. He had a number one record when I was a tween, so he was literally one of the reasons I started playing music. And this idea that we were ever fighting is…it’s almost like the 'Yoko broke up the Beatles' thing. No matter how many times I say it’s not true, no matter how many photos people see of us laughing and hanging out, they always say, 'Oh, you should hang out with your brother.' I’m like, 'We do. I love him.' It’s never been a problem. Ever. People want it to be some kind of Game of Thrones thing, but it never has been with us. I always loved Cynthia too. She was always very, very lovely to me. Frankly, even when Julian and my mom were fighting, they were still nice. They still loved each other. He still came into the house. He stayed in ‘71—my mom’s apartment. It is just like the Beatles Get Back film: You watch it and you realize they weren’t fighting in the way that everyone imagined. There was some tension. That’s as far as you could say."
Sean Lennon, 2025
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