Impossible Interviews: John Lennon via Tyson Kelly

Celebrity Interviews

Published on Tuesday, 30 September 2025 19:10

Last Updated on 01 October 2025

Monica Costa

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As a lifelong admirer of John Lennon – his music, his rebellious spirit, and his fearless attitude – it truly made my day to finally “meet” him through Tyson Kelly. Known worldwide for his uncanny portrayal of Lennon in the Imagine Lennon Show, Tyson brings to life not only the sound but also the wit, charm, and depth of the legendary Beatle. In this interview, I had the surreal pleasure of asking him the questions I’d always dreamed of posing to John himself.

Monica Costa: It’s very exciting what you’re doing with The Imagine Lennon Show. You played John Lennon on stages across the world. So what first drew you to this role and what keeps it fresh night after night?

Tyson Kelly: Well, you know, I think just having a good time with the band and keeping the lights on stage. It’s a brand-new show, but I’ve been doing John Lennon for about 17 years. Particularly, what’s kept me from pulling my hair out all these years is just realising that every night you go on stage, everyone watching is experiencing it as something new. For the most part, it’s a brand-new experience for them. Knowing that gives you a sense of, “Yeah, I might do this 100 times a year, but these people never get to see this stuff.” You do it for the crowd, and you feel the love from the audience.

And obviously, with touring shows, you want to change the set list year after year so not only does the band avoid going crazy, but returning fans also get a bit of variety. But yeah, obviously, John Lennon – what an honour to play such an awesome character. He was so fun on stage and off stage and really a fun character to play night in and night out.

Monica Costa: Fantastic. How do you balance honouring Lennon’s legacy with bringing your own interpretation to the performance?

Tyson Kelly: Yeah, good question. I just do my version of what I think Lennon would have done in a show like this, keeping it light, having a bit of fun on stage, and really just enjoying the moment. I think he obviously didn’t play as much live in the ’70s after he left the Beatles, so you kind of have to imagine what he would have done if this kind of show were to come about. So, yeah, you have to bring your own interpretation into play without taking too many liberties. And if you do take liberties, you try to go with an educated guess of what he might have done in terms of humour, style, or song choices. All of that I’ve carefully considered, and hopefully I’m getting close.

Monica Costa:
I can’t wait to see it. By the way, I am a HUGE fan of John Lennon. I mean, I never saw him live because I was 10, too young when he died. I remember that ill-fated day. As a 10-year-old, being a fan of John Lennon was quite revolutionary in its own right. How old are you, Tyson? You sound very young yourself.

Tyson Kelly:
I’m 37.

Monica Costa:
You’re very young. What made you decide to create such a show and become a John Lennon interpreter — almost like a lookalike? I mean, you look exactly like John Lennon as well.

Tyson Kelly:
It just kind of fell into my lap. I was always such a huge fan. And then, when I dressed up as him for Halloween one year, I thought, oh wow, I could actually pull this off if I could get the accent down a bit and really work on it. So, as an actor, I started trying to interpret his character in shows. I’d do karaoke, try to sing like him, talk like him and everything. But it was all just a bit of fun.

I never actually thought I’d be able to do it for a living, as a career. And then, just being from Los Angeles – where the music business is everywhere, everyone in the industry basically lives out there – I had a friend reach out and say, hey, I put on a John Lennon show in North Hollywood. This was back in 2010 or 2009, something like that. They said, they’re looking for an understudy, you should apply – you’ll kill it.

So I applied, and they said, yeah, you sound great, why don’t you come in and meet the producers? That was kind of the first time I realised, oh wow, there’s actually a play in North Hollywood. The guy playing John Lennon was Tim Piper – he’s probably in his early 70s now, but he’d been doing it for a while back then. He introduced me to a Beatles tribute band in the Valley, and then I met a bunch of guys there who passed my information on to the bigger bands that fly out and do shows.

And then, a couple of years later, I was on Broadway playing John Lennon. It was just – how did this happen? It was crazy. So it all just kind of fell into my lap.

Monica Costa
Wow, that’s a bit crazy. Yeah, fantastic story, I love it. What was the most surprising thing you discovered about John Lennon while you were researching for Imagine Lennon?

Tyson Kelly
I don’t know. I did so much research about him – just becoming a fan and reading so many books. I was surprised, I guess, to find out how blind he was. In all those early years, when you see him playing with the mop top, he wasn’t wearing glasses until about ’67. For those four or five years, he basically couldn’t see anything.

It was just wild to think, oh my god, he pretended he could see, but really, he was so blind – he couldn’t see a thing. I thought that was amazing. He’d be up there looking out into the distance, but in reality he was just staring because he couldn’t see anything.

Monica Costa
I love that. I didn’t know this! I’ll try to replicate that. Yes, brilliant. I mean, vocally and emotionally Lennon’s music demands a lot. How do you prepare physically and mentally for each show?

