Valotte<\/em>. But speaking from his home in Los Angeles, he\u2019s trying to find the right word. \u201cSome have said that, with nepotism today, I was a pioneer of\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tDoes he mean \u201c\u2026.nepo baby\u201d?<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYeah,\u201d Lennon says, his tone more bemused than bitter. \u201cThere weren\u2019t many around, really. I was certainly one of the first in that field to deal with what I had to deal with. But I\u2019m here. I\u2019ve survived, and I\u2019m okay. I\u2019m alive and kicking. I\u2019m pretty happy with my life and my work, and I just get up every day and think the best and hope for the best and pray for the best during these very, very difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLennon may still be known to the majority of the public as John\u2019s son (from his first marriage, to Cynthia Lennon) and as the mullet-sporting newbie who had two massive radio and MTV hits in the Eighties, \u201cValotte\u201d and \u201cToo Late for Goodbyes.\u201d As he\u2019ll be the first to admit, his experiences in the music business since then have been a mixed bag. But in recent years, he\u2019s ventured into alternative careers as a photographer, a children\u2019s-book author, and documentary producer. In the latter case, he\u2019s not simply working on rock docs: He\u2019s executive producer of Ai Weiwei\u2019s Turandot<\/em>, a just-released film about the Chinese artist and his debut as a director at the Rome Opera House.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cPeople only knew me as John\u2019s son, so not only for my own benefit, but for others, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do what I set out to do,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to build a foundation for myself that was undeniable, regardless of what anybody said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd now, after a few years away from it, Lennon, who turned 62 this spring, has returned to music with a four-song EP titled because \u2026, <\/em> and a new video for \u201cI Won\u2019t Give Up,\u201d the ballad that concludes it and could be seen almost as a statement of purpose. \u201cIt can mean whatever you want it to be, and that\u2019s the beauty of it, is it not?\u201d he says of the title. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of the lyrics we write, the songs we perform, is that you make it what you will.\u201d He talks with Rolling Stone<\/em> about that new music as well as director Sam Mendes\u2019 in-the-works Beatles biopics and Lennon\u2019s own plans for an as-yet-untitled autobiography.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n