Sean Lennon biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Singer, songwriter, musician and actor. Sean Taro Ono Lennon was born in New York, New York, on October 9, 1975. He is the only child of the founding member of the English rock band The Beatles, John Lennon, and his avant-garde artist wife, Yoko Ono.

Lennon was born on his father's 35th birthday. After Sean's birth, John quit the music business and became a house husband, doting on his young song until his murder in 1980. John was shot by a deranged fan outside the Dakota, an apartment building in Manhattan where the Lennons lived.

"I remember when my dad died," Sean told New York Magazine in 1998. "You don't really miss anything specific. You just miss them breathing, just being there. I miss the way his skin felt, the sound of his voice. Him tucking me in at night."

At age 11, Sean was sent off to Institut Le Rosey, a private Swiss boarding school. When he returned to the Dakota four years later, he enrolled at Dalton Schools.

Commercial Introduction

His first appearance on record was on his mother's Season of Glass (1981), reciting a story that his father used to tell him. He later performed It's Alright on the Ono tribute album Every Man Has a Woman (1984). Four years later, he was featured on Michael Jackson's Moonwalker video.

He eased into the music industry through collaborations with Lenny Kravitz on Mama Said (1991) and forming a backing band for his mother's album Rising (1995).

In 1997, Lennon joined New York-based Japanese duo Cibo Matto, which included his live-in girlfriend Yuka Honda, for their second EP Super Relax. Honda produced Lennon's debut solo album Into The Sun in 1998. A music video for the track Home enjoyed extended airplay on MTV.

Lennon followed up in 1999 with the EP Half Horse, Half Musician, featuring two new tracks and remixes of songs from Into The Sun. He also experimented in the worlds of Hip Hop and Metal, collaborating with various performers either as a session musician or as a producer.

Lennon performed The Beatles' This Boy and Across The Universe for a tribute concert to his father Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music (2001). In the following years, he stayed out of the spotlight, gaining only minor attention when he dated Mick Jagger's daughter, Elizabeth.

After his first record label Grand Royal Records folded, Sean signed with Capitol Records in 2001. Capitol's parent company, EMI, has released his father's entire musical output, group and solo.

But it was another five years before Lennon released his second solo album, Friendly Fire, featuring the single Dead Meat.