Liam Gallagher says Yoko Ono told him it was “silly” to name his son after John

Publish Date
Monday, 24 August 2020, 8:37AM
Getty Images

Getty Images

Liam Gallagher says John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono told him it was “silly” to name his son after The Beatles rocker.

The 47-year-old former Oasis singer met Yoko in 1999, the same year his eldest son Lennon was born, and has claimed the artist - who was married to John until he was shot dead in 1980 - thought the memorable moniker was ridiculous.

He recalled: “Yoko said, ‘I’ve heard you’ve called your son Lennon’.

“I said, ‘Yeah’, she said, ‘Why? Do you not think it’s a bit of a silly name?’

“And I said, ‘No, it’s a bit silly being called Yoko isn’t it? So Lennon it is.’ ”

Yoko was reportedly worried Lennon, now 20, would get “picked on” at school for his name, but Liam - who has Lennon with Patsy Kensit, as well as 19-year-old Gene with Nicole Appleton, 22-year-old Molly with Lisa Moorish, and seven-year-old Gemma with Liza Ghorbani - insisted the kids would be impressed by the moniker.

He added: “And she said, ‘Don’t you think he’ll get picked on in school?’ I was like, ‘Nah man, he’ll be buzzing with that name.’ ”

The ‘Shockwave’ hitmaker also revealed Yoko makes a “nice cup of tea”, and spoke about visiting her home in New York City.

He said: “She asked me if I wanted a go on the piano, I said, ‘No you’re all right’. Then she showed us around.

“I said, ‘That’s a really nice picture of you’, she had loads round the piano.

“She looked cool, Yoko, she had these shades on and a playsuit and I said, ‘It’s a really cool picture’ and she said, ‘That was John’s favourite’.”

Liam said Yoko gifted him and his older brother Noel, 53, a flower to wear at Oasis’ concert in Madison Square Garden, but claims Noel - whom he has been in a bitter rivalry with since Oasis split in 2009 - refused to wear it.

He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “It was her favourite and she goes, ‘John wore it at the gig with Elton’. There was one for me and Noel, so I said, ‘Here, this is from Yoko’ and he went, ‘I ain’t wearing a f****** flower’ and he launched it.”

This article was first published on BANG Showbiz and is republished here with permission.

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