I’ve heard this many times, and I don’t get it. Julian looks and sounds quite like his dad, but he never had the talent or the charisma.
Julian taking John’s place in the Beatles would get you a fine Beatles tribute band, but it wouldn’t get you the Beatles. Same with George’s son. You’d have a cover band, not the real thing.
Dropping in to say, no recall of anticipation either. First found out he was putting out a record when it dropped.
It was well-known back then that any child of a major star could have one decent-selling album, but probably not two. And while Valotte got a lot of airplay for a while, it was clear that Julian had more in common with Frank Jr. than with Hank Jr.
None that I remember.
I don’t remember any anticipation. The album was just suddenly out. The publicity I remember was about “Too Late for Goodbye” being about John Lennon. Julian seemed to be on a decent star career track for a year or two. He didn’t live up to the early promise as a hitmaker; the world kept revolving.
As I recall, there was NO “anticipation.” I don’t remember hearing ANYONE saying “Wow, John Lennon’s son has a new album coming out… I have to get in line at the record store to buy it.”
What I do remember is that, like a lot of people, I heard a few of his songs on the radio, thought, “Huh, so Julian is all grown up,” and never thought much more about him.
He had a few pleasant pop-rock songs, and a few minor hits. He never made a HUGE splash, and didn’t really deserve to. And he was largely forgotten a few years later.
This is my recollection as well - I used to listen to the radio at night (left on overnite) and I still recall waking to the announcment of John’s murder -