Paul McCartney Says He Rekindled Friendship With John Lennon Prior to His Shocking Death
Today marks the 34th anniversary of John Lennon’s death at the hands of crazed fan Mark David Chapman. Over the weekend, Paul McCartney recalled the shock and sadness of Lennon’s murder, but said he’s thankful he and his former band mate were able to put aside the bitterness that tore apart the Beatles and rekindle their friendship over everyday things like parenthood and “bread-making recipes.”
Like the rest of the world, McCartney was stunned by Lennon’s death, only for him, it was far worse. The two had been close collaborators in the most popular band of all-time, and friends since they were teenagers. “I just for days couldn’t think that he was gone,” the 72-year-old McCartney said on Saturday’s edition of The Jonathan Ross Show.
"It was just a huge shock, and then I had to tell [his now late wife] Linda and the kids. It was very difficult. It was difficult for everyone. It was really big shock in most people’s life, a bit like Kennedy. There are certain moments like that."
Naturally, McCartney doesn’t have kind words for Chapman, who is still in prison today after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in 1981. “The phrase kept coming in my head, ‘the jerk of all jerks,’” McCartney said of Lennon’s killer. “It was just like, ‘This is just a jerk. This is not even a guy politically motivated, it’s just some total random thing.’”
Like many of us, McCartney still recalls where he was when he heard the news. “I was at home and I got a phone call,” he recalled. “It was early in the morning. … It was just so horrific, you couldn’t take it in and I couldn’t take it in. … For me, it was just so sad that I wasn’t going to see him again and we weren’t going to hang out.”
Still, McCartney is thankful that the two had a chance to repair their friendship prior to Lennon’s death.
"The story about the breakup, it’s true but it’s not the main bit, the main bit was the affection," McCartney said. "I’m so glad because it would have been the worst thing in the world to have this great relationship that then soured and he gets killed, so there was some solace in the fact that we got back together. We were good friends."
In “Here Today,” from his 1982 album Tug of War, McCartney wrote about his sometimes difficult relationship with Lennon. The song includes the lyrics, “And if I say I really knew you well/What would your answer be?… Well, knowing you/You’d probably laugh and say/That we were worlds apart.” Later in the song McCartney confesses, “And I am holding back the tears no more… I love you.”
