Iconic couple John Lennon and Yoko Ono separated from 1973 to 1975 with the latter giving her blessing for the Beatle to begin a relationship with his much younger live-in employee.
Lennon’s personal secretary May Pang, who was then only 23, recalls 50 years later the two-year period that has come to be known as the ‘Lost Weekend’ with fond memories, but says that it began tearfully.
Pang says she cried when she first had sex with the Beatle because she ‘didn’t know where it was going to lead.’
In a new documentary ‘The Lost Weekend,’ slated to hit theaters on April 13, the music producer details their romance that lasted in one way or another until Lennon’s tragic death in 1980.
Ono, who had been married to Lennon for four years, wanted time apart and instructed Pang to spend time with her husband and be his girlfriend.
‘I refused,’ Pang told People. ‘I respected their marriage. I said, ‘That’s not what I want to do.’ I was very happy as a worker.’
But, Lennon, who was 10 years her senior, eventually convinced Pang to make the ‘jump.’
The couple fell head over heels for each other, but Ono was still very present in Lennon’s life – calling up to 15 times a day, Pang said – and eventually won Lennon back, causing heartbreak for the young Pang.
A photo of the then 23-year-old Pang with Beatle John Lennon during their romance that took place between 1973 and 1975. The couple are pictured at The Beacon Theater in New York City on November 17, 1974 attending ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road’
![A photo of Yoko Ono and John Lennon taken at Heathrow Airport in 1969](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/18/69518513-11942785-image-a-1_1680714857865.jpg)
A photo of Yoko Ono and John Lennon taken at Heathrow Airport in 1969
![John Lennon and Yoko Ono speak at a news conference in New York City April 2, 1973](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/20/69523277-11942785-image-a-21_1680724148232.jpg)
John Lennon and Yoko Ono speak at a news conference in New York City April 2, 1973
![Yoko Ono in the kitchen of an apartment during an interview in New York June 28, 1973](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/21/69523935-11942785-image-a-26_1680725216262.jpg)
Yoko Ono in the kitchen of an apartment during an interview in New York June 28, 1973
Despite their difficult end, Pang also spoke of the exciting time she spent with the British rock icon traveling to Los Angeles to hang with other rock royalty – Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Mick Jagger.
And, accompanying him to the studio when he was creating albums Walls and Bridges and Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Pang recalled her former lover as ‘just an interesting person.’
‘He really loved everything, and wanted to explore,’ she said. ‘He loved to get up, have his coffee in the morning. He loved blueberry pancakes, he loved swimming. He was just an awesome person who wanted to discover things.’
The unconventional couple moved in together in 1974.
![May Pang, 72, releases her new documentary The Lost Weekend on April 13](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69518541-11942785-image-a-18_1680720029530.jpg)
May Pang, 72, releases her new documentary The Lost Weekend on April 13
![Lennon and Pang were in love and though Lennon and Yoko Ono reconciled the couple continued to see each other romantically until his tragic death in 1980. The couple are photographed at the Jim Stacey Benefit on March 24, 1974 in New York City](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69518521-11942785-image-a-17_1680719972642.jpg)
Lennon and Pang were in love and though Lennon and Yoko Ono reconciled the couple continued to see each other romantically until his tragic death in 1980. The couple are photographed at the Jim Stacey Benefit on March 24, 1974 in New York City
![Lennon and Pang together during an evening were smitten with each other during their 18-month romance](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/21/69523271-11942785-image-a-27_1680725382655.jpg)
Lennon and Pang together during an evening were smitten with each other during their 18-month romance
![John Lennon and May Pang photographed together had a whirlwind romance in the mid 1970s](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/20/69523275-11942785-image-a-23_1680724376883.jpg)
John Lennon and May Pang photographed together had a whirlwind romance in the mid 1970s
![A playful photo of May and Lennon](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/20/69519959-11942785-image-a-24_1680724472571.jpg)
A playful photo of May and Lennon
!['Yoko Picked ... Lennon's New Lover'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69519943-11942785-image-a-20_1680720109549.jpg)
‘Yoko Picked … Lennon’s New Lover’
She said the couple shared their passion for music, saying that was ‘the one thing that [Lennon] loved the most.’ And recalled those times she’d be part of an impromptu jam session with former Beatles bandmates Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
Pang says in the documentary, ‘George once said, ‘I’m so happy you’re with John,’ and that was a nice thing of him to say to me.’
At one point during their separation, Ono had asked Lennon for a divorce, which he agreed to. The legal separation, however, never happened because Ono was taken aback by his willingness to permanently part and the couple reconciled.
Ono’s surprise and was the impetus to end the so-called ‘lost weekend’ and get her husband back.
She said she ‘knew’ their relationship was over when Lennon, at the encouraging of Ono, went to a hypnotist to stop smoking.
‘You just know,’ Pang says. ‘He was not the same when I saw him [again].’
The heartbreak that followed was not easy, Pang admits, saying there wasn’t ‘any sense of closure.’
Despite Lennon and Ono reuniting, Pang said she still continued seeing him romantically over the next five years.
‘He’d secretly come over to see me. He would say, ‘You know, I still love you,’ she recalls.
![Yoko Ono and John Lennon in a scene from the documentary](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69519953-11942785-image-a-19_1680720051896.jpg)
Yoko Ono and John Lennon in a scene from the documentary
![John Lennon and May Pang kissing passionately as fellow singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson is enjoying a cocktail during a gathering with friends at the Troubadour on March 12, 1974 in West Hollywood, California. Nilsson would later be kicked out of the show for drunken heckling](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69518539-11942785-image-a-13_1680719459844.jpg)
John Lennon and May Pang kissing passionately as fellow singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson is enjoying a cocktail during a gathering with friends at the Troubadour on March 12, 1974 in West Hollywood, California. Nilsson would later be kicked out of the show for drunken heckling
![Lennon and Pang at a gathering have a grand time with friends](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/19/69518519-11942785-image-a-15_1680719883461.jpg)
Lennon and Pang at a gathering have a grand time with friends
![Yoko Ono and John Lennon reconciled amid a hiatus during the mid 1970s'. The couple pictured at their home in England, December 1968](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/05/20/69518547-11942785-image-a-25_1680724548358.jpg)
Yoko Ono and John Lennon reconciled amid a hiatus during the mid 1970s’. The couple pictured at their home in England, December 1968
‘He said things to me that were really very intimate, and you could sense there was something still. It was gnawing at him. It was not a finished situation.’
The couple were still quietly together until Lennon’s unexpected death in 1980 when he was shot by deranged fan, Mark David Chapman.
‘The beginning was still raw. Now, I see it as a gift. Our relationship was a gift and it was meant to be,’ she says.
‘I was happy I could give him something that he felt good about, that he never felt before.’
In addition to the forthcoming documentary, Pang will also host two photo exhibitions at City Winery in New York City (April 8 and 9) and Philadelphia (April 15 and 16).
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