May Pang: Who was John Lennon's "Lost Weekend" lover?

13 April 2026, 11:18 | Updated: 13 April 2026, 11:24

It's a largely forgotten period for one of the most omnipresent figures in music.

As one of The Beatles' two key songwriters alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon helped change the face of music.

Even when the band not-so-amicably called it a day in 1970, Lennon was just as prominent, if not more so.

He'd leaned deeper into his political agenda once he began his solo career, becoming a countercultural rock icon, rejecting mainstream fame after being in the most famous band to ever exist.

This change towards being a radical figure is often credited to John's relationship with Yoko Ono, a conceptual artist who encouraged the 'Imagine' musician's move toward experimentation and protest.

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But there was a time when the two separated, and John was in love with another woman.

He'd relocated to Los Angeles from New York City, where he'd embark on an alcohol blurred break from Ono – often photographed next to drinking buddy Harry Nilsson.

It was also during this period that Lennon entered the studio with McCartney for the final time, which confirmed the pair's reconciliation after several years of bitterness between them.

During this time, Yoko Ono was out of the picture. John was in a relationship with a woman named May Pang. But who was she?

Who was May Pang and how did she meet John Lennon?

May Pang was a music lover from New York City, born to a working class Chinese-American family.

After completing her education, she initially pursued a modelling career but decided against after being told she was too "ethnic" to succeed.

Wanting to carve out a career in the music industry, she chanced her luck and paid a visit to Apple's New York office.

After asking what roles were available, she managed to land a role with The Beatles' record label as a production coordinator.

Following The Beatles' split Pang found herself getting involved in Lennon and Ono's creative projects, particularly their avant-garde films like Fly and Up Your Legs Forever.

She later became a personal assistant John and Yoko, once they had fully relocated from London to New York City.

Having worked with them for several years, it was then that Pang was seen as a suitable companion to curb Lennon's wandering eye.

When did May Pang and John Lennon start their relationship?

In 1973, when she was just 22, John Lennon began an ex-marital affair with May Pang. Though it became more than simply a seedy fling.

John and Yoko's marriage was in a rough patch, and the couple were not seeing eye to eye.

Oddly enough, it was Ono that suggested John start seeing other women, and she felt Pang was good choice for him given she was familiar and he found her attractive.

Initially, Pang wasn't keen on the idea given that Lennon was her employer and he was still married.

But the pair fell in love, and she had a much greater impact on John's life than merely being a footnote of his "Lost Weekend" period.

How long were May Pang and John Lennon an item for?

In total, May Pang and John Lennon's relationship lasted for approximately 18 months.

It was serious – the pair initially lived together in a New York apartment. Paul McCartney came round to visit, though he spilled red wine on the carpet which appears in the 'Imagine' music video.

When they moved to Los Angeles, Lennon's friendship with McCartney continued to repair, with the two entering the studio together for a jam session.

It was the only time they'd played together after the end of The Beatles, though nothing ever came of it.

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But the fact that Lennon had more freedom with Pang, or at least he felt like he did, influenced him to start patching things up with McCartney.

Pang also helped John repair another important relationship of his – with his son Julian.

"When John and Julian did connect it was great, but beforehand John was very nervous, chain-smoking, because Cynthia was bringing him over," said Pang in a 2023 interview with Mojo magazine. "They hadn't seen each other for ages.

"I told John that he hadn't been there for his son, so he had to step up. He couldn't back out. I wanted John and Cynthia to have closure to make it easier for Julian, and then things got better for everybody."

Pang also helped facilitate John's debauched antics in Los Angeles, finding a beach house for them, Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon all to live in to ensure they'd actually record some music in amongst the heavy boozing.

When did John Lennon get back together with Yoko Ono?

During his separation from Yoko Ono, John actually achieved his own ever number one single as a solo artist with 'Whatever Gets You thru The Night' in 1974.

The song featured on his album Walls & Bridges, with Elton John helping Lennon to record it.

It was Elton who was partially responsible for John and Yoko's reconciliation, as it was after his show in New York (where John would perform in front of a live audience for the final time) that they met up.

That same month, he and Pang had planned to stay with Paul and Linda McCartney in New Orleans, with both former Beatles toying with the possibility of recording together.

The day before they were set to travel, John informed Pang he was reuniting with Yoko.

He would meet Pang on several occasions after the abrupt split, but she never got closure over the relationship, especially after Lennon was tragically murdered in 1980.

Publicly, John lamented his "Lost Weekend" period, maybe to show that he and Ono were a solid unit again.

Privately however, he told biographer Larry Kane: "I may have been the happiest I've ever been... I loved this woman (Pang), I made some beautiful music."

What happened to May Pang after her relationship with John Lennon?

After the dissolution of their relationship, Pang began working as a PR Manager for United Artists and Island Records.

She married record producer and long-time David Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti in 1989. The pair share two children together, however they divorced in 2000.

Pang remained close to Cynthia Lennon after helping John and Julian to reconnect, and was also invited to Linda McCartney's memorial service by Paul, while Yoko Ono was not.

In 1983 she released a memoir about her time with John called Loving John, later spearheading a 2022 documentary about the fabled "Lost Weekend" titled The Lost Weekend: A Love Story.

Naturally she and Ono didn't stay in each other's lives, though they did bump into each other in a hotel in Reykjavik in 2000, on what would've been John's 60th birthday no less.

"It must have been a joke from John up in the sky because it happened on his birthday, October 9th," she revealed in a 2023 interview. "What are the chances?!"