John Lennon put son Julian off having kids

Julian Lennon, who is John Lennon’s son by his first wife, Cynthia has revealed that his difficult relationship with his father has discouraged him from starting a family.

The rock legend’s 48-year-old son, who has never married, said that unlike his father he wanted to be mature enough to cope with fatherhood.

“He was young and didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” the Telegraph quoted Julian as telling Record Collector magazine.

"That’s the reason I haven’t had children yet. I didn’t want to do the same thing. No, I’m not ready. I want to know who I am first," said Julian.

The Beatles’ singer’s offspring, who is a musician himself, was five when John left Cynthia for Yoko Ono in 1968.

When Julian was born at the start of Beatlemania in 1963, John Lennon was away on tour.

Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, initially covered up the fact that John was married with a child to make him more appealing to female fans.

After Lennon and Ono moved to New York in 1971, Julian did not see his father again for two years.

The two were later reconciled, but Julian was still hurt when John gave an interview shortly before he was killed by Mark Chapman in 1980, in which he implied that Julian was an unplanned child who “came from a bottle of whiskey”.

“Mum was more about love than Dad. He sang about it, he spoke about, but he never really gave it, at least not to me as his son," said Julian.

He also said that he had to control the aggression he inherited from his father.

“The darker side definitely comes from Dad. Whenever I get too aggressive, which comes from Dad’s side, I try to calm myself down, be more positive,” he added.