When John Lennon Told the Beatles He Was Jesus

In the autumn of 1969, the Beatles received an urgent summons. John Lennon had something important to tell them—something that couldn't wait. When Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr gathered at Apple Corps headquarters, they had no idea what was coming.

Lennon, fresh from an acid trip, made his announcement: he had realized that he was Jesus Christ reincarnated.

The Room's Reaction

According to multiple accounts, the other Beatles sat in stunned silence. What do you say when your bandmate—already known for provocative statements like "We're more popular than Jesus"—now claims to actually be Jesus?

The meeting reportedly ended without much discussion. The band had weathered Lennon's controversial moments before, from his remarks about Christianity to his avant-garde collaborations with Yoko Ono. This was simply filed under "John being John."

LSD and the Lennon Mind

By 1969, Lennon's relationship with LSD was well-documented. He'd been one of the first Beatles to experiment with the drug in 1965, and it profoundly influenced his songwriting. Tracks like "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" bore the unmistakable fingerprints of psychedelic experience.

But acid also amplified Lennon's grandiose tendencies. He was already a man convinced of his own significance—the Beatles were the biggest band in the world, after all. Under the influence of LSD, that self-importance could balloon into something messianic.

Not His First Divine Connection

This wasn't Lennon's only brush with religious controversy:

• 1966: His "more popular than Jesus" comment sparked record burnings and death threats across the American South
• 1968: His song "The Ballad of John and Yoko" compared his media persecution to crucifixion
• 1969: The bed-ins for peace had an almost apostolic quality to them

Lennon seemed perpetually drawn to Christ imagery, even before his acid-fueled revelation.

The Beatles' Final Days

The Jesus meeting came during an already turbulent time. The band was fracturing—creative differences, business disputes, and personal tensions were pulling them apart. Lennon's announcement, bizarre as it was, barely registered against the larger drama.

Within months, Lennon would privately tell the others he wanted a "divorce" from the band. The Beatles would be finished by April 1970.

Looking back, the Jesus meeting feels less like madness and more like a symptom of a man who'd grown too big for any band—even the biggest one in history. When you've conquered the world by your mid-twenties, perhaps the only place left to go is divinity itself.

The other Beatles, wisely, just let it pass. Sometimes the best response to the extraordinary is simply to wait for normal to return.