The Beatles' 'Lucy' dies at age 46

By Clark Collis Updated September 28, 2009 at 06:48 PM EDT

Another chapter was written in the history of the Beatles this month with the re-release of their albums and the debut of The Beatles: Rock Band. But there is a very sad footnote: Lucy Vodden, the childhood friend of Julian Lennon and the inspiration for the song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” has died from lupus in London at the age of just 46 according to the Associated Press.

Vodden became the inspiration for the track when the then four-year-old Julian came home one day with a painting. Ringo Starr would later recall how that piece of art became one of the most famous psychedelic rock tracks of all-time: “I was actually with John when Julian came in with this a crazy little painting, and John said, ‘Oh, what’s that?’ and Julian said, ‘It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’ And then John got busy.”

To mark Lucy Vodden’s passing, and as a reminder of how “busy” John Lennon got, we’ve embedded the “Lucy” sequence from the movie Yellow Submarine below.