Namesake of Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" Passes Away

The girl whose name was behind "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," one of the most memorable songs on an album – "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" – that became an immediate classic upon its release, died yesterday at the age of 46. Lucy Vodden was pronounced dead yesterday at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. Vodden had been battling a chronic disease for over five years. How she became the namesake behind the iconic tune, however, will live on forever.

As a young girl, Vodden attended school with Julian Lennon, the son of Beatles lead man John Lennon. At the age of 4, Julian returned from school one day with a picture he had colored and showed it to his famous father. The young Julian dubbed the girl in the picture "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." When it came time to write the lyrics for the titles that would appear on the upcoming album, John developed the simple drawing from Julian to create what has been referred to by some as a "psychedelic masterpiece." While many music critics claimed that the title was a thinly-veiled reference to LSD, the popular drug of choice in those psychedelic years, Lennon always denied that claim.

Asked back in June about the song, Lucy Vodden said, "I don’t relate to the song, to that type of song. As a teenager, I made the mistake of telling a couple of friends at school that I was the Lucy in the song and they said, ‘No, it’s not you, my parents said it’s about drugs.’ And I didn’t know what LSD was at the time, so I just kept it quiet, to myself."