Tragically, on 8 December 1980, John was shot and killed by a deranged fan outside his apartment building in New York City. Julian was 17, the same age at which John had lost his mother.

Julian flew to New York to attend his father's funeral with Sean and Yoko.

In 1981 Julian moved in with Elton John's percussionist, Ray Cooper. Cynthia commented: "Like his father, he flunked out of school and was drifting. I sent him to stay with Ray Cooper for six months. He virtually saved Julian and transformed him into the musician he is today."

Cynthia held her first art exhibition on Long Island, NY in September 1981. The exhibition was mostly of drawings from her biography.

In 1983 Julian sent a tape to Charisma Records in the UK without revealing his identity. Tony Stratton Smith, head of Charisma was impressed and signed Julian. A deal was also struck with Atlantic Records in the U S. Justin Clayton and Carlton Morales joined Julian for a three-month stay at a remote chateau in France to work on new material. The chateau Manoir de Valotte gave its name to the album.

By January 1984 Julian was ready to approach Phil Ramone, a producer he much admired. Phil had worked with Paul Simon and Billy Joel among others and upon hearing the work-in-progress Ramone agreed to produce the album.

During the next seven months the album was recorded in Alabama and New York. The album was finished and mixed at The Hit Factory on the same

console used by John Lennon to record Double Fantasy.

While working there Ramone asked Julian: "Do you feel the ghosts?" to which he replied, "They feel good for me. The vibes feel good and I want to be here."

© Sara Cedar Miller/Central Park Conservancy.

On March 21 Julian attended a dedication ceremony for Strawberry Fields, an area adjacent to the Dakota building that had been renovated as a memorial for John Lennon.

On 15 October 1984 Valotte was released in the UK. All tracks but one are Julian originals and he features on lead vocals, drums, and percussion, bass guitar and keyboards. When the 'Valotte' album was released Paul McCartney sent a telegram: "Good luck, old fruit." Later he told Julian: "I love it." In an interview Paul said: "I think it's great! What surprised me is he's got a very good voice, 'cause I knew that he sounds like his dad, and I guessed that Phil was doing a sort of Lennon sound-a-like record. But I found it very surprising. His voice goes to some very pleasant places. Okay, it's a little like his dad, but that's on purpose, I think. He shows a musicality I didn't know he had."

Promo videos for 'Valotte' and 'Too Late For Goodbyes' were directed by Sam Peckinpah.

'Valotte' was certified gold by the RIAA on 9 January 1985.

Three weeks later Julian taped a TV special for Disneyland's 30th Anniversary. He performed 'Too Late For Goodbyes' while floating around Tom Sawyer Island on a raft. Other artistes on the bill included Julie Andrews, Drew Barrymore, Donna Summer and David Hasselhoff. A few days later he performed the single at a live telecast from Los Angeles at The American Music Awards. A week later the single entered the Billboard Top 40 where, after twelve weeks, it reached number five. In February Charisma released the third single 'Say You're Wrong'. Worldwide sales of 'Valotte' reached 1.5million. The following month 'Valotte' went platinum, 'Too Late for Goodbyes' became the album's second top 10 and spent two weeks at No.1. In Britain it reached number six in the charts.

Julian's first U S concert tour was an immediate sell-out. As well as 'Valotte' material the concerts included 'Stand By Me', 'Slippin' and Slidin' ' and 'Day Tripper'. The tour opened at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas to rave reviews.

After dates in Australia and Japan the tour ended on 10 May with a performance at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In July, the video for 'Valotte' was nominated Best Video by a New Artist by MTV.

The new year, 1986, started off well with Julian being nominated for a Grammy award, which although he didn't win, he was voted by Rolling Stone magazine readers No.1 New Male Singer.

On 3 March 1986 'Stick Around', the first single from the new album 'The Secret Value of Daydreaming' was released in the US. The promo video included appearances by Joe Piscopo, Jamie Gertz and Michael J. Fox. The following week 'Stick Around' was released in the UK. On the 22nd the single entered Billboard's Hot 100 at 72. Two days later Charisma released 'The Secret Value of Daydreaming' in the UK. Once again it was Phil Ramone who produced the album. Recording was done in the Bahamas and New York. Billy Joel plays piano on 'You Get What You Want'. The album was released in the US on Atlantic Records on the 25th.

In April the album peaked on the Billboard Top 40 charts at 32.

Dave Clark's 'Time' album followed on the heels of 'The Secret Value of Daydreaming'. This double album featured three songs by Julian.

In October Julian took part in a Chuck Berry TV special, 'Hail Hail Rock and Roll' where he was featured playing 'Johnny B Goode' with Chuck.

The enigmatic SNARK album cover © Mike Batt

In the spring of 1987 Julian took part in a televised Benefit For The Deaf at the Royal Albert Hall in London. That evening 'The Hunting of the Snark' was performed in the presence of Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. The musical was written by Mike Batt and was an adaptation of the story by Lewis Carroll. In the production Julian played the part of The Baker and performed 'Midnight Smoke', later released as a single. He also took part in 'The Vanishing' and 'The Escapade'. Other celebrity cast members included Deneice Williams, Maggie Reilly, Billy Connolly, Captain Sensible, Roger Daltrey, Cliff Richard, Ray Cooper, Midge Ure, Justin Hayward and Art Garfunkel. Sir John Gielgud and John Hurt narrated and the production also featured the London Symphony Orchestra.

Julian took the rest of 1987 off before settling down to write and record material for the new album.

In January 1988 Julian attended the induction of the Beatles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Les Paul and the Supremes were among those being inducted that evening.

In February 1989 the Julian Lennon/John McCurry composition, 'Now You're In Heaven' was the first single to be released in the UK from the new album. Shortly thereafter it was released in the US.

On 10 March, Atlantic Records released Julian's third album, 'Mr Jordan', in the US On the 17th the album was released by Virgin in the UK.

On 26 June, the single 'You're The One' was released in the UK On the 3 July Julian performed in Liverpool for the first time. At the end of July he began his third tour of the US starting in Charlotte, North Carolina.