Sean Lennon (Musician)

Sean Lennon was a celebrity before he even started a recording career -- no, scratch that, he was a celebrity before he had even been born. As the son of legendary Beatle John Lennon and avant-garde musician Yoko Ono, the guy is obviously no stranger to the limelight. And this is probably why he didn't choose to go the route of mainstream pop like his half-brother Julian did. Instead he cleverly positioned himself between pop and experimental, earning positive critical reviews and securing for himself a modest place in the post-alternative scene.

I was introduced to Sean's music in 1999 when a friend gave me a CD of his first album Into the Sun for my birthday. I would play it over and over from start to end everywhere I went -- needless to say I've been hooked on this musician since then. If you'd like to learn more about John & Yoko's Beautiful Boy, do read on and stay with me 'til the end of the page.

Photo from Beatles Unlimited

John Lennon's song Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) was written for his son Sean. Following below are the words to the song and a video compiling their home movies and personal family photos. Caution: it's a tearjerker so watch at your own risk. Grab a box of tissues, crank up the volume and sing along.

The photo shows John Lennon and the newborn Sean in 1975 in NYC.

Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

J. Lennon, 1980

Have no fear,

The monsters gone,

He's on the run and your daddy's here,

Beautiful,

Beautiful, beautiful,

Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,

Say a little prayer,

Every day in every way,

It's getting better and better,

Beautiful,

Beautiful, beautiful,

Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,

I can hardly wait,

To see you to come of age,

But I guess we'll both,

Just have to be patient,

Yes it's a long way to go,

But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,

Take my hand,

Life is just what happens to you,

While your busy making other plans,

Beautiful,

Beautiful, beautiful,

Beautiful Boy,

Darling,

Darling,

Darling Sean.

Image courtesy of Pichaus

Sean Taro Ono Lennon is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He is the son of musicians and peace activists John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Sean was born in New York City on October 9, 1975 which was also, incidentally, his father's 35th birthday. He has two half-siblings from his parents' first marriages, Julian Lennon and Kyoko Chan Cox. After Sean's birth, John became a house husband, doting on his young son until his murder in 1980. Sean was educated at the exclusive private boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Rolle, Switzerland and earlier at New York's private Ethical Culture Fieldston School and Dalton School. He later attended Columbia University, though only for three semesters before dropping out to focus on his music career.

His parents didn't force him into the life of a musician and intentionally hid their musical lives from their son. His debut into the music world came at the age of five, reciting a story on his mother's 1981 album Season of Glass. From childhood into his teen years Sean continued to collaborate with his mother, contributing vocals and receiving production credit on her solo albums It's Alright (I See Rainbows), Starpeace and Onobox. At age sixteen Sean co-wrote the song "All I Ever Wanted" with Lenny Kravitz for his 1991 album Mama Said. By 1995 Sean had formed the band IMA (with Sam Koppelman and Timo Ellis) to play alongside his mother on her album Rising. Sean also made appearances in film, featured in the cast of Michael Jackson's 1988 Moonwalker and portraying a teenager experiencing visions of various MC Escher paintings in Sony's 1990 promotional short-film Infinite Escher.

Read his entire biography on Wikipedia or read more about Sean on the following websites.

(photos are from Sean's MySpace page)

A few more video interviews and a video collage featuring a young Sean.

Into the Sun is Sean Lennon's debut album, produced during the time he was still performing with Japanese duo Cibo Matto. The album was engineered and mixed by Tom Schick at Sear Sound. Into the Sun was released on May 19, 1998 on the Beastie Boys label Grand Royal and Lennon has said the album was "inspired by my girlfriend" (back then it was Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda). The album managed to peak to #153 on Billboard. Preview the tracks right here.

My top 5 favorite tracks: Into the Sun, Two Fine Lovers, One Night, Queue, and Breeze.

This was the first ever video I saw of Sean's, directed by Spike Jonze in 1998 and nominated for Best Breakthrough Video on MTV. Watch!

Friendly Fire is the second studio album by Sean Lennon. The album was released on October 3, 2006 by Capitol Records in the U.S. (see 2006 in music) and Parlophone in the UK (see 2006 in British music). In the United States, the album reached #152 in the Billboard 200 chart and #5 in the Top Heatseekers chart.

I love this album and personally think it's pure magic. You can read my review of the album on blog, or you can listen to the album for yourself right here. You'll see what I mean.

My top 5 favorite tracks: Spectacle, Parachute, Friendly Fire, Dead Meat, and On Again Off Again

Sean Lennon has produced a short film for each of the album's tracks, directed by Michele Civetta. The fantastical shorts, which together comprise a conceptual film about betrayal and the failure of love, feature appearances from Lennon and friends including Lindsay Lohan, Bijou Phillips, Asia Argento, Carrie Fisher, Devon Aoki, Jordana Brewster and others.

Sean Lennon has produced a short film for each of the album's tracks, directed by Michele Civetta. The fantastical shorts, which together comprise a conceptual film about betrayal and the failure of love, feature appearances from Lennon and friends including Lindsay Lohan, Bijou Phillips, Asia Argento, Carrie Fisher, Devon Aoki, Jordana Brewster and others.

"On Again, Off Again" is my favorite song from this album so please enjoy the official short film for it below.

Sean is not only a talented musician, he draws very well too. He did the cover art for all his albums and you can see some more of his beautiful illustrations on his website, www.seanonolennon.com

The GOASTT is Sean Lennon & Charlotte Muhl Kemp with "Comic Strip" written by the french singer Serge Gainsbourg with guest vocals by Mathieu Chedid (M) produced by Mark Ronson is the B-side of the vinyl single "Jardin du Luxembourg" on http://www.chimeramusic.com the single was aired on Mark Ronson's radio programme the 21 may 2010 spoken outro by Mark Ronson.

2009 release. At 76 years young, Yoko continues to kick ass. Between My Head & The Sky is a career-defining album made with her new Plastic Ono Band. The record is a gorgeous, mind-melting blend of styles, restating and sharpening themes while plunging into the always-mysterious future. The band includes Keigo "Cornelius" Oyamada and his band members Yuko Araki and Shimmy Shimizu, Sean Lennon, Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto) as well as NYC improvisers Erik Friedlander, Shahzad Ismaily, Michael Leonhart, Daniel Carter and Indigo Street.

Share your stories, sightings, thoughts, rants, raves...or just send me your thoughts about the lens.