Cynthia Lillian Powell was born on 10 September 1939 in Blackpool, Lancashire. She was John Lennon’s first wife until their marriage broke down in 1968.
At the age of 12 she gained a place at the Junior Art School, near to the Liverpool College of Art. Before her father died of lung cancer in 1956, he told her she would have to support her mother, and couldn’t go to the art college. Lillian Powell, meanwhile, eased the financial pressure without her husband by renting out their master bedroom to four apprentice electricians.
Cynthia started at Liverpool College of Art in September 1957. A diligent student, she fell into a relationship with a boy called Barry whom she described as the “Romeo of Hoylake”. Although they discussed marriage, their relationship waned when he was unfaithful to her.
With John Lennon
She met John Lennon in a lettering class at college, when he tapped her on the back and said, “Hi, I’m John”. Although he wasn’t her normal type, Cynthia felt drawn towards him. She changed her style of dressing, and often didn’t wear her glasses. She also dyed her hair blonde after hearing him comment favourably about another girl who looked like Brigitte Bardot – when Lennon saw her, he called out: “Get you, Miss Hoylake!”
They began a relationship before the summer holidays in 1958, when Lennon invited her to the Ye Cracke pub with him and some friends after a college party. She pretended to be engaged to Barry, which angered Lennon – he stormed off, shouting: “I didn’t ask you to f*****g marry me, did I?” Although she went to the pub, Lennon ignored her until she was about to leave, whereupon he grabbed her hand, took her to a room rented by Stuart Sutcliffe, and the pair had sex for the first time.
The early days of their relationship were turbulent. They would often have sex in alleys or doorways, and Lennon often showed jealousy towards her. He once slapped her face after she had dances with Sutcliffe, which led to them breaking up for three months until Lennon apologised profusely.
He saw me dancing with his best friend Stuart, my best friend Stuart. That made him see red at that time. But it wasn’t until the following day and he’d been thinking about it all night and he caught me outside the ladies loos in the college basement, and just smacked me one. And I hit my head on the back of the pipes and he just walked off.
In addition to Lennon’s anger, Cynthia also had to contend with his aunt Mimi. She was hostile towards Cynthia, and once referred to her as “a gangster’s moll”. Upon The Beatles’ return from their first trip to Hamburg in 1960, Lennon bought a chicken for Mimi. She angrily threw this at Lennon, along with a mirror, for buying Cynthia a suede coat.
Cynthia accompanied the band to Hamburg, along with Paul McCartney’s girlfriend Dot Rhone. Finding it hard to cope with the long hours kept by the band, the two women began taking the Preludin pills used by The Beatles to stay awake.
It was magic, it was the first time we’d left the country. Especially going on our own on a boat train and not knowing what we were going to see or do or where we were going to stay. But when we got there it was just fantastic we had the greatest time. I think we all grew up in Hamburg, in terms of experience and seeing the rest of the world. It’s a fantastic city.
On her return Cynthia found out that her mother was emigrating to Canada. She asked Mimi if she could rent a room at 251 Menlove Avenue (‘Mendips’), which she agreed to, on condition that Cynthia also did chores around the house.
After leaving the College of Art Cynthia trained to become a teacher. When The Beatles returned to Hamburg in 1962 she moved out of Mendips and eventually settled in a bedsit at 93 Garmoyle Road, where she was later joined by Dot Rhone.
In July 1962 Cynthia learned that she had failed one of her teacher training exams, and also that she was pregnant. She and Lennon had never used contraception – the couple reportedly never discussed it. His response to the news was: “There’s only one thing for it Cyn – we’ll have to get married.”
This they did, though not without fierce opposition from Mimi, who threatened never to speak to Lennon again. He and Cynthia married on 23 August 1962 at the Mount Pleasant Register Office, Liverpool.
On the wedding night, Lennon played in Chester with The Beatles. The marriage remained a secret during the band’s early years, at the behest of manager Brian Epstein, to avoid the risk of alienating their fans.
During the pregnancy Brian Epstein allowed John and Cynthia to use his flat at 36 Faulkner Street, though they moved back to Mendips before the birth. John Charles Julian Lennon (known as Julian, and named after John’s late mother), was born in Sefton General Hospital on 8 April 1963.
There was something about Cynthia I always liked. She seems (and I am sure she is) like a very sweet person. I was very disappointed when they got divorced. I felt Cynthia got the short end of the stick she deserved more. I would love to meet her someday.
me, too.
She obviously loved John cuz she always kept the last name Lennon.
