John Lennon made up half of one of the world’s most successful song-writing duos, but a lower-profile calling awaited him in his final years of life. Five years after parting ways with the Beatles, he and wife Yoko Ono welcomed their son, Sean, who was born Oct. 9, 1975. Baby Sean and his dad would not only claim the same birthday; they would share days and nights as well, with Lennon assuming the role of full-time caregiver.
John Lennon Changes His Priorities
Lennon’s decision to focus on his son’s upbringing surprised many and instantly catapulted the rock star to the most famous stay-at-home dad of all-time. This life-changing moment came at a time when 24/7 dads were even less common than they are today.
To the Lennons, however, the decision was much-ado-about-nothing. After enduring infertility and several miscarriages, the couple had almost given up on having a child together. Ono writes about Sean’s birth in the forward of the book Real Love: The Drawings for Sean (Random House, 1999), “John was ecstatic. ‘I’m going to raise this baby, Yoko. You do the business,’ he said. It was that simple.”
The World Watches Lennon Parent His Son
While Lennon’s decision to mostly stay out of the public eye for five years didn’t cause droves of men to halt their careers, people around the world did take notice, said Dr. W. Michael Weis, professor of history at Illinois Wesleyan University and course instructor of The Beatles and Their World.
The Beatles’ Influence on Families
By the mid-seventies, alternative living arrangements and family structures – including stay-at-home parenting by men – were gaining acceptance, Weis said in a telephone interview with Suite101 on Dec. 11, 2009. Those changes were attributable at least in part to the Beatles, Dr. Weis said, referring to the Fab Four as true “global superstars” of the 1960s and beyond.
“Their ideas about lots of different subjects – including parenting – became very influential,” Dr. Weis said. “I think that (Lennon) made it OK to be (a stay-at-home dad). It’s not that millions of other men were doing this, but it became permissible to do it.”
John and Yoko on Family
During lengthy interviews in 1980 with writer David Sheff, Lennon and Ono discussed their views on parenting and marriage. The interviews appeared a month after Lennon’s murder, in the January 1981 issue of Playboy. Lennon tells Sheff he willingly embraced the role reversal and refers to himself as a “proud househusband” who looked after the couple’s baby and baked bread.
A Second Opportunity for John Lennon
The family of three lived at the Dakota, an apartment building in New York City’s Upper West Side. Lennon’s first son, Julian, was born in 1963 and had lived with Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, after their divorce. Lennon was determined to not become an “absent parent” the second time around, Dr. Weis said. The role of Sean’s dad was a job Lennon took very seriously.
“I’m the one who benefited the most from doing it,” Lennon told Sheff. “Now I can step back and say Sean is going to be five years old and I was able to spend his first five years with him and I am very proud of that.”
John Lennon’s Death
Sadly, Lennon’s life ended abruptly when he was shot outside the Dakota on Dec. 8, 1980. But for the last five years of his life, John Lennon proudly served as the primary caregiver to a boy named Sean at a time when stay-at-home dads were even more difficult to find than today.
Tricia Masenthin - Tricia Masenthin is a freelance journalist and blogger.
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