Reactions of the public as Late Beatle legend; John Lenon’s second wife Yoko Ono paid tributes to his first wife Cynthia after she died of cancer at the age of 75 has been part awe and part outrage, since many may well attribute Yoko Ono as one of the major factors that broke the star’s first marriage with Cynthia.
In the statement, Yoko said: ‘I’m very saddened by Cynthia’s death. She was a great person and a wonderful mother to Julian.
‘She had such a strong zest for life and I felt proud how we two women stood firm in the Beatles family. Please join me in sending love and support to Julian at this very sad time.’
Julian also tweeted a picture of his mother, who was 75, inside a heart with the message ‘In Loving Memory’.
He also posted a moving video tribute to his late mother with a song he had written in her honor.
‘You gave your life for me, you gave your life for love,’ it begins, showing footage of him as a young boy with his parents. It also shows footage of Cynthia with John during the early days of Beatlemania.
Cynthia, who married Lennon after they met in college, died yesterday at her home in Spain after a brief battle with Cancer.
Her son Julian left a message on his website saying he was at her beside throughout, and the family ‘are thankful for your prayers’.
Yoko Ono however posted a picture which had been taken in 2010 of the two women with their sons, Julian and Sean.
She captioned the picture: ‘When we were very happy together.’
Cynthia Lennon, nee Powell, married Lennon in 1962 and stayed with him as he rose to global stardom with The Beatles until the couple divorced in 1968.
But the pair divorced in 1968 after Cynthia discovered her husband’s relationship with the Japanese artist; Yoko.
John and Cynthia Lennon while still married in the 60s.
Former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr also added their condolences.
Writing on his website, McCartney, 72, said: ‘She was a lovely lady who I’ve known since our early days together in Liverpool. She was a good mother to Julian and will be missed by us all, but I will always have great memories of our times together.’
Starr, 74, tweeted: ‘Peace and love to Julian Lennon God bless Cynthia love Ringo and Barbara xx.’
‘The love you left behind will carry on,’ Julian sings in a style influenced by his late father. It concludes with the words: ‘I know you’re safe above.’
Cynthia met Lennon at art school in Liverpool in 1957 and the couple married just before the Beatlemania arose and her husband became super famous.
Later, she lived through all the accolades of Beatle 60s fame and seeing her husband being reverred in the public eye, while having to hide in the shadows and endure the pain of having to deny being his wife — it being an unspoken rule that rock stars were unmarried in those days to protect their image as a teen idol.
And she never complained, not publicly anyway, and only in a very quiet manner to him.
It was on record by many that John treated her badly and was unnecessarily vicious to her. After their marriage was over, he even denied ever being in love with her and albeit his love letters to her in the past told a different tale.
He wouldn’t have married her, he would say, if she hadn’t got pregnant. He told an American magazine in 1970, that his son ‘Julian was born out of a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night.’
She had had suspicions of infidelity as supported by witness accounts, however their marriage troubles over-heated in February 1968 when Lennon confessed while drunk to sleeping with other women during their marriage.
Lennon once suggested Cynthia take a holiday with friends and when She returned she found her husband sitting across then lover: Yoko Ono on the floor, they were staring into each other’s eyes.
She also wrote in one of her books that she then found Yoko’s slippers outside their bedroom door and she left the house in shock.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
John Lennon and soon to become next wife: Yoko Ono
The most brutal of all was returning from a trip to find John and Yoko in the kitchen, John in his dressing gown, Yoko wearing Cynthia’s. They’d obviously just got up from lovemaking. Reports say that what agonized the most was the fact that her husband knew that she was on her way home. ‘It was vicious,’ she told.
After years of conflict, the marriage finally ended in 1968 after the discovery that Yoko Ono was pregnant.
The couple settled outside of court, with Lennon agreeing to pay Cynthia £100,000 and give her custody of Julian.
The divorce was quick but extremely painful yet . John, who would be regarded generous most times showed a side to his character that was nonetheless surprisingly vengeful.
‘My final offer is £75,000,’ he yelled during settlements. ‘That’s like winning the pools for you, so what are you moaning about. You’re not worth any more.’ Finally, in 1970, she accepted £100,000 for her and Julian.The family home was sold. For a time, she lived in Kensington and saw old friends, though she was hurt that the other Beatles didn’t stay in touch with her.
She didn’t stay single for long, first marrying Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, and then a very nice engineer called John Twist.
But once again, that didn’t work out. It was impossible for her not to be associated with John, and probably difficult for her second and third husbands, too.
Then, in 2002, she married Noel Charles, a friend of Julian, a former nightclub owner. They lived happily together until Noel died in 2013.
John Lennon’s son Julian with mother Cynthia
Some have said Cynthia should have fought to keep John Lennon. But the question is, how much fight can a woman put up with against a man determined to leave.
She and John Lennon were opposites. She knew that when she began going out with him. That was probably why she fell in love with him.
I like to think that, in the final years, she was finally happy.
It was cruel,’ Cynthia was reported saying years later while relating her experience as John Lennon’s wife.. ‘Inhuman.’ Before adding: ‘The question should be: “Would I have married him?” She smiled at that, saying: ‘No. He wasn’t the best husband. But he wasn’t the worst.’
Hopefully, she and Yoko Ono may well have buried the hatchet along the years for these outpouring of tributes from Yoko to emerge. It’s really amazing the truths which float out of the past.
Sources
www.mailonline.com
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