John Lennon’s son Julian has performed his late dad’s iconic song Imagine for the first time publicly, with fans remarking they can hear the voice of the Beatles musician coming through.
Julian, Lennon’s 59-year-old son with ex-wife Cynthia, sang the song over the weekend as part of the Global Citizen’s social media rally, Stand Up For Ukraine.
While the singer had vowed to only ever perform his dad’s song it was was ‘the end of the world’, he felt ‘compelled to respond in the most significant way I could’ amid the ongoing conflict, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded the neighbouring country in February. More than 4.4million have fled Ukraine since, while 6.5m are currently displaced within the country.
Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar played by Nuno Bettencourt, Julian sang the song, first released by his father in 1971 – which encourages people to imagine a world of peace, no religion, ‘nothing to kill or die for’, and no countries – surrounded by burning candles.
He wrote on YouTube alongside the video of the sobering rendition: ‘So today, for the first time ever, I publicly performed my Dad’s song, Imagine.
‘Why now, after all these years? – I had always said, that the only time I would ever consider singing Imagine would be if it was the ‘End of the World’…
‘But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide. Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time…’
He added: ‘The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for…
‘As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families, have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere.
‘I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of Imagine, to stand up for refugees everywhere! Please advocate and donate from the heart.’
People watching the performance continue to be moved by the message, as well as the similarities in Julian’s voice to his father’s, with one noting: ‘I love that he has his “own voice” but also with the John Lennon sound. Hard to explain…’
‘Wow. Just wow,’ another mused in the comments of the video. ‘I am one of those people who always says no one should ever sing the song except for John Lennon. Except now…Julian you did such an amazing job. Your father would be so proud. Thank you for giving the world this gift that we didn’t even know that we needed.’
As another felt there was ‘no one better’ to sing Lennon’s song, one remarked: ‘He sounds eerily like his late father. This is wonderful.’
Julian was joined by the likes of Sir Elton John and Bruce Springsteen for the online rally and summit, which, raised $10.1billion (£7.3bn) in grants and loans for ‘humanitarian efforts being undertaken by Ukraine and other European countries, UN agencies and grassroots organisations to support all those impacted by the Russian invasion’.
