John Charles Julian Lennon was born on April 8,1963 in Liverpool, England. Julian is the son of John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia. When Julian was born, John Lennon was in the heap of his carrier and was forced to be a part-time father for Julian. Julian, as a child inspired several Beatles compositions; "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" which arose out of a drawing Julian made of a classmate. The title of the song was actually misunderstood. People thought that the Beatles were singing about "LSD". During Julian's parents' divorce, he became the subject of Paul McCartney's "Hey Jude." Julian began playing guitar and drums at age ten, adding piano as a teenager; he appeared as a drummer on the track "Ya Ya" on the John Lennon album Walls and Bridges.
During the time of his father's assassination, Julian decided to pursue a singing career just as his father. Julian Lennon parlayed a remarkable vocal similarity to his father into a moderately successful singing career during the 1980s. The universal fame of John Lennon brought the inevitable comparisons which quickly became more a source of irritation than pride. Julian signed with Atlantic and recorded his debut album, Valotte, at a French château of the same name. The album produced four chart singles, including the Top Tens "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes". Julian was soon scaling the pop charts with excellent compositions like 'Valotte' and the reggae-influenced 'Too Late For Goodbyes'. The album was produced by Phil Ramone and showed a healthy mix of styles. In 1985, Julian Lennon was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist.
In 1989, Julian released another album tittle Mr. Jordan. He tried to break away from John Lennon's influences. The soul/disco 'Now You're In Heaven' was a lively comeback single, and the album showed promise, however, the single "Now You're in Heaven" did not become a hit like the previously released singles. 1991 saw Julian return to the conventional activities of recording and promotion with the release of a single embracing 'green' issues, 'Salt Water' supported by an imaginative video and a heavy promotion schedule. With his last album Julian seemed to be making a career on his own terms, rather than those dictated by the memories of his father.
However, following the poor sales of his previous album, by 1995 Virgin had released Julian Lennon from his contract, and he had joined a theatrical touring company's production of the play Mr Holland's Opus for which he sang the title song. After 1991's Help Yourself, Julian Lennon temporarily retired from the music industry and spent nearly seven years in seclusion. In the spring of 1998, he returned with Photograph Smile.Photograph Smile is an excellent album and I think his best work ever. Unfortunately, this album was released only in Europe and Japan. This album can be found in the US in some of the Imports sections, but is difficult to find.
"Julian Lennon's new album 'Photograph Smile' was recorded in Dublin and Wales and produced by Julian and Bob Rose, whose credits include Roy Orbison, Edie Brickell and Gene Loves Jezebel. The record reveals a degree of talent only hinted at in Julian's previous work. "I feel I've reached another level in songwriting" he comments. Melodically rich, lyrically powerful, Photograph Smile is an album in which Julian really opens his heart and speaks his mind. The 14 beautifully crafted songs represent a brutally honest examination of love, trust and fidelity."It's a reflection of every human emotion I've ever been through, emotions we've all been through; love, hurt, ejection - the list goes on. I've spent a lot of time putting something together that means a lot to me. It feels truly like the first real Julian Lennon album."
