The complete interview John Lennon's Aunt Mimi did in 1981. I had never seen this complete, so I thought I would share it. Mimi had a great sense of humor, very similar to Johns. Mimi confirms John planned on visiting soon
Actually, after Freddie (John's dad) got separated from Julia, he wanted and tried to keep John with him and move to New-Zealand... that's the turning point when aunt Mimi opposed and looked after John for good.
@Rosida Andriyana Ugh why do you have to bring negativity into a lovely remembrance? John and Yoko chose each other, for whatever reasons. It's none of our business. Perhaps part of honoring John Lennon could be respecting that choice.
Yeah there's some confusion here. His mother GAVE him HER banjo during a brief period he was living with her. But mimi bought him his first guitar. This woman changed the history of the world by being a loving and caring guardian. A second mother, you could even say.
While I was in the sixth grade I wrote to each Beatle “parent” and asked for an autograph. Each one answered me, except for Paul’s dad. The sweetest note was from Aunt Mimi. Lovely lady.
Thomas C Yoko wanted to push John away from his family, even his own son, Julian. Whenever any of them including Julian used to try to phone John to talk to him, yoko would answer most of the time and make up an excuse as to why John couldn't talk on the phone and then would hang up. She was the one who persuaded John to move to New York just so she could have John all to herself. She didn't care that he had family and a son that all cared about him. I think moving to New York was a big mistake for John. He wouldn't have got shot if he wouldn't have lived there. You see, Yoko wanted and still does want to be seen as the only important person in his life and that only she mattered. She pushed everyone that loved John out of his life. Don't even get me started on what happened after John's death and how cruel she treated his family. John wanted to be burried, he told everyone close to him his fears about being cremated, but yoko didn't care and cremated him just so she could keep him to herself and so his family couldn't say their proper and last goodbyes. She didn't even tell them he died, so they had to find out like everyone else via the media. No family should find out a person from their family had been so tragically killed by finding out through newspapers and the media. She didn't even tell them if he had been burried or cremated or if he was having a funeral or not. She never invited them. At one point she was willing not to let his own son even come because Cyn asked if she could come since Julian was obviously very upset and wanted his mum there. Cynthia asked yoko on the phone, but yoko literally replied "I'm sorry, Cynthia, but if you come he doesn't come. It's not like you're an old school friend of mine is it?" So Julian had to go on his own. It's like yoko wasn't even letting his family and friends grieve for him. I know it would've been awkward since she was his ex wife, but John was Cyn's love of her life, she loved him deeply, so of course she would be sad and grieve him too. She knew him much longer than yoko and was met him when they were only teenagers. A quote from Cynthia is: "The man I love the most died a tragic death." In fact, the biggest mistake John did was leave Cynthia and Julian to be with yoko. If he stayed with them, then he wouldn't have been killed so young. Even when John was with Cynthia Mimi didn't like her, but only because she didn't like any woman for John. Mimi saw Cynthia again after John died and asked her why she let him leave for yoko. I think she liked Cynthia because she was a lovely woman who cared about John and loved him. Not for his money, but for him. She loved him for who he was (unlike yoko, but I guess I'll get more into that if you want me to.) Julia, John's mother certainly would've liked Cynthia. His sister, Julia once said about Cynthia: "Mummy would've loved Cynthia and the adoring way she was with John."
My parents were from Liverpool and John's Aunt Mimi was very typical of her generation of Liverpudlians. Completely deadpan, don't suffer fools and refuse point blank to be impressed by anybody although they still managed to have hearts of gold. In fact one of my aunts (from Crosby) was lovely but hated the Beatles. When we asked her why, she would reply: "well they can't sing !" I notice Mimi'd managed to quell her Liverpool accent, though.
--> Noel Majers. I for one believe you. Few can suddenly sing. It takes practice to go into "role." My grandmother came from there. "Well, I do think I like 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand.' It has a touch to it." What do you think of Pete Ham, from Swansea, Wales? There's a story. www.you.tube.com/watch?v=6eUJ03rmrDs
John Lennon lookalikes, whos your favourite ? In good humour i made something, to see it simply just type in this to search bar.......People who look like John Lennon
Some comments on here are saying that she wasn't very niceWell if she was so bad then why did John Lennon buy her that house and more importantly why did he bother to constantly keep in contact? Why.....because he loved and respected her for what she did in bringing him up when he was vulnerable despite the fact she wasn't his biological mother.Yes, she might have been old school, quite strict and disapproving of his 'career' but it seems to have been done with loving intentions. She genuinely thought he'd have a hard time becoming a musician.God bless her. I respect old school women like her, they are the salt of the earth.