Could be that she didn’t want to go to through the hassle of changing her back to her maiden name. She would have to change all of her legal documents and that’s a lot of work.
I am a Cynthia fan and feel the same. Not sure how I could live in my “posh flat eating caviar” while my 5 year old son lived on pennies. I’m exaggerating a little but they lived on lower class income.
I watched just now the real john lennon story, and i have to say that i was very touched listening to Cynthia and all of John’s family on this program. It’s just sad that he didnt make it back from U.S. to the homeland of good England to be with is family and friends once again. Cynthia is so nice and sweet lady.
The fans always loved Cynthia. I often wondered if John ever loved her or just thought he was doing the right thing in marrying her because of the baby. The records show he did not treat her well. Cynthia is a lady of intelligence, beauty and class, but just like Paul and Jane Asher, infidelity tore the union apart.
We don’t know why Jane left Paul. She never told her reasons to anybody. People assume it was for infidely. But the truth is that nobody know. Only those close to her may know why. I think she was fed up with everything. Every time she’d travel he would turn Cavendish into a Cabaret. According to a person who worked for Paul at that time it was not really his blame. But his guests were terrible. He’d invite people to parties and some even lived with him while she was away. There was a Prince living there for a time. Prince Stash. When Jane arrived all of sudden the house was a chaos. Apart of that woman called Frances there was also a plastic artist. I forgot his name. Prince Stash had left only one day earlier. I can imagine it had smell of drugs everywhere. But I was not there to know for sure. People who insisted if was only because of Frances also were not there.
Yes, John did love Cynthia very much and this interesting webpage reveals some interesting stories and quotes about their marriage and how they were a relatively happy couple for much of their marriage, plus some quotes from John himself.
Hard for any marriage to last between a very famous person and a person from their former life, before they were famous. How could anyone compete with all that adulation, and people throwing themselves at your partner on a daily basis.I remember being really disappointed when John and Cynthia split, even though it was really none of my business. Cynthia was the ‘girl next door’ after all, a bit like me…
Cynthia comes across as very sweet, endearing, and relatable. That was a very kind of Paul to offer his support to both she and to Julian for whom he composed the immortal Hey Jude. I wonder if Paul continues to have contact with her. I would like to think that he does but have come across no evidence that he does.
Did John ever wrote any songs for Cynthia?
He did. His early love songs were for Cynthia. There was jealousy in some, such as “You can’t do that”. He wrote about whatever he was experiencing at the time.
“Well I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man…”
Interestingly, that whole line (“I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man”) was lifted intact from the Elvis song “Baby Let’s Play House” written by Arthur Gunter.
he wrote many for her. he sang ain’t she sweet for her, do you want to know a secret, theres a place, across the universe and many more
I believe that “When I Get Home” was written for her, because it reflects his actual behavior when he’d see Cynthia after time away on the road. Cynthia (in her book “John”) said she believed “All My Loving” was written for her.
Paul wrote “All My Loving” – not John – and because Paul was not married to Cynthia, it’s more likely that he wrote it for Jane Asher.
It’s really sad that it ended up the way it did between John, Julian and Cynthia.
Julian seems like he’s finally trying to put it all behind him which I’m sure is not an easy task after so many years of neglect.
I’m sure you’ll be ok Jules…keep your head up!
Dave Cadena- Tucson, Arizona- U.S.A.
“years of neglect”? What are you talking about please?
After John and Yoko’s son, Sean, was born, John spent all his time with them and almost entirely forget about Julian. It wasn’t until years later that Julian and John began to reconcile their relationship, but soon after that John was killed.
Um John pretty much blamed Julian as a child! And once, on a rare early visit had to leave because “thy royal highness” was going to kill herself if John didn’t come back Pronto. Plus Cynthia relieved next to nothing in child support.
Ron Howard will be directing a documentary on the early Beatles…he says he will be interviewing Paul, Ringo, Georges wife and Yoko…….this documentary is on the very early Beatles..Cynthia Lennon would be the one to interview…..NOT Yoko……..enough said
no kidding.
… and the members of the Quarrymen!!
I agree with Judith that guy should definitely interview Cynthia and perhaps, Pattie Boyd since they were the Beatles’ early wives. He should try Jane Asher as well. Yoko? Why?!
completely agree with you Silvia.
Jane Asher refuses to talk about her time with Paul and even the Beatles. She hated that crowd. I think she was a bit of an elitist and still is. I’m better than your poor ass and your not from the “right” part of London.
Many of “that crowd” were elitist themselves and also from the “right” part of London.
