Julian Lennon’s first clear memory of Steven Tyler — long before the Aerosmith frontman collaborated with Lennon on his current studio effort — was in a car with his famous father. It was, in fact, among Julian’s final shared moments with the late John Lennon.
“One of the last times I was with dad was in Florida, driving on the way down to Florida,” the younger Lennon tells Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited. “I must have been about 13 at the time. All we heard was American radio on the drive down. One of the bands that came up time and time again was Aerosmith and ‘Dream On.’ Even at that age, many, many moons ago now, I was a huge fan of Aerosmith and Steven Tyler. I thought he wrote great melodies. If you get into the lyrics, you realize he is a very insightful man. He shocked me, in fact.”
Fast forward a number of years, and Julian Lennon was looking to put the finishing touches on Everything Changes. Lennon had never forgotten how Steven Tyler originally moved him. During a lightning-quick writing session, they emerged with the very Beatlesque “Someday.”
“I was lucky enough to bump into him, and one thing led to another,” Lennon says. “I felt the album could do with a bit more of something else, as something was missing. I literally asked him. I said, ‘Would you fancy writing something?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ Amongst the madness that was his life at the time, which was ‘American Idol,’ their tour and finishing an Aerosmith album, he was able to do that. It was tough to get him into the studio, and we literally did it with minutes to spare. I am more than happy with what came out of that, and I really think it sits well on the album.”
Julian Lennon also sang background vocals on “LUV XXX,” from Aerosmith’s 2012 release Music from Another Dimension! Lennon says he hopes to work with Steven Tyler again, by that as part of an Aerosmith album, or on one of their solo albums.
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Steven Tyler is a genius in his own right and is still the best frontman to grace a stage; even at the age of 66. Keep rocking Steven.