John Lennon’s Son Worries That Gen Z Will 'Forget' The Beatles

Sean Lennon, the son of Yoko Ono and the late John Lennon, has expressed concerns about the future of his father's band, The Beatles.

Sean, who turned 50 this year, has taken over the management of his father's estate, after his mother's retirement and "withdraw[al] from public life," according to a 2021 New Yorkerinterview with John's former co-writer and fellow Beatle, Paul McCartney.

Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning, Sean, who lost his father at the age of five after he was murdered in December 1980, expressed fear about the future of The Beatles' memory.

“The world is also the custodian of his legacy, I would say," Lennon said, speaking of his role in preserving his father's memory. "I’m just doing my best to help make sure that the younger generation doesn’t forget about The Beatles and John and Yoko,” Sean said.

A band as successful and influential as The Beatles may seem impossible to forget, but the musician and film producer, who won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2024 for the film War is Over!, said that recent times have made him doubt this.

Sean Lennon Believes Gen Z Could Forget the Legacy of John Lennon and the Beatles

When asked by CBS if he worries his father's contributions to pop culture and history will be forgotten, Lennon replied, "I do, actually. And I never did before.”

“My parents gave me so much that I think it’s the least I can do to try and support their legacy in my lifetime,” Sean added. “I feel like I just owe it to them. It’s a personal thing.”

“I think the Beatles’ music, and John and Yoko’s legacy, is something important for the world to kind of cherish and be reminded of."

This was what motivated Lennon, in part, to collaborate with modern artists, namely, the 2018 cover of his parents' song "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" featuring Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus, as well as the 2017 collaboration with Lana Del Rey, "Tomorrow Never Came," inspired by John and Yoko.

“I wanted to see if I could get that feeling of maybe it sounds like you’re hearing it again for the first time, or at least in a new context, in a way that you’d pay attention, as opposed to, ‘Oh, there it is on the radio again,'” Sean explained.

As for his mother, Lennon admitted the now-92-year-old Yoko has "slowed down a lot," and that she is officially "retired" from managing his father's estate.

“That’s why I’m kind of trying to do the work that she used to do. That’s why I feel a lot of pressure to do my best, because she set a high standard for the way that she dealt with my dad’s music, and the Beatles stuff.”