Tyson Kelly
Plenty of sleep and lots of water, and just trying not to overextend my vocal stamina in one night – I try to spread it out. You have to mentally tell yourself, “Okay, you have this many shows coming up,” and talk to your body: “This is what I need from you, please don’t let me down.”

Being responsible, warming up, and making sure your voice feels good before going on stage is really important. Back when I was in the Bootleg Beatles for six and a half years, we played about 120 shows a year. I learnt a lot about vocal stamina from that. We’d do four shows in a row, then one day off, then five shows in a row, then one day off, then four shows in a row – that’s so much singing in one week, back to back.

I learnt how to maintain stamina, but back then John, Paul and George were sharing songs, so I could have vocal rest. In this show, though, I’m singing everything. It’s definitely going to be a challenge to make sure that, night after night, I’m not overdoing it – but also not under-doing it. It should be a good challenge. I think I’m up for it; my voice feels really strong now and ready to take on the tour.

Monica Costa
Brilliant. Have you ever had an audience member share a story or a reaction that really stayed with you?

Tyson Kelly
So many times after shows people have come up to me. One woman said, “I opened for John and the people in the Cavern back in the day,” and I thought, whoa, that’s amazing. It was incredible to hear that. I also met a couple of people who had lunch with John Lennon and told me those stories.

And, you know, I used to be a server at a hamburger restaurant in LA called Johnny Rockets, and every Sunday Jay Leno would come in. He was the talk show host for The Tonight Show. One day he said (in Jay Leno’s voice), “You know, I met John Lennon once.”

Monica Costa
He was a really interesting guy, really smart. You imitate Jay Leno really well!

Tyson Kelly
So, I’ve heard a couple of crazy stories that have really stuck with me. I think my favourite one is: there was a drummer I worked with who had been in the Dakota after John died. He told me what it was like walking through the house with Yoko and Sean, and he basically described what every room looked like.

And then he said that Yoko had the gun that shot John tied in a knot, hanging from a string from the ceiling. I was just like, oh my God, that’s so crazy. And she explained, “Yeah, it’s tied in a knot so that no one can ever use that gun again.” I just remember thinking, wow, that’s incredible. Nobody probably knows that…

Monica Costa
I’m writing a book about rock rebels, exploring artists who challenge norms, and I have a chapter about John Lennon. I wanted to include some of your own quotes, because obviously I can’t interview John Lennon himself.

I‘d like to talk about John’s spirit of defiance – the rock rebellion – and, if you’re up for it, to slip fully into character for a few fun questions. If you were John Lennon, you’d embrace his irony and rebellious spirit – funny, sharp, and a bit cynical.

What does rock rebellion mean to you, and how do you channel that through Lennon’s songs? Because this spirit of rebellion is at the heart of who John Lennon was.

Tyson Kelly (in John Lennon’s voice from now on):
Rock and roll music changed the course of history forever. Listening to songs like Chuck Berry, and all the music coming out of America, was always very inspiring to us, because we didn’t get that sort of stuff over here in the UK. But eventually, when we started hearing the records and got our hands on them, we just wanted to play that. So we did, and we played our three- or four-hour sets over in Hamburg. That drilled us, made us better musicians, and got us tight. That’s the sort of music we surrounded ourselves with, and eventually, because we were listening to it all the time, we were able to write about it and write music in that style. And then we kind of used our influences as well, with harmonies, and that’s just sort of how it happened.

Monica Costa:
John, this is music to my ears. If you could write a new verse to Imagine for the 21st century, what would it say?

Tyson Kelly:
I’d say the same thing I’ve been saying for a long time. People trying to run this world are insane, and we’ve got to stick together. It’s worse now than it’s ever been. We’re getting carried away and lost in our own heads and our own worlds, and we’re forgetting to come together as a universe, as people together. I think we’re all getting misled by misinformation, and we’re just getting angry at nothing. There’s not actually anything to get angry about when you step outside the picture. But people are making up stories just to rile everybody up, and it’s working. That’s just manipulation from insane rulers – a team of evil people saying, “How can we get people to vote this way and to vote that way,” instead of actually trying to bring everyone together. It’s driving me crazy, so I’d probably write about that.

Monica Costa:
Looking at the world now, John, what would you say to young activists who feel overwhelmed?

Tyson Kelly:
Keep going. Never silence your voices. Speak up when you think it’s right, and preach what you believe in. But always be an advocate for peace. Never get violent, never get aggressive – but get aggressive with your voice. Speak up for the things that nobody has the nerve to speak up for, because your voice is just as loud when it’s heard by the people that believe in what you’re saying.

Monica Costa:
John, if you were strolling down Abbey Road today, what headline would you want splashed across tomorrow’s papers?

