May Pang

The daughter of Chinese immigrants (her Chinese name, Fung Yee, means "Phoenix bird"), May Pang grew up in New York, living with her parents and an adopted brother. After graduating high school in the early seventies, May decided against college, wanting instead to get in on the ground floor of the music industry, and make the business end of music her career. After some rounds of different companies, May was hired as an assistant at ABKCO, Allen Klein's artist management company, whose clients included three former Beatles: John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. One day answering phones, May recognized the voice asking to speak to her boss, unmistakably as John's. He proved as charming then (and later in person) as she'd imagined from seeing him in the media, and when the chance came to help John and Yoko Ono on a project, May happily accepted, and flew to England.

May's work for John and Yoko led to a stint as their personal assistant, as they moved from England to New York. During 1973, John's ongoing immigration and business problems, combined with Yoko's frustration in being accepted in the public eye, and as John's wife and partner, led to a breakdown in their relationship. Knowing John would probably start dating, and preferring that John date someone she trusted, Yoko suggested May as a "mistress". May had her misgivings, as she'd come to care about both as people as well as bosses, but let herself be gradually persuaded. When John decided on impulse to fly to Los Angeles in the fall of 1973, to "get out of the house awhile" and record an album with Phil Spector, May came along, and they moved in together, staying in a series of rented and borrowed apartments. At this, Yoko was furious, but settled with John for being able to tell friends and outsiders that she'd "kicked him out."

May stayed with John from late 1973 until the first weeks of 1975, working during the day on the business end of his recording projects (including albums for Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr, as well as John's Mind Games and Rock 'N' Roll LPs), and spending evenings with John in the studio, or going out like any young couple. Though close to his mid-thirties, John was drinking like he had in college, and this caused some serious problems in their relationship; John could turn violent at a moment's notice, and would remember nothing the next morning. (Sharing a house with Nilsson and Starr, both famous for drinking heavily, didn't help matters.)

May and John returned to New York in the late summer of 1974, to begin work on John's album Walls And Bridges and "get away from the bottle". Moving into a penthouse apartment, both May and John claimed later to have seen a UFO, hovering around their block. John had also begun visiting Yoko, for "business matters" and to possibly arrange a divorce. By early 1975, however, John and Yoko had decided to reconcile, and when Yoko became pregnant with 'Sean Ono Lennon', May knew her relationship with John was over.

Apart from John, and with his recording contract with EMI now fulfilled, May found it hard to get other work in the music industry, despite her qualifications and track record. An insider friend finally revealed to May that many companies were afraid to hire her, not wanting her presence to spoil their chances of signing John Lennon to his next recording deal. May persevered, though, and found her way back into the business, through new jobs at Island Records and RKO Radio. May and John saw each other a few times in the late 1970s, and he wrote her occasionally, until his death in 1980.

May continued her insider's work in the music industry, eventually marrying record producer Tony Visconti and starting a family with him. She wrote her memories of John and Yoko in the early 1980s, published as the book Loving John, and still occasionally appears in the media, to recount their relationship.