Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds**
The Beatles; 1967 inspired by Julian Lennon
"This is the truth: my son came home with a drawing and showed me this strange-looking woman flying around. I said, "What is it?" and he said, "It's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and I thought "That's beautiful". I immediately wrote a song about it." -John

"My son Julian came in one day with a picture he painted about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it Lucy in the Skye with Diamonds. Simple" -John

"I showed up at John's house and he had a drawing Julian had done at school with the title 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' above it." -Paul

"I was with John when Julian came in with this little kid's painting, a crazy painting, and John (as the dad) said, "Oh, what's that?" and Julian said, "It's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and then John got busy." -Ringo

"I also happened to be there the day Julian came home from school with a pastel drawing of his classmate Lucy's face against a backdrop of exploding, multicolored stars. Unusually impress with his son's handiwork, John asked what the drawing was called. "It's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Daddy," Julian replied..." -Pete Shotton

"I don't know why I called it that nor why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had affection for Lucy at that age. I used to show Dad everything I'd built or painted at school and this one sparked off the idea for a song about Lucy in the sky with diamonds." –Julian

Hey Jude
The Beatles; 1968 dedicated to Julian Lennon
"He said it was written about Julian, my child. He knew I was splitting with Cyn and leaving Julian. He was driving over to say "hi" to Julian. He'd been like an uncle to him. Paul was always good with kids. And so, he came up with "Hey Jude"." -John

"So John and Cynthia were splitting up and I felt particularly sorry for Julian. I had known them for so long...Since then, I'd seen them get married and seen them have Julian...It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: "Come on, man, your parents got divorced, I know you're not happy, but you'll be OK."" -Paul

"I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, 'don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing.' I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorce... I had the idea by the time I got there." –Paul

""Hey Jude" was actually about Julian Lennon. It was written by Paul at the time. John was splitting up with Cynthia. Julian was just a little boy- probably five years old- and Paul had gone to John's house and been affected by seeing Julian, the innocent bystander in a divorce situation." -George

"I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare... On his journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us." –Cynthia

**The Inspiration of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Lucy O'Donnell- born c. 1963, she lived near the Lennons in Surrey, England and attended Heath House, a nursery school with Julian. Lucy didn't realized she was immortalized in the Beatles song until she was 13. Lucy was a Special Needs Children teacher.
"I can remember Julian at school. I can remember him very well. I can see his face clearly, we used to sit alongside each other in proper old-fashioned desks. The house was enormous and they had heavy curtains to divide the classrooms. Julian and I were a couple of little menacies from what I've been told"

"We were two very energetic school kids. He would say, 'Come on Lucy' to get me to do things. He was the bravest boy in school whom I recall jumping into a freezing swimming pool."

Julian and Lucy last saw each other around 1986 during one of his concerts after several years of not seeing each other after Julian's parents' divorce in 1968. In 1996, Lucy married Ross Voddun, Julian sent a congratulatory greeting. In 2009, Lucy announced she has lupus disease; Julian sent her a card as well as garden centre plant vouchers, offering his support. "I've been able to help out a bit. I was so upset to hear what had happened." Lucy responded, "It was lovely of Julian". On September 22, 2009, Lucy passed away. Julian and Cynthia were shocked and sadden by her death.

Lucy Richardson- daughter of art teacher Leslie Richardson who owned an antique shop that John used to go. Youngest of three children, Lucy was a few years older than Julian. According to Ralph Steadman, who was a student of Leslie's, recalled John saying to Julian whenever they saw Lucy, "Hey Julian, it's Lucy in the sky with diamonds". Lucy, who was a movie art director, died on June 1, 2005 from breast cancer. At her funeral, it was said that she was the Lucy of the song that was played at the service. However Lucy O'Donnell has stated that Richardson was not inspired by the song in 2009.