She wanted to be a model, but the modeling agencies told her she was too "ethnic". Pangs defiant character made her a natural fan of rocknroll. Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations. In a way thats as casually stirring as it it surprising, we see them bury the acrimony and rediscover their friendship. John Lennon's Ex May Pang Recalls Yoko Ono Asking Her to Date the Beatle in 'The Lost Weekend' Trailer. Ono, 33, was in her second marriage, to producer Anthony Cox. May Pang. The central figure in the new documentary The Lost Weekend: A Love Story is May Pang, who has told her tale many times (in her memoir, and on talk shows like Geraldo in the film, we see a lot of clips of those appearances). Yoko kept pushing, but I waited for John to make the first move, says May. Its your life. [3][4], Pang was asked to help Lennon and Ono with their avant-garde film projects, Up Your Legs Forever and Fly, in December 1970. "I was devastated," she said of Cynthia Lennon's death. She also designs a line of stainless-steel feng shui jewelry. May has defended herself in the past from reporters asking if she has exploited her brief affair with Lennon, and she admits being the other woman wasnt something she was proud of. 1 solo single with Whatever Gets You Through the Night, a collaboration with Elton John; she recalls John being inspired for the title by a sermon by eccentric TV evangelist Reverend Ike. Lennon was on the mend, she said, after the Beatles bitter split. Although May has written a pair of books about her relationship with Lennon including 1983s Loving John: The Untold Story and 2008s Instamatic Karma: Photographs by John Lennon she has hesitated until now to participate in a documentary, finally agreeing to work with a trio of producer-directors in Eve Brandstein (best known as the casting director for This Is Spinal Tap), Richard Kaufman (Real Life: The Musical) and Stuart Samuels (docs on Bob Marley and Midnight Movies). Thirty years ago, Pang wrote a book, Loving John, that detailed hers, asserting her relationship with Lennon wasnt just a passing fling or fluke, as characterized by some, but a deep and abiding love. May (Fung-Yee) Pang (born October 24, 1950) was a personal assistant to former Beatle John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono.She later became Lennon's companion and lover, when he separated from Ono in the mid-1970s. In the photos that we saw at the time of her and John, she always had a waifish beauty, and a certain mystery behind those tinted hexagon glasses. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. The idea that one of the greatest artists of all time was highly depressed and suffering from alcaholism at the height of his youth and fame fascinates me to no end, as it proves that some truly gifted people's struggle to find happiness can span throughout their lifetimes, however long or short. Pang believes Ono chose her to be the couples personal assistant because she was efficient. The movies story is told, in part, through animation and a period soundtrack put together by veteran music supervisor Howard Paar with the images created to resemble Lennons own artful squiggles, seen on any number of handwritten notes from him to May that also appear in the film. The relationship began while Pang was working for the couple in their apartment at the Dakota. Then she walked out the door. May Pang had a whirlwind, 18-month romance with John Lennon in the 1970s during a break in his marriage to Yoko Ono, May Pang's whirlwind romance with John Lennon is the stuff of rock 'n' roll lore and in a new documentary, she's ready to peel back the curtain on their so-called "lost weekend.". Letting him? Today, Pang is the mother of two adult children and she just wants to set the record straight. But thats something wed have to guess at, since the life of John Lennon remains, for all the ways its been chronicled, not quite knowable. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months. Pang was born in New York, New York to Chinese parents.. Pang was a secretary at ABKCO, a management company started by Allen Klein, in New York City. After John, seemingly out of nowhere, goes back to Yoko, and Pang confronts him about it, he says, quite simply: Shes letting me come back. In 2011 music enthusiast Liz Hajek and I traveled to New York to spend a day with May Pang, Lennon's girlfriend for almost two years in the early 1970s. Pang, who was plucked from that Apple job by Ono herself to serve as her and Lennons personal assistant before Mays fling with Lennon, insists the phrase Lost Weekend doesnt do justice to the pairs year-and-a-half affair. So what would he be doing right now? [2] Pang's early jobs included