Though Stuart Sutcliffe was only briefly a Beatle, he made a lasting impact on John Lennon. The two met in school and quickly became close friends. This may have come as a surprise to their peers, as Lennon and Sutcliffe were opposites. According to Cynthia Lennon, the musician’s first wife, the relationship was good for Lennon, though. Sutcliffe helped soften some of his sharper edges.
Stuart Sutcliffe had a calming effect on John Lennon
When Lennon started art college, he immediately began clashing with teachers and other students. Even his clothing stood out from the other students. According to Cynthia, he always felt he had to be on the defensive. This meant frequently getting into fights and frustrating the faculty.
“All the changes in dress, and particularly that teddy boy period, were a throwback to his younger days,” Cynthia explained. “At Dovedale and Quarry Bank, he told me he felt he had to look tough and hard. It was his wall against the world, in case somebody picked a fight. So he dressed in a tough way. When he first went to college, he felt as if he had to be on guard. Most of the students weren’t tough or aggressive, but he’d come from a tougher school background.”
His friendship with Sutcliffe changed things. He was a devoted student and a gentle person. Lennon felt he could let his guard down around him.
“Woolton was a genteel area but he didn’t want to be regarded as a genteel lad, so he played a hard role,” she explained. “It was his friendship with Stuart and then with me that changed him and made him realize there was no need for that acting at all.”
Cynthia Lennon believed John Lennon needed Stuart Sutcliffe in his life
Cynthia believed that Lennon met herself and Sutcliffe at a crucial time in his life. His mother had recently died, and he needed friends. In many ways, Sutcliffe was Lennon’s opposite, which Cynthia saw as a good thing.
“He was very spotty with horn-rimmed glasses and, just like John’s, they were taped up at the edges,” she said. “As a student, he was precisely the opposite of John, because he was working himself to death, totally dedicated. He wasn’t eating properly and didn’t have much to do with girls. His work was all-important to him.”
Cynthia believed Lennon needed Sutcliffe’s positive influence.
“John needed Stuart really badly,” says Cynthia. “He was going down the wrong road with these two characters, Tony Carricker and Geoff Mohammed, and he probably realized it because John wasn’t stupid. It was Stuart who persuaded John to concentrate more on his art and less on messing about. When John saw Stuart’s work, he was inspired by it. He started painting a lot more seriously himself, slapping great canvases around.”
The musician saw Sutcliffe as a soul mate
Lennon and Sutcliffe were two of the founding members of The Beatles, and they remained close until Sutcliffe’s death in 1962. Even long after Sutcliffe’s death, he continued to have an impact on Lennon. He reportedly wrote “In My Life” with Sutcliffe in mind.
Yoko Ono, who married Lennon in 1969, said, “There was not a period in our lives” during which Lennon didn’t speak about Sutcliffe (per The New Yorker). She added that Lennon saw Sutcliffe as a soul mate.