Tyson Kelly (in John Lennon’s voice):
“John Lennon is back in London, one night only.”

Monica Costa:
I want to be there. And suppose you had one more night on stage with the original Beatles. What song would you insist on opening with, and why?

Tyson Kelly:
Probably I Want to Hold Your Hand, because that was the first song that Paul and I really had a great, proper collaboration on. It was the first song where we both thought, “Okay, you put in your bits and I’ll put in mine.” It was also the first to go number one in the States, and I think everybody remembers it as the one that really took us to the next level in terms of our harmonies and collaborations.

Monica Costa:
It had to be that one. I think that’s the staple, really. Cool. And if you could rewrite one moment of your life – not to change history, but to relive it – what would you choose?

Tyson Kelly:
I’d like to maybe not have been at the Dakota that night. Maybe I would drive up to North New York instead of going home.

Monica Costa:
I wish that would have happened. And you once said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. In 2025, what cultural force do you think has replaced rock and roll as the world’s obsession?

Tyson Kelly:
Our phones. You know, the iPhone has probably become the biggest distraction. They’ve been helpful, but also a nuisance. At this point, I think they’ve actually hurt us more than helped us. I’d like to bring awareness to that – the amount of screen time people use now is actually taking away from the arts instead of adding to them. Living in the moment, getting outside, going to a movie, seeing a concert, starting a band of your own instead of sitting in your room just commenting on things… it’s all a bit rubbish now.

Monica Costa:
Yeah, true. John, you’re as wise as I can remember. The Beatles shaped fashion as much as music. What would John Lennon’s style look like if you were 25 today?

Tyson Kelly:
I’d probably just wear the same thing – double denim. Love that.

Monica Costa:
And if you could whisper one piece of advice to your 20-year-old self in Hamburg, what would it be?

Tyson Kelly:
“Go get ’em, tiger.”

Monica Costa:
You’ve got this. And imagine you could send a single tweet to the planet – just 280 characters, more or less. What would it say?

Tyson Kelly:
That’s one tweet… I’d be ashamed to be on Twitter after particular circumstances, with that sort of company, getting mad at people who are just trying to rile you up. Be the bigger person. Look the other way. Don’t combat it – combat it with peace and love. Don’t add fire to the fire with aggression. Just feel bad for them. They’re so desperate as to act like lunatics. And kill them with kindness.

Monica Costa:
I love that, John. And if you and Yoko were walking through modern London, what piece of street art or protest would catch your eye first?

Tyson Kelly:
Extinction Rebellion. I’d probably be very impressed by them because they’re trying to tell people they’re ruining this planet because of corporate greed. That’s 100% accurate. I’d be very impressed by their efforts to bring awareness – and I’d get behind it.

Monica Costa:
Have you found your Yoko in this world?

Tyson Kelly:
She’s out there.

Monica Costa:
And finally, if the audience could take just one feeling home from tonight’s show, what do you hope it would be?

Tyson Kelly:
It’s important to stay positive. Right now it’s a very strange time – we’re all living in a transitional period. But we’re going to live to see better days. Don’t get down, even if the world is currently being run by lunatics. We’re doing our best to keep our chins up and our heads above water. Just hang in there – it can only get better from here.

Monica Costa:
Yes, exactly. Well, John, now please wake Tyson back up and give him back to me.

Tyson, you are incredible. I was pinching myself – I’m talking to John Lennon! You are very, very good. So credible. Being American, it is even more remarkable. I don’t even know how English people can do this accent! How did you manage it? You sound really like John Lennon.

Tyson Kelly:
Thanks – well, I practised a lot  and did lots of listening to interviews, being obsessed when I was younger… all that helps.

Monica Costa:
Tell me, which Beatles song or John Lennon song is your favourite?

Tyson Kelly:
I really like Dig a Pony – to play and to listen to. And then In My Life as well. I’d say those two.

Monica Costa:
I love In My Life as well. That’s a good choice. Those songs haven’t aged a single day. I keep listening to them, and they still give me goose-bumps. Obviously, this is the same for you – and for many others. John Lennon wouldn’t be such a big star if people didn’t feel that way. His music is evergreen. And, as you said before, you wouldn’t even change a single line. Some people want to add their own, but John Lennon really wrote perfect songs for every age, for every universe. That’s the power of his music.

I could talk a lot more about John Lennon. I’ll definitely turn up to the London show on the 11th of October 2025. I want to see John Lennon – meeting him in person would be my dream come true.

Tyson Kelly:
I hope you enjoy the show. See you on the 11th of October at Boisdale.

Monica Costa:
Thank you, Tyson. Have a good tour — see you on the 11th.

Tickets and full UK tour details: www.imagine-lennon.com

Imagine Lennon show brings John’s magic back to London this October

Promo Video