being a song-plugger, which meant encouraging artists to record songs written by songwriters. After the split from Lennon, Pang was married to David Bowie producer Tony Visconti from 1989 to 2000, with two children now in their early 30s. Mainly, Pang said, it was Ono who gave the orders and there were a lot of them. [24][25] In the same month, Lennon and Pang were also planning on visiting Paul and Linda McCartney in New Orleans, where Wings were recording the Venus and Mars album, but Lennon reconciled with Ono the day before the planned visit, after Ono said she had a new cure for Lennon's smoking habit. At one point, he even asked Pang: "what do you think if I write with Paul again? We were going to buy a house! she said. I didnt want to be his mother, but I did act as his secretary, his personal assistant. Yoko Ono [1], ne le 18 fvrier 1933 Tokyo au Japon, est une artiste plasticienne, pote, performeuse, musicienne, chanteuse, compositrice, crivain, comdienne et cinaste japonaise.. Membre de l'avant-garde new-yorkaise dans les annes 1960, qui gravite autour de John Cage, Yoko Ono dveloppe des formes artistiques entre posie, performance, cinma et musique exprimentale. [33], Pang's book of photographs, Instamatic Karma, was published in 2008. Not that everything was bliss in this stretch of time. He would sarcastically say to them: Hey it was a drunken weekend, OK? Pang said. I dont know if Ill ever be happy. To me, that didnt sound like somebody warmly inviting that person back into their life., When Pang talks about Ono, either in our interview or in the documentary, she paints a consistent picture of her as manipulative and controlling, yet shes careful never to directly describe her that way. On Sunday, April 23, Kenyon will be with May Pang for a conversation following the 6:50 p.m. showing of "The Lost Weekend" at the Angelika Cinema, and she will be answering questions from those in attendance. May Fung Lee Pang will be 72 in October, but was barely out of her teens when she boldly entered Apples New York offices, lied about being able to type, and secured a job at the Beatles multimedia company. Once we got together, I no longer worked for him. But in The Lost Weekend, we see that May Pang was a tough ambitious city girl, who spoke with a slight but blunt New York accent, and that after dropping out of college she had the chutzpah to talk her way into a job at the Apple Records offices on Broadway. In 1970 you joined Allen Klein's ABKCO Records as a receptionist. Courtsey of May Pang So began an 18-month-long affair that has come to be known as. Yet, according to May Pang, who was Lennons 22-year-old live-in lover during that time, that was anything but the case. When May Pang's relationship with John Lennon ended in 1975 after a whirlwind 18 months, she didn't know at the time how difficult it would be to love again but the late Beatle did.. Pang, 72, tells PEOPLE in this week's issue that after her "lost weekend" with the musician ended and he went back to wife Yoko Ono, Lennon shared a warning about her future romances that rang true in the . An old interview clip of Ono featured in the trailer sees the artist call Pang "a very good assistant," and Pang explains that her job was "taking care of everything, working in the studio, doing clothes, doing the publicity.". But she hasn't ruled out a future run for local office. She was fun but circumspect (she didnt drink or do drugs). Its a portrait of the May Pang who grew up in Spanish Harlem as a second-generation Chinese-American (a minority among minorities, she says), and how she fell in love with rock n roll and fell into fame with a kind of karmic destiny. Within minutes after being shot, John Lennon was dead at age 40. I had no real abilities, she admits of getting her start at Apple, but answering the phone was easy enough. But the only way for that to happen was John not being there., The new couples time in LA resurrected Lennons lighter side, she said, both personally and creatively. "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" was released in 1974. Lennon thought it would be a good idea for the musicians to live under one roof to ensure they would get to the studio on time, so Pang rented a beach house in Santa Monica for her, Lennon, Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon to live in. May Pang said John Lennon liked when his partner controlled him Over the course of their relationship, Pang got to know Lennon well. Yet this was the bed-hopping, do-what-you-feel 70s, so it all seemed a little less weird at the time. And, because I was 10 years younger, we were getting to do all the things young couples do., Pang insists that the ex-Beatle only used the term lost