Julian Lennon Says He’s Been Diagnosed With Coronary Heart Disease and Urges Fans to Get Checked

Julian Lennon has revealed that he has been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, using the disclosure to push a blunt message about early screenings: “I urge all to get checked out sooner than later.”

The 63-year-old musician and documentary filmmaker, the son of Beatles icon John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia, posted a carousel of images over the weekend while laying out the health news. Lennon said he had also been told he is pre-diabetic, and framed the update as a warning about problems that can sit quietly beneath a healthy routine.

“I urge you all to get checked out sooner rather than later,” he wrote. “You never know what hidden health issues you may have, even after exercising and eating as much ‘good/healthy’ food as possible.”

He added: “Nip it in the bud! As they say,” before saying he has “managed to catch them early enough to be able to reverse some of the damage, and will hopefully be able to live a healthy long life.” Lennon closed his post with, “Please get checked out, before you’re checked out. And last but not least, thanks to all the Doctors who have helped and guided me on this new journey so far… Truly,” a line that lands less like a flourish than a reminder that this is plainly personal.

The announcement arrives about six years after Lennon said he had undergone emergency surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his head. At the time, a dermatologist spotted it and urged him to book a biopsy, which led to the operation after it was found to be “cancerous.” He later told fans, “Hopefully we managed to remove all that was cancerous, but the mole is being sent off again, for a further/deeper analysis, and I’ll have those results next week.”

He was later given the all-clear and described that period as coming after a “very trying year,” only five years after his mother died in 2015. Then, in 2024, he revealed another health scare, this time saying he had emergency surgery after being diagnosed with skin cancer.

“The operation was a success,” he told fans then. “First of all, I’m very thankful to Dr Tess and Dr Tim for being able to coordinate this surgery at such short notice, but for once again, hopefully saving my life. One can never be too confident in circumstances like this, but we all believe that Dr Tim has saved the day… So finger’s crossed for now.”

Lennon is also the half-brother of Sean Ono Lennon, who was born 13 years after him, following John Lennon’s split from Cynthia in 1968 and his marriage to Yoko Ono the following year.

Last summer, Sean used social media to head off comparisons between the two, writing that there is “nothing but love between them.” “Here, we do not accept comparisons and erroneous creations of fights about two people that John Lennon loved the most: his children,” he wrote, alongside a black-and-white photo of the pair together.

That post followed Julian’s own comments about being outside The Beatles’ “inner circle,” and saying he often hears news about the band late. “I’m thankful that Sean and I get on like a house on fire – we’re best buddies and he tells me what he can, but things are pretty secret on the Beatles front,” he said at the time.

In 2023, Julian also pushed back on rumors of a feud with Sean, calling them “such bull” and saying the pair had “never had a fight in our life.”

He has also spoken before about ‘Hey Jude,’ the 1968 Beatles song written by Paul McCartney about John Lennon’s breakup with Cynthia. Julian has said it left him “driven up the wall,” and has described his relationship to the track as “love-hate,” calling it a “stark and dark reminder” of what had happened between his parents.