Quotes from Cynthia Lennon

John was closest of all to Paul; their relationship was very complex.

John was in constant need of proof of love and security and he was constantly testing people for that proof.

If Dad can't come and see me then why can't I go and see him?" he asked. What could I say? "I think he's very busy getting settled in America. I'm sure he'll be in touch soon." But as time passed with no word Julian drew his own conclusions. "Dad's always telling people to love each other," he said to me one day, "but how come he doesn't love me?

I felt sorry for Yoko, who must have longed for her daughter, but at the same time I wondered whether John had made some kind of odd pact with her—I won't see my child until you see yours. It was the only explanation I could think of for his neglect of Julian.

I flew back to England with Julian, who was happy and full of stories about John—he'd recorded Julian playing drums in the studio, then used the result on one of the tracks for his new album, Walls and Bridges. When it came out a few months later, Julian was credited, which thrilled him.

Most descriptions of Mimi that have appeared in print were based on interviews with her – she outlived John by eleven years. She loved to fuel the image of the stern but loving aunt who provided the secure backdrop to John's success. But that wasn't the Mimi I knew. She battered away at John's self-confidence and left him angry and hurt.

Those weeks in Hamburg were among the happiest times John and I had together. We were free and in love, life was full of promise and the sun shone.

Pete was getting on the others' nerves. It wasn't that he did anything wrong: he was a nice guy and a good enough drummer. It was simply that his personality was different: he preferred to sit on his own rather than join in with the others' non-stop banter.

Although George was quieter than the others too, when it came to banter he could give as good as he got. Just when you thought he wasn't listening to one of John's wicked teases he'd shoot back a withering line that had everyone in stitches.

Outside, the rain was bucketing down. We ran along the street, laughing at the madness of it all, and burst into Reece's, where we had to queue for the set lunch of soup, chicken and trifle. Reece's had no licence so, when we finally got a table, we toasted ourselves with water. But we didn't care: we were on a high. A full church wedding with all the extras couldn't have made me happier.

Once again John and I kissed good-bye.

I met Brian soon after he had signed the Beatles. He was charming, polite, well spoken and I liked him. He accepted that I was John's girlfriend, but he told John that it would be better if all girlfriends kept a low profile. I didn't mind because I had no interest in the limelight. As long as I could be

I met Brian soon after he had signed the Beatles. He was charming, polite, well spoken and I liked him. He accepted that I was John's girlfriend, but he told John that it would be better if all girlfriends kept a low profile. I didn't mind because I had no interest in the limelight. As long as I could be with John, I was content to stay in the shadows.

He took them to London on New Year's Eve, while Brian went by train. Like the rest of the boys, Neil had never been to London.

In March Brian heard that Decca weren't interested. The chap he spoke to told him groups with guitars were on the way out and they didn't like the boys' sound.

George's father was a bus driver and he was planning to buy him his own bus.

John and Paul always had a special link between them, a chemistry that added to the heat: they knew intuitively how to share the stage and the limelight, how to spar with each other and how to play the audience so that the girls went wild.

My feelings for John were very different from those I'd had for any other boy: more powerful, more exciting and totally unshakeable. And I sensed in John the same strong feelings. Perhaps each of us recognised and was drawn to a deep need in the other. But at the time I didn't analyse it. I simply felt certain that this was no passing fling. It was real love.

When Mo and Ringo parted in 1974 she had been so heartbroken that she got on a motorbike and drove it straight into a brick wall, badly injuring herself.

John was anti anything conventional.

I respected him enormously for standing by me when he knew it might ruin his career, just as he was on the brink of success: he had a streak of fundamental decency that went far beyond simply observing the convention of the day and I loved him for it.

Many commentators on John's life have said that John would never have married me if I hadn't been pregnant. In the film Backbeat I was portrayed as a clingy, dim little girlfriend in a headscarf. Totally wrong, of course. Quite apart from anything else I never wore a headscarf.

he had been left so painfully as a child and was terrified that it would happen again.

events. First, just after I sat my finals at art college, the boys' breakthrough arrived: after almost two months of agonising, they heard that George Martin wanted them to sign a contract with Parlophone Records. We