John Lennon Worried How People Would Remember Him After He Died, Says Paul McCartney

Death was something the late John Lennon pondered years before his untimely death in 1980, according to his Beatles bandmate, Paul McCartney.

McCartney reflected on the life of his close friend and musical collaborator in Wednesday’s episode of his iHeart Radio podcast, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, as he revealed that Lennon, who was 40 when he was killed outside his apartment in New York City, was nervous about how he would be remembered postmortem.

“I remember him saying to me, ‘Paul, I worry about how people are going to remember me when I die,’ and it kind of shocked me,” McCartney, 81, recalled on the podcast. “I said ‘OK, hold on, just hold it right there. People are going to think you were great, you’ve already done enough work to demonstrate that.’ ”

The bass guitarist continued, “I was like his priest. Often I’d have to say, ‘My son, you’re great, don’t worry about it,’ and he would take it. It would make him feel better.”

McCartney also reflected on how well he and Lennon worked together on the episode, which was titled “Here Today” in reference to the 1982 solo track he released in light of his friend’s death the year before.

Source: Julia Moore/people.com