Sean Taro Ono Lennon is the son of BeatleJohn Lennon and his second wife, artist/musician Yoko Ono. He was born in New York City on October 9, 1975, also his father's birthday. A musician like his parents, Sean's first efforts were collaborations, appearing in 1991 on Lenny Kravitz's album, Mama Said, and in 1995 on his mother's album, Rising. He became the temporary touring bassist for the New York-based Japanese duo Cibo Matto. Sean's debut solo album, the alternative pop/rock collection Into the Sun, was released in 1998 on the Beastie Boys' record label, Grand Royal Records. He was signed by Capitol Records to produce future albums. Lennon also has written the scores for several films — and, in some cases, he also wrote the screenplays — including Smile for the Camera (2005), Friendly Fire (2006) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead (2008).
As the son of John Lennon, perhaps the most beloved Beatle, and avant-garde musician Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon was a celebrity before he had even begun his recording career. That may be the reason why he didn't choose straight-ahead pop as his musical vocation, like his half-brother Julian did. Instead, he cleverly positioned himself between pop and experimental, taking his cue from such kaleidoscopic '90s multiculturists as the Beastie Boys, Beck, and Cibo Matto. To many ears, his 1998 debut album, Into the Sun, had unexpectedly eclectic roots and a laid-back vibe, earning him positive critical reviews and securing a modest place in the post-alternative hierarchy.
Ten years before Into the Sun, such a transformation seemed unlikely. But toward the end of the '80s, Lennon began to emerge from the seclusion that marked the years following his father's assassination. During his childhood, he was educated in Swiss boarding schools, but occasionally appeared on his mother's albums and sang on the 1984 Ono tribute Every Man Has a Woman. In his early teens, he was occasionally seen decked out in a plastic Thriller jacket and hanging out with Michael Jackson, but his first official step into the spotlight was in the form of filmed interviews for the 1988 documentary John Lennon: Imagine.
Three years later, he organized -- with Ono and Lenny Kravitz -- a star-studded re-recording of his father's "Give Peace a Chance" as a protest to the Gulf War. That year, he also appeared on Kravitz's album Mama Said. Shortly afterward, he retreated from the spotlight again, deciding to attend Columbia University. He spent only a few semesters at college before he dropped out of school to hang out in the New York indie rock scene. He encouraged his mother to begin performing again, supporting her in a noise rock trio named IMA; the trio was featured on Ono's 1995 album Rising and backed her on her subsequent tour. During that time, Lennon met Cibo Matto, who were hired to remix a song on Ono and IMA's EP, and he became Cibo Matto's touring bassist as well as the boyfriend of their keyboardist, Yuka Honda. For a short while in the mid-'90s, he was touring with both IMA and Cibo Matto; it was the first time he was on the road playing music for an extended period of time.
Once the touring was completed, Lennon played some of his songs to Beastie Boy Adam Yauch. Impressed with the demos, Yauch asked Lennon if he wanted to record a solo album for the Beasties' label, Grand Royal. He accepted the offer and had Honda produce the resulting album, Into the Sun. A mellow, eclectic album that bounces between bossa nova and alternative rock, Into the Sun was released in the spring of 1998. Journalists and observers were ready to spot musical similarities between Sean and his father, but perhaps the clearest shared trait was an ability to unwittingly stick his foot in his mouth just like his dad. Shortly before Into the Sun, he gave an interview with The New Yorker claiming his father was assassinated by the American government. It helped stir up interest for his debut album, but he didn't need it, since the rock press was already eager to run stories about him -- not only was he the heir to rock royalty, he had the Grand Royal stamp of approval. Consequently, Into the Sun received strong reviews and, on the basis of those reviews, earned a small following, debuting at number 153 on the charts.
When Grand Royal folded in 2001, Lennon found himself without a label, but Capitol soon signed him. However, it wasn't until 2006 that he released new material; his second album, the mostly piano-driven Friendly Fire, appeared that fall and featured contributions from Honda, Ono, Money Mark, and Vincent Gallo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
His parents didn't force him into the life of a musician: they intentionally hid their musical lives from their son.[1] 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 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.