If she hated that crowd, I don’t get why she stayed with Paul for as long as she did. They could have ended the relationship much earlier by mutual consent anytime they wanted to.
Yoko wants to be the center of attention and does not want the world to acknowledge that John had another life, another wife, and another son. And she still is that way.
I absolutely agree. She erased Cynthia and especially Julian. She’s eased up lately so she doesn’t appear cruel.
You’re totally sick doesn’t matter if he have another life before yoko, cynthia is ex, and ex is ex the LOVE IS OVER get over it
Yoko never tried to stop John having contact with Julian or making the best of his visitation rights to his son from his first marriage, so it’s unfair to say that she controlled his life 24/7 and John himself said that he was in control of his life and choices – I heard him in an interview on YouTube address this.
I have seen a photograph of Cynthia and Yoko together with Julian and Sean, as published in Cynthia’s book.
I recently read Cynthia’s 2005 autobiography and was so moved by it. She seems such a lovely beautiful person. So loving and caring to John and the total opposite to Yoko. I find it so sad that they split up and of course that the tragedy of what happened to John prevented them ever becoming close again. I do think John would have come to realise how badly he’d treated Cyn and that they could have been great friends at least.
He did. Jealous Guy was for her and Yoko. She was in the video.
When John was alive I always used to play Beatles songs when I was a kid, their songs are very good. I read a book about John and Cynthia who was very beautifully then, if John and Cynthia were married they are here today…
I’d like to see a biopic, they really need one, done right. Nowhere Boy was good but it wasn’t quite accurate.
You can tell John loved Cynthia but was really insecure.
also, that was the time john and cyn met. because yoko was involved in filming she didnt want cynthia in it
I know John is no saint and i’m not saying he was blameless but I bet Yoko was whispering poison into John’s ear about Cyn cheating on him with just as many blokes as he has been with women. Adding fuel to the fire knowing John’s jealousy issue. Yoko always wants the spotlight. Sorry but it will always be John and Yoko not Yoko and John. She also can’t stand that John had a life before her and she wants to delete it. To her there is no Cyn and Julian. Yoko is and always will be poison.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160513061133/http://www.feelnumb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/005_moms.jpg
I kinda of agree. No hating with this Yoko Ono, but just a big fan of The Beatles especially John and Cyn, I adored John of how he loved Cynthia. I think John had insecurities, still immature young man back then that needs realization how blessed he was for having a loving wife and an adorable Julian.. however got addicted to drugs and that started to mess up everything but I could tell he had dearly loved Cynthia Powell, the love letters John wrote to her could tell but everything torn apart when he started drugs and met this Yoko that kept following him. Yoko knew he was married with a child so she could’ve avoided John, right? but I guess no one knows their real story expect them. We have no right to put the blame to anyone of them plus its like 50 years ago now haha It was sad but, there was really nothing we could do.
Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but believe John loved Cynthia deeply. I don’t think he ever stopped loving her; however, he was such a complex person with many unresolved issues until he was just incapable of understanding his own feelings. So sad. But I believe Cynthia knew and understood John completely; she, till this day, knew and knows that John did love her the same way that she loved him.
I agree, I adored John of how he loved Cynthia. I think John had insecurities, still immature young man back then that needs realization how blessed he was for having a loving wife and an adorable Julian.. however got addicted to drugs and that started to mess up everything but I could tell he had dearly loved Cynthia Powell, the love letters John wrote to her could tell but everything torn apart when he started drugs and met this Yoko that kept following him. Yoko knew he was married with a child so she could’ve avoided John, right? but I guess no one knows their real love story except them. We have no right to put the blame to anyone of them plus its like 50 years ago now. It think it was really sad but, there was really nothing we could do. 🙁
John was an emotionally bitter & battered boy by the women in his early life upon which begat his years of misogynistic treatment back at toward women. After all that damage, I think it took a lot of LSD and Yoko to turn John Lennon around to the honor & beauty of women to which he found to be true.
Some people do say that John never loved Cynthia and that he only married her because she got pregnant. These are both Un true.
John said himself in 1974 that he did love Cynthia by saying “It was said I never loved Cyn. That’s far from the truth. We were young, big headed and got into physical relationship too soon. Perhaps if we took things slower we would have made it. I know we would have made it”. Yes John did say that so he even admitted that he loved her.
Secondly about the marriage because of pregnancy thing again this is false because when he was telling Mimi that he was going to marry Cynthia He said “You don’t understand, Mimi. I love Cyn and I WANT to marry her”. Also in 1961 while in Hamburg a whole YEAR before she got pregnant John said to her “perhaps we should get engaged” but Cyn said to wait longer because their relationship was going good.