weekend to refer to that time because he was tired of the press constantly asking him about two high-profile incidents in 1974 in which he was tossed from an Los Angeles club for being inebriated and verbally abusive. Few people knew John Lennon as intimately as May Pang. I lived it. Pang told her side of the story in a 1983 memoir, "Loving John," and "Instamatic Karma," a 140-page collection of private photos she took during her time with Lennon. John Lennon and Yoko Ono pictured in 1968. A love story that took 50 years to tell, "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story" explores the 18-month romantic relationship between John Lennon and his Chinese-American assistant May Pang, Because of her youth and position, many saw Pang as a particularly weak target for Onos agenda. According to her, the couple were considering buying a home in the Hamptons. John Lennon and girlfriend May Pang at the Beacon Theatre for 'SGT. Even when John Lennon and Pang were thousands of miles away from Ono, Pang says that Ono was a constant presence in their lives, because Ono . Soon after, things heated to the point where, when Lennon relocated to LA for an extended period, Pang became his full-time lover. But John spontaneously decided to go to L.A. on his own and asked me to go with him. She also told her not to tell Lennon about the calls. If there's one thing that May Pang has been fighting for the last 28 years, it's the idea that John Lennon was depressed, isolated and out of control during . Yet, according to May Pang, who was Lennon's 22-year-old live-in lover during that time, that was anything but the case. Pang replied that she could never start a relationship with Lennon, as he was her employer and married. It just flowed out of him on that level. John had also begun visiting Yoko, for "business matters" and to possibly arrange a divorce. Why AI Has Some Viewers Asking Which Film Actors Are Real. Their popularity pe 35 Vintage Photos of May Pang and John Lennon During Their Dating Days, The 1942 Genesee Hotel Suicide: The Story Behind the Photo Which Was Titled The Despondent Divorcee, Vintage Album Covers Featuring Miss Dolores Erickson, The Lost Janis Joplin Topless Photos in Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro in the Summer of 1970, Glamorous Photos of Janice Dickinson in the 1970s and 80s, 30 Cool Pics That Capture Naughty Ladies of the 1950s, Victorian Postmortem Photography: The Myth of the Stand Alone Corpse, Early 1950s Tijuana Bible, a Humorous Pamphlet About Urination. It was something I loved. In June 1974, Lennon and Pang returned to live in Manhattan. We see Pangs photograph of Bob Gruen snapping his famous photograph of Lennon in a New York City T-shirt. He used to say to me, May, its your opinion. Actress: Heartburn. I decided it was time to reclaim my own history. I was a young busy "breaking my way into the world" girl during this era and didn't follow John Lennon at all. Despite her love of the Beatles music, Pang says she had no fantasies about Lennon at that time. On Sunday, April 23, Kenyon will be with May Pang for a conversation following the 6:50 p.m. showing of "The Lost Weekend" at the Angelika Cinema, and she will be answering questions from those in . [32] It was edited down to 300 pages, concentrating mostly on the sensational aspects of their relationship. All Rights Reserved. Walls and Bridges rose to the top spot on the album charts. RIP John. Ono approved the move, Pang alleges, because she wanted to have an affair of her own with another musician. It was over nothing. American former music executive May Pang worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months. While working at their home office at the Dakota building, however, Pang immediately sensed a chill between her bosses. May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. [26][27] After the meeting, he failed to return home or call Pang. I loved this woman (Pang)" Pang claims after he met up with Ono for a hypnotherapy session to quit smoking, he ended the relationship and went back to Ono. ft. apartment on East 52nd Street in Manhattan. Pang, 64, gained fame in the early 1970s as John Lennon's girlfriend. "Not quite," she replied. These vintage photos captured beautiful moments of May Pang and John Lennon during their dating days. Pang was Lennon's lover during the infamous "Lost Weekend" which lasted 18 months during late 1973 through 1975. When May Pang's name appeared on a village election ballot last month, some of her neighbors may not have realized how interwoven her life has been with rock and roll history. The Pang family left when the tenements where they lived were scheduled to be razed, and moved to an apartment