+kelman727 John's mother basically shoved him to his aunt mimi. she could say no mind you. if ever my sister so waywards and neglected my nephews/niece(jinx) i would have keep my niece/nephew too
No, thats not the truth - Mimi had John removed from Julia and her "new" boyfriend (John called him "Twitchy" ) , she told social services that the three of them were sharing a bed ( John was five at the time ) and social services deemed that the situation was inappropriate . Mimi brought John up but he re-umited with Julia shortly before Julia was killed outside Mimi's house by an off duty policeman leaner driver.
--> JaleelJohanson62. You're so right. Johnny pissed off a balcony onto nuns. You do that any time recently? No. He also slapped girls around as if they were objects--expected them to obey rape. Some ran. Most don't want to talk about it. One doubts Mimi had an easy job on her hands. He was a con. "Peace and Love?" He was a schizoid, hypocritical asshole. The music industry used and deified him because it sells. He just accidentally happened to choose two other assholes...Alan Klein and Yoko Ono. Deserted his first wife and son. You do that recently? When Mimi was being notified about Lennon's death, her first words were: "What's John done now?" Mary Elizabeth deserved a medal for trying, and part of Lennon knew it. Lennon: Narcissistic nutcase. Hiding behind "eccentric" fame and wealth. Nothing new. "It sells." Married a woman whose "singing" and "writing" and "art" make people feel like vomiting. Forget "she broke up the Beatles." She just plain stunk in your face. Narcissistic Lennon knew it, even knew she was his "handler." I'd rather hear Cynthia and Julian sing hymns out of tune, all day and night. John and Yoko treated us all like idiots. Knowingly, intentionally. Little Auntie Mimi knew John. "What's John done now?"
I meant to add: What kind of idiot knowingly has a "handler" for a wife. A wife with evidently no taste in art at all, in fact voraciously trying to ruin the concept itself. "The sound of a snowball." (I made that up.) The idiot? John Lennon. Threw away a good woman and son like Cynthia and Julian. I doubt Larry King, who interviewed her, is playing "Yoko Ono" records every day. He got his money, Well. Ask "Mimi" what the f--k was wrong with Johnny. She knew.
+David Brown Wtf are you on about. Before I get into anything else you said, there are so so so many lies I've heard surrounding John but never have I ever heard "expected girls to obey rape". Out of all the shitty things John did I can tell you that was not one of them. He may have cheated a lot which is wrong but at least he NEVER did it without consent. Now that that's out of the way, yes we do have a story from Cynthia Lennon that back in the 50s before they were married John slapped her once. It's disgusting and Cyn rightfully broke up with him. John was incredibly regretful and later came to apologize so they got back together and he never did it again. It can be assumed he might have hit his girlfriends before Cynthia but we'll never know because the only story we actually have is Cynthia's from her book "John". It was horrible he did that, but he learnt his lesson and changed. Then with Julian, he should have been better to Julian. He was absent, partly due to being in the most famous band in the world touring then coming home tired, partly for inexcusable shitty reasons of him being an ass. But he tried to make it up to Julian. All through-out the 70s he reconciled with Julian and became a househusband for his 2nd son, he changed. Even in the 60s when he couldn't be completely there, there are stories and quotes of John hiding Julian behind himself when answering the door to protect him, or loving the smell of Talc when giving him baths, or writing letters home explaining to Cyn how much he misses Julian not as 'the baby' but as a real person. There are even more great stories of small things like that in the 70s once things were better but people seem to only want to focus on the bad stories when in reality there's so much more. Next, with the whole John and Yoko thing, a lot of people definitely don't like Yoko's 'art' which is fine. But John being quite avant garde himself did, so what? Lastly, John wasn't a narcissist, he was actually very insecure finding fault in almost everything from his weight to his voice to his writing to his nose and just himself in general and i'll gladly give you the quotes if you want. He did a lot of stupid things but I don't think they outweigh the good things he did, especially with his efforts to change and make-up for those stupid things he did in his past. He didn't "treat us like idiots", he's the one who gave us a voice shouting "power to the people!" becuase he believed we were capable to, and he was the one who treated his fans respectfully and wrote deep or witty books and lyrics for us believing we could understand them.
