Julian Lennon Was ‘Shocked’ by Paul McCartney’s Virtual Duet

Julian Lennon has revealed that he was uneasy when he first saw his dad John Lennon‘s voice and image used as a “virtual duet” with Paul McCartney.

McCartney performed the Beatles’ “I’ve Got a Feeling” alongside footage and audio of the late Lennon singing his half of the duet during his most recent tour. The material was drawn from Peter Jackson‘s 2021 film The Beatles: Get Back.

“I watched it on YouTube — and I kind of went, ‘Errrr … I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that.’ It shocked me,” Julian Lennon recently told Mojo, noting that it was somewhat difficult to see his father “brought to life” in that way.

But eventually, he came to appreciate the display and saw it in person when McCartney performed at the Glastonbury Festival in June. “I actually enjoyed it,” he said.

Earlier this year, Jackson admitted that he was initially nervous about pitching the idea of a virtual duet to McCartney. ”I’d gotten cold feet because I thought, ‘How many harebrained suggestions like this has Paul gotten over the years? I don’t want to appear too geeky,'” he said. “Finally, I thought, ‘I’m going to regret this for the rest of my life if I don’t even suggest it.’ I sent him a text. I didn’t send him the mock-up version, just a text trying to describe it to him. Within 10 minutes, he replied to me: ‘Yeah, this is a fantastic idea; let’s go do it.’ Then it was a frantic rush to restore frames that were missing from that long shot of John from Let It Be. But Paul was thrilled by it.”

Julian Lennon is prepping for the release of his seventh album, JUDE, which takes its name from “Hey Jude,” the classic song McCartney wrote for him when he was 5 years old. “Many of these songs have been in the works for several years, so it almost feels like a coming-of-age album,” Lennon said in a press release for the album, which comes out on Sept. 9. “With great respect for the overwhelming significance of the song written for me, the title JUDE conveys the very real journey of my life that these tracks represent.”