‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ Dies

Lucy Vodden, who inspired the Beatles’ classic song ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,’ has died after a long battle with lupus. She was 46. Her death was announced Monday by St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, where she had been treated for the chronic disease for more than five years.

Vodden’s connection to the Beatles dates back to her youth, when she made friends with schoolmate Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s son. Julian, then 4, came home from school with a drawing one day, showed it to his father, and said it was “Lucy in the sky with diamonds.”

At the time, John Lennon was gathering material for his contributions to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” a landmark album released to worldwide acclaim in 1967.

The elder Lennon seized on the image and developed it into what is widely regarded as a psychedelic masterpiece, replete with haunting images of “newspaper taxis” and a “girl with kaleidoscope eyes.”

Rock music critics thought the song’s title was a veiled reference to LSD, but John Lennon always claimed the phrase came from his son, not from a desire to spell out the initials LSD in code.

Vodden lost touch with Julian Lennon after he left the school following his parents’ divorce, but they were reunited in recent years when Julian Lennon, who lives in France, tried to help her cope with the disease.

He sent her flowers and vouchers for use at a gardening center near her home in Surrey in southeast England, and frequently sent her text messages in an effort to buttress her spirits.

“I wasn’t sure at first how to approach her,” Julian Lennon told the Associated Press in June. “I wanted at least to get a note to her. Then I heard she had a great love of gardening, and I thought I’d help with something she’s passionate about, and I love gardening too. I wanted to do something to put a smile on her face.”

In recent months, Vodden was too ill to go out most of the time, except for hospital visits.

She enjoyed her link to the Beatles, but was not particularly fond of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

“I don’t relate to the song, to that type of song,” she told the Associated Press in June. “As a teenager, I made the mistake of telling a couple of friends at school that I was the Lucy in the song and they said, ‘No, it’s not you, my parents said it’s about drugs.’ And I didn’t know what LSD was at the time, so I just kept it quiet, to myself.”

Vodden is the latest in a long line of people connected to the Beatles who died at a relatively young age.

The list includes John Lennon, gunned down at age 40, manager Brian Epstein, who died of a drug overdose when he was 32, and original band member Stuart Sutcliffe, who died of a brain hemorrhage at 21.

A spokeswoman for Julian Lennon and his mother, Cynthia Lennon, said they were “shocked and saddened” by Vodden’s death.

Angie Davidson, a lupus sufferer who is campaign director of the St. Thomas’ Lupus Trust, said Vodden was “a real fighter” who had worked behind the scenes to support efforts to combat the disease.

“It’s so sad that she has finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for so long,” said Davidson.

The Beatles: Rock Band on sale today!

It’s B-day – the moment when The Beatles: Rock Band finally goes on sale. It’s a much anticipated title and given that combining Lennon and McCartney with this video game stuff means it covers pretty much every demographic that media outlets care about, expect blanket coverage from every angle.

Check out the trailer for the new game below.

THE TOP 21 SHOCKINGLY COCKY QUOTES

“I’m an ocean, because I’m really deep. If you search deep enough you can find rare exotic treasures.”
– Christina Aguilera

“I have a look that girls want to copy.”
– Avril Lavigne

“We’re kind of an international phenomenon.”
– Michael Stipe

“This album is one of the best albums in the past 20 years.”
– Brandon Flowers of the Killers on ‘Sam’s Town

“I won’t be happy until I’m as famous as God.”
– Madonna

“I am the most well-known homosexual in the world.”
– Elton John

“The Grammys used me for ratings. And they were up 18 percent!”
– Justin Timberlake

“I am a thing of beauty.”
– Frank Sinatra

“I won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.”
– Freddie Mercury

“I’m tired of people calling me a devil worshipper … Because if the Devil did exist, he’d be worshipping me.”
– Marilyn Manson

“Trying to seduce an audience is the basis of rock ‘n’ roll, and if I may say so, I’m pretty good at it.”
– Jon Bon Jovi

“If you put a Van Halen album in your record collection it will melt all the rest of your records.”
– David Lee Roth

“I’m not a woman. I’m a force of nature.”
– Courtney Love

“I’ve outdone anyone you can name — Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Strauss. Irving Berlin, he wrote 1,001 tunes. I wrote 5,500.”
– James Brow

“In this world, I call the shots and I think I know best.”
– Mariah Carey

“I’m gonna go down in history as being one of the best music men and businessmen in entertainment … The people that I’m going to be greater than are Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Clive Davis.”
– Diddy

“I am the innovator. I am the originator. I am the emancipator. I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll!”
– Little Richard

“Every other band should be wiping my ass. The line forms over there to the left.”
– Gene Simmons

“We’re more popular than Jesus now.”
– John Lennon

“I’m the No. 1 artist in the world right now … I am the No. 1 human being in music.”
– Kanye West

“We’re not arrogant. We just believe we’re the best band in the world.”
– Noel Gallagher of Oasis

ARCHULETA TO SING ‘IMAGINE’ AT FINALE

It was reported this morning on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles that David Archuleta will repeat his performance of “Imagine” by John Lennon at the Idol Finale on Tuesday night. Is this a good decision for David? His dad probably told him to do it…

“Imagine” was one of the most memorable performances on this season of Idol, so maybe it will help David take home the title this week. I, personally, do not think that the producer’s song choices were fair on last week’s show. It was obvious that David Cook was their favorite going into the finale. Hopefully, David’s repeat performance of “Imagine” will remind everyone why he should be this year’s American Idol. His performance has had over 1.2 millions views on Youtube! Unfortunately, the odds might be against him. Repeating a popular performance didn’t work for Katherine McPhee when she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” during the Season 5 finale. We’ll have to wait and see what happens!