This article first appeared on WLRN Public Media with an audio piece.
On Feb. 16, 1964, the Beatles played their second Ed Sullivan Show appearance at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach.
To mark the 61-year anniversary, John Lennon’s former lover curated an exhibit filled with candid shots she captured of the superstar throughout their torrid 18-month relationship.
May Pang was Lennon’s girlfriend during his self-proclaimed “Lost Weekend,” when he separated from wife Yoko Ono. Although the media mainly covered his excessive drinking and partying, Lennon created what many consider to be his best music and was encouraged by Pang to reconnect with friends and family.
“There’s a misconception that he was always down and out, and drunk,” Pang told WLRN. “It wasn’t any of that at all. We just enjoyed each other.”
The exhibit, “The Lost Weekend — The Photography of May Pang,” shows a side of Lennon that Pang says very few got to experience.
“ I got a chance to take him on a bus ride because he said, ‘Oh, I’d love to know what New York City is about.’ And I said, ‘Well, then let’s get on a bus,’” said Pang. “He wanted to enjoy things that he couldn’t do before. And so it was nice to do it with him.”
READ MORE: ‘Lost Weekend’ film explores John Lennon’s relationship with May Pang
Pang, who was in her 20s, was Lennon and Ono’s personal assistant before the couple briefly separated. Ono then arranged the relationship between the hesitant young assistant and the newly-single musician, which started in 1973 and ended in 1975; Lennon and Pang still kept in touch until his death.
The media’s coverage of the affair was less than positive, with a great deal of racism and sexism aimed at Pang. She eventually wrote two books and created a documentary in 2022 that explains her side of the situation.
“Everybody likes to write about my story. They would say, ‘I read everything about you. I know everything about you.’ I thought it was time for me to take it back,” said Pang. “I’ve had many people come to me and say, ‘I thought I knew your story. I guess I didn’t.’”
Pang was initially hesitant to show the candid photographs to the public, thinking it would only be for private use.
“My friend, Scott Siegelbaum, who’s my partner in this [exhibit], said, ‘Come on, I think you should show them.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think anybody’d be really interested,’” said Pang. “And he said, ‘You’re wrong.’”
After six years of Siegelbaum’s persistence, she finally agreed to curate the “Lost Weekend” exhibit in 2022 to coincide with the release of her documentary, receiving positive reviews from fans of the Beatles and Lennon. Pang has hosted the exhibit ever since.
Some of the pictures in the collection include Lennon producing the album, “Pussy Cats” at a beach house in Santa Monica, California. Pang rented the house and moved in with Lennon, former Beatles member Ringo Starr, musician Harry Nilsson and The Who drummer Keith Moon.
Pang’s collection has one of the last known pictures of Lennon and Paul McCartney together at the Santa Monica beach house on March 29, 1974. The exhibit also includes the only photograph of Lennon signing the contract to legally break up the Beatles partnership while on vacation at Disney World.
“ When he signed it, everybody thought, ‘Oh, was he sad?’,” said Pang. “It wasn’t sad because it afforded everybody to move on. It didn’t stop them from wanting to write with each other or sing with each other. It just broke up in name.”
Reminiscing about Lennon’s tragic death, Pang says the candid shots in the exhibit allow fans to see the superstar in a different and more positive light. Lennon was killed by a gunman on Dec. 8, 1980, outside his New York City apartment.
“ When [he died], it just put a hole in everybody’s heart,” she said. “It warms me when people see these pictures and stare at it for the longest time and you see tears welling up and they say it just brings back good memories for them. And I’m glad it does. That makes it all worthwhile.”