Cibo Matto and Into The Sun
In 1996 Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto were invited by Ono to remix the song "Talking To The Universe" for a Rising remix EPRising Mixes. They met Sean and invited him to join them on tour as a bass player. This eventually led to Sean contributing to their side-project Butter 08 and to his becoming a member of the group. He continued to play with them on tour, joining them on television and providing bass guitar and vocals on their EP, Super Relax. Through his association with Cibo Matto, Lennon was approached by Adam Yauch (of the Beastie Boys), who expressed an interest in his music and persuaded him to sign a record contract with Grand Royal Records. Regarding Grand Royal, Lennon has said:
I think I found the only label on the planet who doesn't care who my parents are and what my name is. It's a good feeling to know that I wouldn't have gotten the offer if they wouldn't have liked my songs. That's pretty rare in the music business!
Lennon's solo début Into the Sun, was released in 1998. A music video for "Home", a single from the album, was directed by Spike Jonze and enjoyed extended airplay on MTV. The album was produced by fellow Cibo Matto member Yuka Honda, who Lennon claimed was his inspiration for the album. They struck up a personal relationship as well as a creative one.
He would go on to tour (often backed by Cibo Matto) supporting Into The Sun. During this period he would appear on radio programs such as The Howard Stern Show and KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. He would later recall promoting the album as a bitter experience due to the media focus on his family rather than his own music. In 1999, Sean's EP Half Horse, Half Musician was released featuring new tracks such as "Heart & Lung" and "Happiness" as well as remixes of songs from Into The Sun. Along with Half Horse Half Musician 1999 saw the release of Cibo Matto's second album Stereo Type A. Sean stepped out of his traditional role as the group's bass player, this time playing a much wider range of instruments (such as drums, guitars and synthesizers). Despite being well received Stereo Type A was to be the final Cibo Matto album and the group disbanded.
After the demise of Grand Royal Records in 2001, Sean signed with Capitol Records (whose parent company EMI has released the vast majority of his father's musical output, group and solo), yet no solo material surfaced until February 2006, when "Dead Meat" was released as the first single from his new album, Friendly Fire. A promotional trailer for the CD/DVD package of Friendly Fire was leaked online in early 2006. The trailer featured scenes from the film version of the album, a DVD of music videos comprised into a film. The videos were actually screen tests for Coin Locker Babies, another project on which Lennon is working which became a cinematic counterpart to his new album [2]. The theme of the album is based around love and betrayal and was dedicated to the death of a close friend of his. Friendly Fire was released in October 2006. The night the album was released, Lennon made his first major television appearance in five years, performing "Dead Meat" live on the Late Show with David Letterman. Lennon has since appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Sharon Osbourne Show. When questioned about the eight year gap between solo albums in interviews Lennon expressed that he didn't feel like a solo artist during those years and that he wanted to experience music anonymously without the spotlight on him. Since the release of Friendly Fire, Lennon has been touring extensively around the world and while in France remixed his song "Parachute" in collaboration with French artist -M-. The remix is entitled "L'éclipse"[3] and was featured as a bonus track on the French release of Friendly Fire.
Although again establishing himself as a solo artist, Lennon has continued his work as a session musician and producer, lending his talent to the likes of Dopo Yume, Albert Hammond, Jr. (of The Strokes) and model/singer Irina Lazareanu.[4] In October 2007 Sean joined Mark Ronson in the BBCElectric Proms where he sang "Sail on, Sailor", as well as "We Can Work It Out" alongside Daniel Merriweather, and Tawiah. Along with girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, Sean premiered the side-project "The Ghost Of A Saber Toothed Tiger" [5] during a live performance at Radio City on Valentines Day, 2008. The duo host their music on MySpace and perform under the aliases of Amatla and Zargifon. Expanding on his musical output even further Sean has stepped into the world of film scores with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead.[6] With the release of new material and subsequent touring Sean launched a website featuring music, videos and a forum for his fans. Various members of the forum have even created a fan-made cover album tentitled Truth Mask Replica. In a Youtube video released for his website (January 2008) Lennon has stated that he is working on a new solo album as well.
Lennon has said that Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys are major influences in his music and he interviewed Wilson on a limited edition CD entitled Words and Music. During the release of Into The Sun, Sean often talked about his admiration for the Brazilian band Os Mutantes. While in Brazil, Sean performed live with Arnaldo Baptista (bass guitar player and vocalist of Os Mutantes) and later designed the artwork for the Os Mutantes album, Tecnicolor (2000). Lennon has stated that The Beastie Boys album Check Your Head was a source of inspiration, with its varied music styles contained in one album.
