.: 1992 - Present
Julian kept out of the public eye pretty much the next 6 years, surfacing
publicly only occasionally. He spent most of his time traveling and being
with friends and family. On April 6, 1992 he attended George Harrison's
concert for the Natural Law Party and was photographed with George Harrison
and Ringo Starr. He provided the voice for the title character in the
animated version of David Copperfield, which aired in America December
10, 1993. In 1994 he appeared in the Rock Against Drunk Driving (RADD)
television advertisement that featured The Beatles' song "Drive My
Car" as one of the many music stars in it. In 1995 he was seen in
a cameo in the Nicholas Cage film Leaving Las Vegas as the bartender
at a biker bar. He also did a cover story interview in December 1995 for
Hello Magazine in England for an issue to mark the 15th anniversary
of his father's death. In 1996 he wrote and recorded the song "Cole's
Song" for the film Mr. Holland's Opus. He presented an award
at The World Music Awards in Monte Carlo (where he was living at the time)
on June 23, 1996 He also anonymously brought some family heirlooms of
possessions of his father's at an auction in September 1996. He also participated
in the UNESCO 50th Anniversary Concert in Algeria on December 5, 1996.
He spent most of 1997 working with partner Todd Meagher trying to develop
a theme restaurant called "Revolutions," which never happened.
Julian then decided it was time to reenter the public eye and music industry,
but on his own terms after his bad experience with the record companies
and promoters the last time.
Julian decided what he had done was not enough of a legacy to leave;
so he decided to have at least one more try, and the encouragement of
Bob Rose that he could do it on his own terms brought Julian back to the
music industry. He and Rose decided to form his own company called Music
From Another Room (named after the movie the same name). It was also around
this time that he found his partner in life Lucy Bayless, whom he now
shares his home and life with. The result was Photograph Smile.
Because the independent company used several different distributors around
the world, it was released at different times in different countries between
1998 and 1999. He also set up his official website julianlennon.com. Photograph
Smile was premiered on May 18, 1998 with a concert in Mainz, Germany
that was broadcast live over the Internet to celebrate the European release.
There were also television and radio interviews and personal appearances/mini-concerts
through out Europe to promote the album. Similar tours were done of Japan
and Australia in 1998. VH-1 even did one their Behind the Music
documentaries on him, which aired in 1999. Finally in February 1999 Julian
was ready to take Photograph Smile to the United States and spent
most of the month making personal appearances and doing television and
radio interviews. The album was released on February 23, 1999 in the United
States. Julian then embarked on a tour of club concerts in July. Rehearsals
took place June 28 - July 9, 1999. The tour ran from July 15 through September
1. After an exhausting year and a half, Julian decided another break was
needed.
Once again Julian left the public eye and music scene. He spent most
of 2000 remodeling his Mediterranean vacation home, working on his other
passion cooking, and spending time with family and friends. He also added
a black Labrador named Sadie to his and Lucy's home. He did send out messages
to fans whom subscribed to his e-mail newsletter list on his official
site occasionally though. He also did an interview with Viva Magazine
while on vacation in Barbados in December 2000. It was published in August
2001. In early 2001 he recorded a cover version of The Beatles' song 'Blackbird'
for a tribute album to Linda McCartney that would benefit breast cancer
research that has yet to be released. Rhino Records also released a CD
of Julian's hit songs as part of it's Behind the Music series called
VH1 Behind the Music Julian Lennon on August 23, 2001. He
also issued statements from him and his mother on the death of George
Harrison on November 29, 2001 on his website. He also surprisingly recorded
a cover version of The Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-Four" for
a television commercial for Allstate Investments in the America that began
airing in February 2002. He is now writing music for another album, but
seems to enjoying life out of the public eye for now, but it would not
be surprising to see more of Julian in the future.
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