John Lennon was one of the great singer songwriters and musicians of recent times and his talents helped transform popular music in the 20th century.

Therefore, it is surprising that one of his sons believes they were not good at music and turned to it to fill a “void” after his father’s death in 1980.

Sean Lennon made the unexpected revelation in a new interview with People magazine while discussing John’s legacy and how he learned to cope with tragedy.

The 49 year old musician, who is the son of John Lennon and his second wife, Yoko Ono, was five years old when Lennon was killed and could only get to know his father through his music and had to reconstruct his father through “fragments.”

“I never played music because I was good at it,” Lennon told People.

“I lost my father and I didn’t know how to fill that void.

“Learning how to play his songs on guitar was a way to process the loss with an activity that made me feel connected to him.”

Watching archival footage was another way Sean could connect with his father and understand him better.

“You’re constructing somebody out of fragments,” he said.

“I grew up mostly knowing my dad through pictures and recordings, because he wasn’t around.

“So whenever I hear my dad saying anything that I haven’t heard before, even just a little moment, it means so much to me.”

Sean has forged a well-respected career in the music and entertainment industries, having released two solo albums, Into the Sun (in 1998) and Friendly Fire (in 2006), has written film scores and produced albums for Lana Del Rey and the Plastic Ono band, among others.

He also interviewed former Beatle Paul McCartney for a documentary called John Lennon At 80 for BBC Radio 2 in 2020.

In the special, McCartney recalled meeting his former Beatles bandmate for the first time as teenagers in Liverpool.

“I look back on it now like a fan, how lucky was I to meet this strange teddy boy off the bus, who played music like I did and we get together and boy, we complemented each other!” he said.

McCartney has also recently opened up about the joy he felt at reconciling with former bandmate Lennon before the Imagine singer was murdered.

Lennon and McCartney fell out after Paul told the media he was no longer working with The Beatles in 1970, the year after Lennon had quietly told his bandmates he was quitting. And in 1971, Lennon confessed in an interview that he did not expect to work with Paul again.

“I always say to people, one of the great things for me was that after all The Beatles rubbish and all the arguing and the business, you know, business differences really…I’m so happy that I got it back together with your dad,” McCartney said.

“It really, really would have been a heartache to me if we hadn’t have reunited. It was so lovely too that we did and it really gives me sort of strength to know that.”

-with BANG.