All For Charity

 

End of The Beatles

"In our time together, he got a chance to reconnect with Paul, George and Ringo. I was there when he played with Paul, I was there when he signed the break-up of The Beatles at Disneyworld, and I helped him be with his son again. When people see my photos of John, they like the fact he’s always smiling. That was a side people had never seen before. All this, and we had to deal with Phil Spector as well…”

May Pang, 2023

John Eastman, Paul and Linda McCartney (wearing wigs) at George Harrison's concert st Madison Square Garden on December 19, 1974. Julian Lennon was also at the concert.

George Harrison was on his first solo tour in America, called the Dark Horse tour during the end of 1974 (October - December). During that time period, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were to sign legal papers to end The Beatles once and for all, officially breaking up. Ringo signed his part in London. Paul and George met at a hotel room to sign. John was supposed to join them, but didn't. He claimed it wasn't "in the stars" or some horoscope thing, I don't know, but the due date was December 19th at the Plaza Hotel (where The Beatles stayed during their first visit). I think the real reason was John chickened out - it would've been the final nail to The Beatles coffin and I don't think John was ready (subconsciously) to let go as it was HIS band that he created from scratch. John was also planning to join George on stage during his Dark Horse tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Julian was visiting John and May Pang at the time and planned to visit Walt Disney World during the Christmas holidays. On December 19th, the due date and George's concert came: John bulked at appearing on stage with George - which pissed George off. John also didn't meet the deadline to sign the dissolution of The Beatles. Instead, Julian went to see George in concert, chaperone with Hilary Gerrard (who was Ringo's business manager). Paul and Linda McCartney were also at the concert with Linda's brother John - Paul and Linda wore wigs so they wouldn't get recognized. I'm not sure if Julian went backstage to see George (and his new girlfriend Olivia Arias) but he certainly did the following night, on December 20th. Once again, Julian was with Hilary Gerrard (who sadly passed away on January 11, 2023) while John and May went over to Lee Eastman's home (Lee was Linda's father) to discuss 'the famous Beatles agreement'. Julian called Lee's home while backstage with George to tell his father that all is forgiven. There was an after party at the Hippopotamus Club where John and George reunited along with May, Olivia, and Yoko came as well ... I don't know if Julian stayed for the party but I highly doubt that. 

"People don't realize she called us every day, like up to 15 times a day... for a year and a half. We saw her for her birthday that year. It wasn’t like there was no communication. … So, it is a myth that the whole ball started rolling then. If that was the case, why would we be thinking about taking Julian down to Florida for a holiday in December of 1974? John and I went to see George Harrison on his Dark Horse tour. Paul and Linda were over. We were thinking of buying a house in January of ‘75."

May Pang, 2023

May, Julian, and John celebrating Christmas in Orlando, Florida, around the same time John finally signed the legal papers to end The Beatles, December of 1974

“I lived from birthdays to Christmas, just to be with him.” 

Julian, 1985

"We wanted to give Julian a good time for the Christmas holiday, somewhere warm."

John

Afterwards, John, May, and Julian went to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. He basically ran away and tried to hide. But The Beatles/Apple lawyers managed to track John to sign the dissolution papers to end The Beatles, because on December 29, 1974, John finally signed the papers to end his band at the Polynesian Village Hotel. The lawyer left and John and May took Julian to Walt Disney World and celebrated the Christmas holidays, throwing firecrackers underneath the palm trees.