Yoko Ono has led the tributes to John Lennon's first wife Cynthia calling her a 'wonderful mother' with a 'strong zest for life' after she died at the age of 75 following a short battle with cancer.
The second wife of the Beatles singer said she was 'very saddened' by the news, adding that she was 'proud' how she and Cynthia had 'stood firm in the Beatles family'.
Cynthia, who married Lennon after meeting him in college, died yesterday at her home in Spain. A message on her son Julian's website said he was at her beside throughout, and the family 'are thankful for your prayers'.
The bad boy and the nice girl: Cynthia Lennon and John Lennon, who met at Liverpool Art College as teenagers, pictured in 1960
Domestic bliss: The couple on holiday in Dorset on one of their days out (left) and at home with Julian in Surrey in 1965 (right) before drugs began to have a destructive effect on the musician
In the statement, Yoko said: 'I'm very saddened by Cynthia's death. She was a great person and a wonderful mother to Julian.
'She had such a strong zest for life and I felt proud how we two women stood firm in the Beatles family. Please join me in sending love and support to Julian at this very sad time.'
Yoko also posted a picture which had been taken in 2010 of the two women with their sons, Julian and Sean.
She captioned the picture: 'When we were very happy together.'
Cynthia Lennon, nee Powell, married Lennon in 1962 and stayed with him as he rose to global stardom with The Beatles until the couple divorced in 1968.
But the pair divorced in 1968 after Cynthia discovered her husband's relationship with the Japanese artist.
Former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr added their condolences.
Writing on his website, McCartney, 72, said: 'She was a lovely lady who I've known since our early days together in Liverpool. She was a good mother to Julian and will be missed by us all, but I will always have great memories of our times together.'
Starr, 74, tweeted: 'Peace and love to Julian Lennon God bless Cynthia love Ringo and Barbara xx.'
Julian also tweeted a picture of his mother, who was 75, inside a heart with the message 'In Loving Memory'.
He also posted a moving video tribute to his late mother with a song he had written in her honor.
'You gave your life for me, you gave your life for love,' it begins, showing footage of him as a young boy with his parents. It also shows footage of Cynthia with John during the early days of Beatlemania.
'The love you left behind will carry on,' Julian sings in a style influenced by his late father. It concludes with the words: 'I know you're safe above.'
Cynthia met Lennon at art school in Liverpool in 1957 and the couple married just before Beatlemania transformed her husband from a jobbing musician into one of the most famous men in the world.
Man about town: John Lennon and Cynthia with Paul McCartney and his then girlfriend Jane Asher in 1968
At the height of the Beatles' early success, she was kept so far in the background that many of Lennon's female fans were not even aware of her existence, and she stayed at home bringing up Julian while the Fab Four toured the world and topped the charts.
Cynthia Lennon grew up in a middle-class community on the Wirral, met John Lennon while they were both students at the Liverpool College of Art.
The pair married in 1962, when Cynthia was just 22, after she became pregnant with their son Julian.
Beatles' members George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein - who was best man - all attended.
The Lennons bought Kenwood, then a 22-bedroom home, in Weybridge, Surrey, for £20,000 in 1964.
Kenwood became the place to visit for the other Beatles, various American musicians and total strangers that Lennon had met the previous night in London nightclubs.
Cynthia with Lennon and fellow Beatle George Harrison at a film premiere in 1965. The couple's divorce was swift and acrimonious
While she had suspicions of Lennon's infidelity over the years, with friends telling her that Lennon had had numerous affairs as far back as their time together at art college in Liverpool, Cynthia ignored the warnings.
The Lennons' marriage troubles came to a head in February 1968 when Lennon drunkenly confessed to sleeping with other women during their marriage.
Lennon suggested Cynthia take a holiday with friends. She returned to find her husband sitting across from Yoko Ono on the floor - staring into each other's eyes.
In one of her book's she wrote that she then found Yoko's slippers outside their bedroom door - shocked and upset she left the house to stay with friends.
After years of trouble, the marriage finally ended in August 1968 when Yoko Ono discovered she was pregnant.
Fearing a lengthy divorce process, the couple settled outside of court, with Lennon agreeing to pay Cynthia £100,000 and give her custody of Julian.
Palatial home: The Surrey home where the family lived in the Sixties. But beneath the exterior of the lavish home, there was trouble - John had affairs, usually with clever, upmarket women, while Cynthia patiently tried to keep the peace
The divorce prompted Paul McCartney to pen the Beatles' classic Hey Jude to help Julian cope with his parents' separation. He changed the name Julian to Jude in the song.
The line 'take a sad song and make it better,' is about the Lennons' broken marriage and its impact on their son.
Cynthia learned of Lennon's death on 8 December 1980, while she was staying with friends in London.
She married Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini in 1970, divorcing him in 1973. In 1976, she married John Twist, an engineer from Lancashire, but divorced him in 1983.
Source: the Mail
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