@Sabrina Umstead. Wow. Talk about being "on about" something. So shift the blame to the dragon lady who owned him. I have no problem with that. Insecure jerk instead. Okay, fine.
+David Brown I'm not shifting the blame onto anyone but John. The bad things that John did do, are no one but John's fault. I'm just trying to say, in my opinion, John is more than the bad things he's done, and some of these 'bad things' he's supposedly done aren't even true but lies spread around the internet.
At this moment in time I am ill. I have lost my mum and know she will be waiting for me. I don't care what stupid or horrible comments will come back to what I have just said ,but in my heart I will see my loved ones once again just as she did. R.I.P. John and R.I.P. Mimi. X
I loved when she said, “What was I going to do with a boy of 21 thrown back on my hands, qualified for NOTHING?!’ 😂 Practical wisdom right there lol. Glad it all worked out and that boy was totally over-qualified to do so many wonderfully creative things in his 40 years of life. We love you John and Aunt Mimi. ♥️
You get a good sense of her personality here. She seems non-fussy and very direct, yet still warm and with a good sense of humour. She didn't suffer fools gladly. It speaks volumes that John was in continuous touch with her until the day he died.
Don't be fooled by Mimi's posthumous relationship with John. She outlived John by eleven years and had plenty of times to depict herself in a different light than how she actually was. She berated him verbally and physically for as long as they lived together. When John bought a coat for Cynthia and a chicken for Mimi after returning from Hamburg, she had an outburst, screamed at John to get out of her house, disparaged Cynthia by calling her a "gangster's moll," and hurled a hand mirror at him. She wouldn't even let him hug her, often rebuking him by saying things like "Get away, go on with you." He became a pent-up ball of frustration because of his upbringing with her, having trust and self-image issues for the rest of his life. His self-destructive way of dealing with confrontation or stress, to run away and shut himself away, was also pounded into him by Mimi. She rarely discussed tragedy, and forced John to bottle his emotions by never reciprocating his grief, particularly after his mother's death. She never gave him the approval he desperately searched for, which was likely an impetus for his success. John himself told Cynthia that Mimi never left him alone and found fault with everything he did. She belittled his passions, his music, and even his friends: George Harrison recalled that Mimi would insult his appearance whenever he walked in the house. Even an ounce of support would have meant the world for John, but she almost never gave it in his lifetime.
thank god he had mimi. she was partly responsible for the beatles in a way. national treasure rest in peace xx By the way you don't ask a woman like that questions bout johns sex life god almighty lol.
but she was quite on spot " why wont they says that when he was alive? when he could fend for himself? why do they waited until.he died?" very fair minded indeed. classic sensible english lady. very handsome indeed aunt mimi was
Such a pragmatic, funny, and honest woman. I can see how John leaned on her and cared so much for her as it's clear she loved and thought the world of him. Fascinating interview. ❤️
The fact he called her every single night makes my heart melt. And the fact that a few hours before he died he was saying "I'll see you soon"/'I can't wait to see you" brought me to tears Jesus Christ
John was coming to Uk in January, she got his room ready and he was planning a world tour and beatles reunion. It would have been his biggest year. I'll never get over it....cruel and pointless..
She was his anchor to his old life, and to someone in his life that gave instead of took from him. I've heard stories about John practically begging her to accept gifts because she really didn't care about that-- she just loved him as a son. Great lady!
@Dr. killpatient I've heard that whereas Yoko usually was right by John's side as they walked, on THIS night, she had scurried far ahead. So she was nowhere near the hail of bullets.
A remarkable woman who came from a simpler time when people didn't need much to be content. Full of wit and wisdom. You can tell these qualities were family traits
I have nothing but respect for John's "Aunt Mimi" I believe she was the main reason for John's success and she really loved John more than anyone had ever done or ever did. She cared about him, not as a Beatle, but as family and while they were only aunt and nephew, they were more mother and son. I heard once that John cut ties with most people in his life, but the one person that remained was Mimi. He called her every day because he really loved her and was grateful for her being there always for him. She was a true light in John's life and all of his fans.
Her love was the tough love he needed. The last thing he needed was an absentee parent or a lenient parent who was a "friend." He needed someone stern like her.
