Recently speaking to USA Today, May Pang revealed John Lennon’s unmet wish for Paul McCartney while discussing the period when the Beatles officially disbanded.
In the new documentary ‘The Lost Weekend: A Love Story,’ Pang mentions that John considered collaborating with Paul again despite the split. When reminded of that and asked if it was surprising to her, she explained:
“The pressure was off. All of them were now free to do whatever they wanted to do. So in January 1975, Paul and Linda [McCartney] were saying, ‘We’re going to go down to New Orleans and do a new album [‘Venus and Mars’].’ So John says, ‘Oh, great, New Orleans, always loved it.’”
Recalling the moment when Lennon expressed his desire to work with McCartney, May continued:
“A couple of days later, he’s tinkling on the guitar, and he goes, ‘What do you think if I wrote with Paul again?’ You talk about shock; the reference is like ‘The Exorcist,’ the head flips back. And I said, ‘I think it would be great.’”
She then disclosed the late singer’s reply, saying:
“Then he goes, ‘Maybe we should go down.’ He really wanted to do that. I knew if I’d gotten him down to New Orleans, it would have happened.”
However, Lennon’s planned visit never materialized because he reunited with Yoko Ono at the time. Pang commented on Ono’s response to having John back in her life in an April conversation with the Guardian:
“I said: ‘Congratulations. You got John back. You should be very happy now.’ Her response was very interesting to me. She said: “Happy? I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy.’ To me, that didn’t sound like somebody warmly inviting that person back into their life.”
As May revealed before to People, Yoko was worried that Lennon might get involved with another woman, so she took action. She chose Pang, whom he had previously shown interest in. May hesitated because the late Beatles icon was married and her boss. However, Ono assured her it would be fine, and so Pang and Lennon began a fling.
