1996 reached a settlement agreement reportedly worth £20 million.[11] By 2009, Lennon's feelings toward his father had mellowed. Recalling his renewed relationship with his father in the mid-1970s, he said,

Dad and I got on a great deal better then. We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general when he was with May Pang. My memories of that time with Dad and May are very clear — they were the happiest time I can remember with them.[13]

In 2007, Lennon sold a "significant" share of his stake in his father's catalogue of work[14] in exchange for an undisclosed sum with an agreement that the purchasing company, Primary Wave, would market and promote his new material. The stake entitles Primary Wave to aportion of all royalties on the catalogue.

Lennon made his musical debut at age 11 on his father's album Walls and Bridges playing drums on "Ya-Ya", later saying, "Dad, had I known you were going to put it on the album, I would've played much better!"[16] In the 1980s, he “parlayed a remarkable vocal similarity to his father into a successful singing career.” [17]

Lennon enjoyed immediate success with his debut 1984 album Valotte, produced by Phil Ramone, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1985, spawning two top ten hits, the title track "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes". Lennon promoted the album with music videos for the two hits made by movie director Sam Peckinpah and producer Martin Lewis. The song "Valotte" has remained a