It’s one of those songs that’s either loved or hated. Either way, there’s no denying that John Lennon’s “Imagine” has become a cultural phenomenon across the globe.
Lennon’s son Julian promised he’d never play the song in public as a form of deference to his late father. The 59-year-old singer-songwriter, however, broke that vow this month when he played “Imagine” during the “Stand For Ukraine” social media rally put on by Global Citizen April 8, Upworthy reported.
Julian sang while musician Nuno Bettencourt accompanied him on the guitar.
“The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy… As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could,” Lennon wrote. “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.”
He continued, “Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time… 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,” Julian concluded. “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. #StandUpForUkraine.”
Julian is the son of John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. The couple was married for six years and divorced when Julian was just five years old. Then John married Yoko Ono in 1969 and had the former Beatles member’s second son, Sean Ono Lennon, in 1975.
“Imagine” has been used for a variety of purposes as a way to promote world peace from a secular standpoint. Actress Gal Gadot came under fire at the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 when she convinced a group of celebrities to perform their own rendition of the song. Later, the “Wonder Woman” star admitted the performance was “in poor taste.”
“I was calling Kristen [Wiig] and I was like, ‘Listen, I want to do this thing,’” Gadot told InStyle in their February 2022 issue. “The pandemic was in Europe and Israel before it came here [to the US] in the same way. I was seeing where everything was headed. But [the video] was premature.”
The Israeli star continued, “It wasn’t the right timing, and it wasn’t the right thing. It was in poor taste. All pure intentions, but sometimes you don’t hit the bull’s-eye, right?”
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