Paul McCartney has revealed that The Beatles' 1968 hit "Hey Jude" was inspired by the divorce of his bandmate John Lennon from his first wife, Cynthia. McCartney wrote the song, originally titled "Hey Jules", as a message of comfort to their young son, Julian Lennon, after John left the family to be with Yoko Ono. The story matters as it sheds light on the personal circumstances behind one of the band's most enduring and commercially successful songs.

McCartney told GQ he came up with the idea while driving to visit Cynthia and Julian, later changing the name to "Jude" because he preferred it. Despite running more than seven minutes, "Hey Jude" became the first single in music history to enter the Top 10 in its first week of release and spent nine weeks at number one, later being covered by artists including Elvis Presley and Wilson Pickett. Julian Lennon, who was unaware for some time that the song was about him, has said he finds it "strange" but touching that McCartney wrote it, noting he spent more time with McCartney as a child than with his own father.