near 97th Street and 3rd Avenue in Manhattan. People will find out the missing piece of the story, she said. It was later updated and renamed John Lennon: The Lost Weekend. May is also a successful photographer, author and . Another factor that made her sanction the new documentary is the cultural moment were in right now. [15][16] "Dad and I got on a great deal better then," recalls Julian. [28] Over the coming years, Pang quietly met Lennon a few times but their relationship was never rekindled. At various times, Lennon, Ono and Pang have given their versions of the story to the press. May Pang had a whirlwind, 18-month romance with John Lennon in the 1970s during a break in . Lennon asked a real estate broker to put in an offer for it in February 1975. But I was eager to learn the music business. Yoko wasnt even aware we had gone until after we left.. These are my memories. John Lennon (1940 - 1980) with Yoko Ono, December 1968. During that time, Lennon recorded three LPs "Mind Games," "Walls and Bridges," and "Rock 'n' Roll" and numerous singles, including "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," Lennon's biggest hit as a solo artist. In the years since, however, Onos image has greatly improved, an evolution that could actually wind up making some people less, rather than more, sympathetic to Pangs story today. Afterwards, Id say to him, Where is this going? And hed say, I dont know. I found myself shaking my head at times, laughing out loud and wiping tearsI really enjoyed the film. The dark side is very much there. After a bit of time, however, she said Lennon warmed to her and made a pass. Pang was born to an industrious mother who opened her own business, OK Laundry, at the corner of 124th Street and Amsterdam, not far from where they lived before being forced to leave their tenement housing for the newly built George Washington projects at 97th Street and Third Ave. Less well known is the period that followed when he and Pang returned to NYC. at the age of 40, John was murdered by obsessed fan Mark Chapman . Pang's is the voice whispering Lennon's name on "#9 Dream". But talking to her by Zoom from her home in Queens and understanding her background complicates that view. Her tale begins in NYC, continues in LA, and then ends more than 18 months later in Manhattan. They were having problems in their marriage; they actually werent talking to each other. She was reluctant at first, but Pang and Lennon were soon together. "I went to Westchester like everybody else," Pang said. Lennon later referred to this time as his "Lost Weekend". Journalist Larry Kane, who befriended Lennon in 1964, wrote a comprehensive biography of Lennon which detailed the "Lost Weekend" period. But the film makes clear that she did fall in love, and so did he. John was drinking, but that was overblown in retrospect, says Pang, who'd like to remind the world that the ex-Beatle had a major career renaissance during their time together in the mid-'70s. [46], "May Pang is a legend in the Rock n' Roll world", "Gary James' Interview With John Lennon's Girlfriend, May Pang", "Memorabilia: The Julian Lennon Collection", "Julian Lennon gives family peace a chance", "Julian Lennon on Covering "Imagine" for the First Time in Support of Ukraine: It Was "The Right Occasion", "There's UFOs Over New York and John Lennon Wasn't Too Surprised", "Pang reveals her side of affair with John Lennon", "Beatles: Lennon planned to meet McCartney in 1974", "The ballad of John and Yoko's secretary", "When John Lennon's Signature Officially Dissolved the Beatles", "Last Known Photos of John Lennon and Paul McCartney Together in 1974", "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story | 2022 Tribeca Festival", "John Lennon's Ex May Pang Recalls Yoko Ono Asking Her to Date the Beatle in 'The Lost Weekend' Trailer", "Life with John Lennon: Pomona's May Pang tells all", "May Pang Reflects on Her Lasting "Weekend" With John Lennon", "Lennon Planned to Visit McCartney In 1974", "Getting Fifi to pay for abandoned mutts' care", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=May_Pang&oldid=1148631996, Professional and personal relationship with, This page was last edited on 7 April 2023, at 10:56. But according to Pang, the fabled tales of Lennons misbehavior, as when he and Harry Nilsson, after too many Brandy Alexanders, got kicked out of the Troubadour nightclub for heckling the Smothers Brothers, were more the exception than the rule. I can't do that, he's my employer, he's my boss. I just wanted to treat him as a regular person. I knew, at that moment, if John and I had gone to meet Paul and Linda, there would have been new music. 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