Julian Lennon on his father, Beatles' impact
Julian Lennon says he can't help but be inspired by the music of his father, John Lennon, and the Beatles.
During a recent visit to CBS News, he said, "I'd have to look at him and the Beatles as probably my music teachers, really, along with the likes of the Beach Boys, Steely Dan, Led Zeppelin."
The son of John Lennon and Cynthia Powell, Julian was born April 8, 1963, in Liverpool, England, just as fame started to hit the Fab Four. Less than a year later, the Beatles would make their mark on history in a groundbreaking performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
It all meant that John had been traveling the world during Julian's younger years. "When dad moved away when I was 3 or 4, I lived with mom and we lived a totally isolated life from the world that was going on with the Beatles," he said.
But that doesn’t mean his father didn’t inspire him. Julian is the founder of the White Feather Foundation, an organization that helps raise awareness for environmental and humanitarian issues. The foundation and its name were both inspired by John Lennon. "Dad once said to me, that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be OK -- that we were all going to be OK -- the message would come to me in the form of a White Feather," Julian explains on the foundation's website.
Now 50 years old, Julian has made a name for himself in music and photography. He recently unveiled "Everything Changes," his fifth studio album and the first to hit the U.S. in 15 years. The set comes nearly 30 years after Julian unveiled his debut, "Vallotte," which spawned the hit "Too Late for Goodbyes" and earned a young Lennon a best new artist Grammy nomination. His musical and personal journey is told in the new documentary, "Through the Picture Window."
For more on Julian and the impact of the Beatles, check out the video above.
