Julian Lennon admits he's come to terms with many aspects of his past. From accepting the nickname of “Jude,” which Paul McCartney bequeathed him with the Beatles classic “Hey Jude,” to formally changing his first name to Julian — despite his birth certificate listing it as John, and finding new ways to enjoy his father, the late-John Lennon. Julian's upcoming album, Jude, is set for release on September 9th.
Julian spoke to Yahoo Music and explained that seeing the Peter Jackson-directed Beatles doc, Get Back, was a game-changer for him, admitting it was: “A lot to process. It really reminded me of the way Dad used to be. Y'know, when we were together, when I was a kid, he was funny, goofy, sarcastic, talented, moody, broody — but fun. And that was all the things that he was to me when we lived together. And it made me fall in love with him again, which was really lovely. It made me appreciate him again, and reminded me of how he was before everything went a bit pear-shaped.”
Julian touched upon the reasons behind changing his name legally: “Recently, in 2020, I decided that I was going to change my name, because originally my name was John Lennon — John Charles Julian Lennon. And I'd had issues with that, especially at airports and security — not-so-great moments and comments that had gone by because of my name being John, whether people recognized me or not. I decided that in 2020, after going through another learning process in life, that I wanted to become Julian. I was sick and tired of being someone else's John. And so, I changed my name to Julian Charles John Lennon. . . And that was all related to 'Jude' and 'Jules,' which is my nickname on a daily basis. So, it just made sense to me, and also with what was going on with the Beatles and Get Back and my feelings about that too. It was all intermingled.”