Lennon Murphy Sued By Yoko Ono for Name Use

Yoko Ono is reportedly suing a U.S. singer named Lennon Murphy for performing under the name Lennon. Although the singer has been performing under the name Lennon for eight years, she actually registered the name as a trademark in 2003 according to TMZ.

Lennon Murphy's mother was a fan of John (the painter, the father who baked bread with his son, etc.) and named her after him. Apparently, Lennon Murphy contacted Yoko early on in her career about performing under the name Lennon, even though it is her legal name, but says that Yoko didn't object at that time. However, Yoko's now arguing that Murphy "fraudulently registered the name as a trademark which is considered a "tarnishment" towards her late husband's name.

What's also interesting is that Julian Lennon, John Lennon's oldest son from his first marriage to Cynthia Lennon has reportedly posted a statement on his MySpace page stating that he doesn't have a problem with the singer using his father's name. Well, it's his name too and he said:

“She has my full support.”

After reading Lennon Murphy's heartfelt letter on Julian's MySpace page, it actually brought me to tears. I feel so bad for her. It sounds like she genuinely never meant to cash in on John Lennon's name and from the sounds of it, actually never made that much cash anyway. And even though John is probably the most famous Lennon, he wasn't the only Lennon out there. I'm wondering if the reason Yoko is suing over the name now is because she had planned to market something else and this is preventing her from making more money.

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Lennon Murphy

Lennon Anne Murphy, named after rock and roll legend John Lennon, is a singer/songwriter from Hendersonville, Tennessee, United States. Born in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, New York on March 31, 1982, Lennon and her mother moved to Hendersonville when she was four years old. Lennon began playing piano at a young age and performed her first gig in front of people when she was fifteen.

One day, Lennon came home after school to find her mother, her only parent, dead in her closet from an allergic reaction to some pills she had taken. This was just a few days after Lennon's eighteenth birthday and just before she signed with Arista records.

Still Lennon prevailed, fighting for custody of her younger sister Mariella (which she eventually won) and releasing her debut album, 5:30 Saturday Morning, on the historic date of September 11, 2001. Her only single from that album was a song called "Brake of your Car". Lennon ended up leaving Arista because, "I wanted a career as a rock act, and an album I could be proud of, and staying with Arista I really didn't see that happening,".

In 2004, Lennon released 2 albums and a DVD. One album is a strictly acoustic release entitled Career Suicide, released on September 24, 2004. It was just Lennon and her piano, which makes sense since Lennon has said, "I write on piano, which I’ve been playing all my life". Most songs were remakes of songs from 5:30 Saturday Morning but the new ones were also well received. On December 27, 2004, she released another album entitled I Am. She also released a DVD entitled My Crazy Life. She released them all independently on John Galt Entertainment, a record label she founded with her manager.

On September 5, 2006, Lennon kicked off a tour opening for Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe to support the September 19, 2006 release of her album Damaged Goods. The lead single is the track Where Do I Fit In?, which is a revamp of the track My Beautiful from her Arista debut. While on tour, she is also headlining gigs at local clubs along the way. Often those who hold tickets for the Aerosmith/Mötley Crüe show in the area can get into the smaller venue to see Lennon for free.

Lennon has completed her new album with producer Jason Suecof (Trivium, DevilDriver, Chimaira). Lennon will reportedly be taking a more guitar-heavy approach with her newer material. The album will be released in 2008.