@John Deegan Yeah, she did say in this interview that he called maybe once or twice a week. That's still a lovely amount of time to be getting in touch, especially if you have the whirlwind of the Beatlemania around you.
When she used the term 'soft-soaper' i.e. a person who often does insincere flattery/brown-noser in order to get something, the only time I recall hearing that phrase was in the John Lennon song 'Gimme Some Truth' with the line: "No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me with just a pocketful of hope". It may have been a commonly used phrase at the time but it could be a phrase that Lennon heard from Mimi.
I hope she and John had a wonderful reunion when she joined him. How sad life can be. It never ceases to amaze me. You're here one moment and gone the next.
“If I thought he was dead I wouldn’t go on. I don’t think of him as dead.” That exactly how I feel about my mom. If I really believed she was a light that went out, I wouldn’t go on. The existence and all that makes someone a something can’t just end.
God bless her. She seemed wonderful - a straight-talker, and so composed during this interview. I'm glad John had someone to love and support him as child/young man.
Well that’s no answer, a little arrogant. It wasn’t like she was a big celebrity living in some millionaire retreat somewhere with John whilst he was growing up. John became rich and famous, and a lot more isolating a lot later on. She was just a normal everyday common woman raising a wayward working class lad sending him to a normal school, living on a normal common housing estate in a big city which houses many thousands of other equally normal folk like us. Pretty hard to remain totally unknown to the normal common person. Common sense. What makes you think she is somebody no normal person would ever have known? Just because she raised John? Again, they lived on a common housing estate amongst many common people. They knew as many common everyday people just as much as maybe you and me.
I've read so much about Mimi in the various biographies and she always seems rather severe and, while it's clear she wouldn't suffer fools gladly, this interview really brings out her sense of humour. And it's obvious there was an unbreakable bond of love between her and John.
One of the few people John could count on for any sense of order, stability and genuine uncompromising love. Without her, we may not have had the John and Beatles we knew.
Thank you for posting this video! I was very fortunate to have known Mimi from 1974 until she passed away. She was a wonderful person and this video of her movements and voice brought back so many memories. SHE was John's biggest fan!
There aren't any Aunt Mimi videos because John had zero relationship with her and she is just making shit up. She was mean to him and I don't believe she was the one to buy him a guitar either. And asking her to live in New York is the biggest lie of all. Yoko wouldn't even let John see his own son let alone an old mean Aunt.
Pat Stokes calm down. just because ur jealous doesn’t mean you have to put Mimi in such a bad way. she was a loving aunt and you’re just jealous cuse u were probably brought up in a childs home
My Grandmother was just like Mimi , I never realized how special she was until she was gone and it was too late . Thank you Nanny for all you did for me .
You think-? She strikes me as an unhinged, terrifying crone with a horrifying nightmare smoker’s laugh that she’s cackle as she whips you with a switch.
Aunt Mimi was always one of my favorite Beatle people. She was never going to run for office. She just said it like it was. Everyone else around John seemed like they were afraid of Yoko except Aunt Mimi.
Lovely to know John kept in regular contact with Mimi and i shed a tear when she told how the last time they spoke was only the night before he was murdered.
She seemed stern but fair and very stereotypical British. Probably one of the few that could keep John in line. My parents were the same way. Unfortunately today, parents give in too much and the kids run the households. The fact that John was gone from Britain for a long time, she was able to get over his death by thinking that he was still alive in America. That probably helped her immensely until her death. She too was a true Rock Star. RIP
I love this! So fascinating to see this side of John. She was the perfect person to remind him of reality. What a very important relationship. She says she couldn’t go on if she believed he were dead. How many fans feel the same way? That’s how I feel. He lives on.
Mimi is so cool. You can see him in her. Intelligent, strong, humorous. Very touching when she said ‘I don’t think of him as dead. If I did, I couldn’t go on,’.
@@paulgallacher5384 Remember Sandra from The Liver Birds? She had a posh Liverpool accent. Her mum was a bit of a snob. She called her daughter, Sarndra.
I have read so many biographies on John and Mimi is portrayed as very stern but she seems like she was able to laugh easily. She always wanted children and John was a blessing to her because of that.
How mind blowing it is that the legendary "Mimi", John's virtual "Mum" and an ancient adult figure when you were a kid of 13 in 1964 and a total Beatle freak - outlives John by 11 years. Just crazy.
