Liam Gallagher says John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono told him it was "silly" to name his son after The Beatles rocker.
The 47-year-old former Oasis singer met Yoko in 1999, the same year his eldest son Lennon was born, and has claimed the artist – who was married to John until he was shot dead in 1980 – thought the memorable moniker was ridiculous.
He recalled: "Yoko said, ‘I’ve heard you’ve called your son Lennon’.
"I said, ‘Yeah’, she said, ‘Why? Do you not think it’s a bit of a silly name?’
"And I said, ‘No, it’s a bit silly being called Yoko isn’t it? So Lennon it is.’ "
Yoko was reportedly worried Lennon, now 20, would get "picked on" at school for his name, but Liam – who has Lennon with Patsy Kensit, as well as 19-year-old Gene with Nicole Appleton, 22-year-old Molly with Lisa Moorish, and seven-year-old Gemma with Liza Ghorbani – insisted the kids would be impressed by the moniker.
He added: "And she said, ‘Don’t you think he’ll get picked on in school?’ I was like, ‘Nah man, he’ll be buzzing with that name.’ "
The ‘Shockwave’ hitmaker also revealed Yoko makes a "nice cup of tea", and spoke about visiting her home in New York City.
He said: "She asked me if I wanted a go on the piano, I said, ‘No you’re all right’. Then she showed us around.
"I said, ‘That’s a really nice picture of you’, she had loads round the piano.
"She looked cool, Yoko, she had these shades on and a playsuit and I said, ‘It’s a really cool picture’ and she said, ‘That was John’s favourite’."
Liam said Yoko gifted him and his older brother Noel, 53, a flower to wear at Oasis’ concert in Madison Square Garden, but claims Noel – whom he has been in a bitter rivalry with since Oasis split in 2009 – refused to wear it.
He told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "It was her favourite and she goes, ‘John wore it at the gig with Elton’. There was one for me and Noel, so I said, ‘Here, this is from Yoko’ and he went, ‘I ain’t wearing a f****** flower’ and he launched it."