Sean opened up about how he’s carrying his parents’ legacy forward

Sean Ono Lennon wants to protect the legacy of his parents and The Beatles.

Sean, 50, opened up about the legacy of dad John Lennon, mom Yoko Ono and The Beatles in a Dec. 21 interview with CBS Sunday Morning. With Yoko, 92, in her later years, Sean said he’s “technically” taken over her role as custodian of his dad’s legacy.

“But obviously the world is also the custodian of his legacy, I would say,” he added. “I’m just doing my best to help make sure that the younger generation doesn’t forget about The Beatles and John and Yoko. That’s how I look at it.” The interviewer asked if he thought it was “even possible” that people could forget.

“I do, actually,” Sean admitted. “And I never did before.”

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The Beatles in 1967. From left: John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison

John, alongside Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison found worldwide fame as The Beatles in the 1960s. John went solo in 1970, shortly after marrying Yoko, an artist in 1969. He released music solo and with Yoko until his murder at age 40 in 1980.

“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 said. I feel like I just owe it to them. It’s a personal thing.” He described his parents’ legacy as “peace and love,” adding, “But it’s not just peace and love. It’s an attitude towards activism that is done with humor and love.”

“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. So, that’s how I see my job,” he said.

He added that he felt “a lot of pressure” to take over his mom’s role as maintainer of his dad’s legacy because “she set a high standard for the way that she dealt with my dad’s music, and the Beatles stuff. She’s always been very singular.”

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John Lennon in Ann Arbor, Michigan in December 1971

One of Sean’s ways of honoring his parents’ legacy involved their 1971 song “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” originally a protest song against United States involvement in the Vietnam War that has become a holiday standard. He explained, “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.’”

He and former Pixar animator Dave Mullins made a short animated film titled War Is Over! that featured two soldiers playing chess on opposite sides of a war. Released in 2023, it won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2024.

John and Yoko’s story is also told in a new HBO documentary One to One, about the couple’s first year in New York and their 1972 Madison Square Garden concert, their only full-length concert together.

“It’s my origin story, actually,” Sean told CBS. “If you think about it, they came to New York, and that’s the only reason I exist.” Sean was born in Manhattan in 1975. He said some of the home video footage and recordings he had never seen before. “It’s like getting more moments to spend with my dad. So actually, for me on a personal level, it just really means a lot,” he said.

The Beatles’ story will also be told in a new four-film music biopic, The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, directed by Sam Mendes and set to be released in 2028. Each movie will follow a different Beatle, with Harris Dickinson playing John, Paul Mescal playing McCartney, Joseph Quinn playing George Harrison and Barry Keoghan playing Ringo Starr. Anna Sawai will play Yoko Ono.