Mimi made an excellent mother subsitute. She had a good heart, no nonsense and spoke her mind without as much edge as John. Without her John would most likely have been completely un-tethered.
I thought the fabled Aunt Mimi was very disappointing. No real sense of humour, rude to John's partners (she hated his first wife Cynthia, as well as Yoko) and she laughs as she recounts telling the young John to give up the guitar as there was no career in it. She clearly didn't believe in his talent! She hardly mentions his death, then a year ago - weird. Google Mimi for more details - a strange lady and that's putting it mildly! In the sixties John set up a generous monthly income for her. When she heard he had done the same for his wife Cynthia's mother, Mimi was livid and slammed the phone down on him! She was also angry after John's death, to discover the beautiful house he had bought her at Sandbanks was not in her name, therefore Yoko wound up owning it, as sole heir. Mimi said she feared Yoko would sell it and evict her - but obviously she didn't. Quite apart from being far too rich to bother selling it, Yoko knew how important Mimi was to John. There was no question of her evicting the old lady who had raised her husband! Seems Mimi judged others by her own standards...
"What was John like?" "A bit like yourself, a soft soaper!" I had to Google this unknown phrase and it is brilliant; a person who flatters or cajoles, especially for reasons of self-interest or personal advantage: a soft-soaper specializing in rich, elderly women.
There’s no doubt that she loved John very much. His murder must have absolutely devastated her and it’s amazing that she carried on for another decade!
Some people like to paint Mimi as a discouraging snob but this is not the impression I get. Listening to her talk is like listening to my own grandma Lol, very frank and down to earth!
The bungalow was in Panorama Road Sandbanks down here in Dorset. When Mimi died in 1991 Yoko promptly sold it to a local property developer who demolished it and built a new glass and steel contemporary modern looking house.John said that out of all the places he visited in the world Sandbanks was the most beautiful
Thanks to Aunt Mimi for taking care of John and buying a guitar and changed the world. Great that we can still see her on a video. ❤️ 08:00 "I don't think of him as dead" Aunt Mary Elizabeth
You can really tell that John loved and looked up to her in every way, shape and form; hell, the more I listen to her speak, the more I actually hear John (in ways of how she speaks, that is)!! Always had respect for Mimi, and may she and John rest in peace. ♥
Mimi: "What Aunt Mimi has, is photographs, letters, peices of memories that are beyond price." Yoko: "Lets sell all of John's things! They are worth a good price!" (-_-) Aunt Mimi shows what real love is.
Auntie Mimi , was the only constant in John's life. A pillar of strength that grounded John. They were so fortunate to have each other. Nice interview.
What a lovely, charismatic and selfless lady, an example to us all. Wonderful to hear her pride toward John, I think he gets his sense of straight talk and reality from Mimi. Thank you so much for sharing, you've made my day!
Charismatic? I don't get that at all. Odd sense of humour. And it's no surprise she was disrespectful to John's wife/widow Yoko, as she also hated his first wife Cynthia. Mimi was a judgemental old bag, who gave John a few headaches after he became a star. I don't believe for a second he would have moved her to the US - I'm sure he was only too glad there was an ocean between them!
A strong woman, totally true to herself and one that you wouldn’t, I imagine, dare cross and if you did you found out to your peril. I think that John needed this authority figure in his life and this spurred him on in his pursuit of global success. The phrase from Mimi “don’t let me have to come to America” would have been enough to send the shivers up his spine! Yes, he definitely knew not to cross over the line with this lady.
John is our hero and Mimi is right up there too. Over the years I've thought deeply about the tragedy John underwent of losing his Uncle George (Mimi's husband and a great father figure to John) , of reuniting with his mother Julia (Mimi's younger sister), then losing her so suddenly in that road accident outside their house while still only 18 or so. Just imagine how Mimi must've looked after John at that time, all that trauma on her shoulders. Then for John to have the strength to continue song-writing and performing with, as they were then, The Quarrymen. The rest is commom knowledge as The Beatles gained popularity across the world in a ridiculously short space of time and weren't we just so bloody lucky to have them in our lives ....
John loved Mimi (she was effectively his mother growing up) and she loved him. He kept in touch with Mimi till the end long after he had lost touch with any of his other relatives.