I truly believe that John always loved Her even when they weren’t together anymore as she was his FIRST TRUE love so how could he not love her?
And in 1967 John wanted to try and make their marriage work and have more children with her but no Yoko had to ruin it. Why couldn’t she just accept that he was married and had a child instead of trying to take John away from Cynthia and makde Julian fatherless when he was 5 years old? I think that what she did was really unfair to Cyn and Julian, lets face it. Cynthia was and always will be John’s best wife. She cared for him deeply and loved him unconditionally unlike yoko who Manipulated John and told him what to do and only wanted his money. It’s Cynthia and Julian I feel sorry for. Sorry this is so long haha By the way I may sound like an old person typing this but I’m actually a 16 year old girl. I know I should have other things to worry about but I have very strong opinions over this. I wil always love John and Cynthia as a couple.
Chantelle, I read your comment. The biggest thing I’m taking from it is that you seem to have some assumptions against Yoko.
Now, there’s no doubt that John & Cynthia loved each other “like mad” the first couple of years they were together. But over time as The Beatles got more popular and as John got more into drugs the relationship became more distant. Cynthia still might’ve felt big love for John, but I think that wasn’t reciprocated.
When he met Yoko, he felt like he met his artistic equivalent. She opened him up to so many things. Without Yoko we wouldn’t have the song “Imagine”, as it was inspired by her book “Grapefruit”. When you think about it in hindsight, John & Cyn’s relationship simply became too conventional, too normal. There was no fresh challenge for John to keep him interested. That was a thing with all four of the guys. When they did one thing, they quickly became bored & wanted to move on.
In many ways, Yoko was a more perfect fit for such a multi-faceted character like John.
WELL i have watched interviews with both women and find them both interesting and appealing women. you can conclude that cyn and john wanted different lifestyles. she a straight normal life without drugs except ciggies and alcohol. he a new life everyday with new discovery defying the status quo something bigger than himself (too bad he never got religion). anyway im sure he and cyn loved each other as did he and yoko but yoko was also a rebel to the status quo who joined him in drug use as far as we know…if he had been a kind and generous man to cyn and julian inspite of choosing a new love…no one would have critiqued him so harshly…we all understand the human heart is fickle… the time and station of life must be considered he was in conquest mode with cynthia making his place in the world and a lot of money…that was the man cyn fell in love with…by the time yoko came along that mode was over he had the fame he had the money..and that was the man yoko fell in love with. i think a lot of his cruelty was because of his drug use…yoko soon found out he was no more faithful to her than he was to cynthia…but he was already a broken man an addict . a rich famous addict…she made a life out of managing his money(remember her father was a banker) and he stumbled along the road addicts take…she must have opted out of drugs since she never became the addict he was. anyway the proof is in the pudding and i agree with cyn that the 10 years she had with him were the best and yoko got the booby prize 10 years with a drug addict.cyn had the best fun the best sex the most hope for a good life. all yoko had was a man on the decline and millions of dollars.,,my favorite lennon songs are imagine and woman written during the yoko years so musically maybe he was maturing.
I’m sure he was far too intelligent to “get religion”.
Not just that, but Yoko was also married and had a daughter. Tony did a lot to help further her career before meeting John. I feel bad for him :'(
I truly agree with you Chantelle Adlington. I really feel sorry for Cynthia Lennon and Julian Lennon.
Your words are true. Yoko used to weasel her way into the limo John ND Cynthia would get in and sit between them! They would both laugh and look at each other like, what’s this? But John needed a mother figure and got that with Yoko. I have to concede that Yoko knew how to manage John.
I just got the sad news that Cynthia passed away this morning after a short battle with cancer.
I totally agree with Chantele, Cynthia was a very pretty lady and John was so lucky to find her, but unfortunately bad things happen……
Sorry to hear that Cynthia passed away today, RIP Cynthia.
I’m really sorry. Cynthia was just a great person, I have always liked her. I feel so sad.
R.I.P lovee
I really think cynthia thought she could help john, she knew all about the pain he was in… god knows she bore the brunt of it at times. But i believe their love for each other was genuine.
I just think lennon outgrew her…. these were a very unusual set of circumstances for 2 people to live in. Not everyone is cut out for hard drugs,meditation,crazy diets and radical politics.
Cynthia seemed a lovely woman,and she was devoted to julian. I was sorry to hear of her passing.
