John Lennon’s Sister: ‘When Our Mother Died, a Huge Bond Formed Between Paul McCartney and John’

Julia Baird has spent decades preserving the story of her half-brother John Lennon. In Barcelona, where she spoke at the Casinet d’Hostafrancs, she returned to the family history behind the former Beatle’s childhood, his music and his bond with Paul McCartney.

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When our mother died, a huge bond formed between Paul McCartney and John. I saw them almost as brothers.

Baird said Lennon and McCartney became especially close after the death of her mother, Julia Stanley, in 1958. “When our mother died, a huge bond formed between Paul McCartney and John. I saw them almost as brothers,” she said.

Her own books, “John Lennon, My Brother” and “Imagine This,” seek to recover what she calls the truth about Lennon’s early life. Baird said Lennon had a harder childhood than she and her sister because he did not live with their mother. She said relatives kept important details silent for years, and that the first book was written partly in defense of her mother.

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Everyone has a duty in life to aspire to the unattainable. It is only one step toward what could be achieved.

Baird repeatedly challenged Sam Taylor-Johnson’s 2009 film “Nowhere Boy,” which was presented as being based on “Imagine This.” She said the movie and her book were fundamentally different, arguing that many people associate the film with Lennon because it claims that connection. Her criticism was blunt: she described “Nowhere Boy” as “an absolute piece of rubbish.”

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John had it worse than my sister and me.

She also said Lennon’s pursuit of world peace remains relevant. People, she argued, have a duty to aim for what seems unattainable, because otherwise nothing changes. The Barcelona event was organized by Barnabeat, a festival founded in 2025 to keep The Beatles’ legacy alive in the city.

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It is an absolute piece of rubbish.