Cynthia Lennon, ex-wife of Beatle, dies at 75

Cynthia Lennon, the former wife of Beatle John Lennon, died on Wednesday at her home in Mallorca, Spain, a representative for her son confirmed. She was 75.

She died after a “short but brave battle with cancer” and her son, Julian Lennon, was at her bedside, according to a statement from the family. Julian also sent out a tweet announcing his mother’s death.

Cynthia Lennon was married to the Beatles legend from 1962 until 1968. John was shot to death in 1980 at the age of 40.

Her impact on the Beatles was always covert, if not intentionally marginalized. When she became pregnant with Julian, thus threatening the band’s young-and-single image, manager Brian Epstein helped arrange their wedding on the condition that it be kept quiet even though the marriage was an open secret in the British music press.

In her book “A Twist of Lennon” Cynthia Lennon described her life with John as an “undercover existence,” and according to her memoirs, she spent her wedding night without John while the Beatles played a concert in Chester.

However, she does show up as a presence in several Beatles songs. Both “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Good Night” were written about the young Julian while John and Cynthia were married. Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” was written as a comforting ballad for Julian during his parents’ separation.

Cynthia was born in Blackpool, England, and attended the Liverpool College of Art, where she met John in 1957.

After Cynthia and John divorced in 1968, John married Yoko Ono and had another son, Sean Lennon. After her divorce from John, Cynthia said her income was “never stable,” according to People. In her book, “John,” she talked about being mistreated by her ex-husband during their marriage.

Author Hunter Davies, who wrote the only authorized Beatles biography, described Cynthia as a “lovely woman” who was ill-treated by her famous husband, according to the Associated Press. He said that unlike John, she was “quiet and reserved and calm” and “not a hippy at all.”