The most astute words given! Yes! John did outgrow Cynthia. She just wanted a quiet “northen” marriage and life, he needed “a woman that can help me with my mind” to paraphrase Ozzy. I think Sharon was to Ozzy as Yoko was to John. Both women were mother figures and helped with their husband’s minds.
Just curious, does anyone know yet what type of cancer she had and how long she dealt with it?
reading this fact sometime make me about to hate lennon ;(
Both Cynthia and Yoko are written into the Beatles story (which, oddly enough, continues to mushroom). We all love Cynthia and many vilify Yoko, but I don’t. Their stories must be taken in context with the times we all shared. My sympathies for rejection and loss lay with Julian and Sean, yet I see Cynthia as having borne the brunt of abusive behavior. Keep in mind, Yoko suffered loss as well, and while she has a fortune in cash to use as she sees fit, she has the title of widow as well.
In short, we can sympathize with Cynthia and Julian, but include Yoko and Sean in our grieving.
Actually, there is a reason why John Lennon’s marriage life was problematic. The reason why John Lennon had problematic marriage life is because John Lennon had three facial features which are not favorable for long-lasting marriage.
The three unfavorable facial features on John Lennon’s face that caused his problematic marriage life are fluffy spear-headed eyebrows, knotted nose bridge, and tight marriage palace.
Fluffy spear-headed eyebrows: This denotes a person who is a dreamer and is prone to mood swings. Fluffy and thick eyebrows also belong to individuals who get bored easily. The eyebrows curve down at the ends, indicating a sensitive and sentimental person. All these qualities are ideal for a creative soul, but perhaps not so good when it comes to a husband, since sensitive and sentimental individuals usually also have a weak will when it comes to beautiful women. Still, many men who are unhappy with their marital relationships and who love beautiful women don’t necessarily stray. There has to be a willingness to go against prescribed social norms. Lennon’s eyebrows are spear-headed eyebrows, see how the hair at the head of the eyebrow sits up? This denotes an individual with a fiercely rebellious personality.
Tight marriage palace: A tight marriage palace alone will simply mean the person is dissatisfied with their relationship. For a man to further choose to be unfaithful while married means that his character is frivolous or inclined toward changes of heart. See how John’s hairline is less two fingers’ space from the end of his eyebrows? This indicates a sense that he thought that marriage is stifling and constricting.
Knotted nose bridge: The knot on John’s nose bridge indicates a very hard-headed personality, someone who is forthright and does what he think is right, regardless of what other people think.
So that’s the reason why whilst John Lennon was a very talented musician and songwriter, his relationships with women were problematic.
Ooooooookay…..
I have the source to back up my explanation: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/singaporemybelovedcountry/viewtopic.php?p=7254#p7254
Yeah, well you believe what you want to believe. Not exactly a “factual” source…….
I met Cynthia once and asked if she had ever written songs with John. She said she had contributed to the One after 909.
@Norwegian Hood Did Cynthia say which part(s) she contributed to? tia
I know that Brian Epstein want John and Cynthia’s marriage to remain a secret, so as not to avoid alienating or upsetting fans, but why would they care? When the marriage and Julian’s existence was made public, it did not jeopardize their popularity or their record sales and besides, it was not up to Brian who they married, but it was their business and not his.
It was completely irrational of Brian to believe that Beatles fans would not accept any of the four being married and when George, Ringo and Paul married Pattie, Maureen and Linda, their popularity and record sales didn’t diminish either.
For all of Julian’s harsh criticism of John in the past as well as this nonsense in the tabloids and media about their relationship, here are some hard facts: a) John did not pressurize Cynthia to have an abortion, b) he never put Julian up for adoption or forced him to live on the streets, c) Julian lived in a nice large home called Kenwood and he had lots of toys to play with, d) John even bought him a gypsy caravan, e) they mended their relationship in the 1970’s and towards the end of John’s life, f) John bought him a guitar and drum machine and encouraged his interest in music and g) John acknowledged that Julian was his son as well as writing the song “Good Night” as a lullaby for him.
What else does a child need, right?
They were teenagers. They screwed around for five years and she gets pregnant when he is about to hit it big. They had female birth control in Liverpool at the time. He was sleeping around with groupies in Hamburg. Although a nice person, she is less than honest and strikes me as somewhat pompous. She was bad with money, too, and gives the impression they were penniless because of John
If Cynthia was reckless with money, then she was responsible for her own financial problems, and everyone must take responsibility for everything they do and say as well as their choices, good or bad.
In most of the interviews with Cynthia, she came across as a generally nice lady.