The Flaming Lips and Sean Ono Lennon Cover the Beatles on ‘Letterman’
All week long, CBS' 'The Late Show with David Letterman' has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival in America with other musicians performing their songs. Last night, it was the Flaming Lips' turn, and they brought along a friend with a personal connection to the band, John Lennon's son, Sean Ono Lennon, on 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.'
Frontman Wayne Coyne, one of indie rock's most colorful characters, rose to the occasion, wearing a jacket that looked like it was made out of Christmas tinsel and standing on a four-foot platform. The outfit gave the illusion of spilling out down to the floor. Looking the spitting image of his dad circa 1969, the 38-year old Lennon doubled Coyne's vocals at times and took the second verse. Colored lights and confetti mirrored the song's psychedelic flavor.
There had been hopes that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would reunite on tonight's (Feb. 7) show. However, R&B singer Lauryn Hill is listed as the guest musician. The surviving Beatles will appear on Sunday's 'The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles'
The Flaming Lips also covered Lennon's 1980 comeback hit "(Just Like) Starting Over" for a 2007 charity album of Lennon songs, 'Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur."