John Lennon's time in Bermuda has impacted a new generation with a song written and performed by the nephew of a former Bermuda resident who met the musician on the island in 1980. Australian-based Gabriel Vargas has recorded a song called Eleanor Rigby's Ghost, which is influenced by the work of The Beatles, including many references to their songs together with a dreamy soundtrack that is evocative of the group.

A large part of the inspiration for the tune comes from Brian Stevenson, who worked in Bermuda from 1979 to 1984 and was part of a small group of friends who met the former Beatle in a Front Street nightclub by chance when the superstar was living on the island in June and July 1980.

While in Bermuda, Lennon worked on many songs for his and wife Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album that was released a few weeks before he was shot and killed outside their New York apartment in December 1980.

Mr Vargas, a Brazilian-Australian with a strong following on social-media and a number of recordings on streaming services, including Spotify and iTunes, hopes one day to travel to Bermuda to see the places connected with Lennon’s stay.

He has appreciated the music of The Beatles since he was a youngster, and loved hearing the story from ‘Uncle Brian’ about the night he and two friends, Gerry Hunt and Mark Graham, then journalists at The Royal Gazette and Mid-Ocean News respectively, encountered Lennon and his personal assistant Fred Seaman standing at a cigarette machine in the foyer of the Disco 40 nightclub. They persuaded the musician to join them for drinks and spent the rest of the evening chatting about Bermuda and music.

Mr Vargas became aware of the story when he was 5 or 6 years old.

“Every time we were together and there was someone who was a Beatles fan, I’m going: ‘Uncle Brian, you’ve got to tell the story’. When the Bermuda book [Lennon Bermuda] got written I got a copy and a Lennon Bermuda T-shirt. It’s something that’s been a thread between us for a long time,” he said.

Mr Vargas’s father and uncles in Brazil were professional musicians, however, he grew up in Australia with his mother and his musical education came through listening to records and through Mr Stevenson, a close family friend affectionately called “Uncle Brian.”

“He’s known me since I was very young and he used to play a lot of songs on the guitar. He was a massive influence on my musical upbringing,” said Mr Vargas.

His musical journey started when he was around 24 and playing predominantly rock and roll with a band.

“But as I’ve grown up, I’ve evolved the musical landscape. It’s been more about collaborating with cultures and people from different walks of life.”

He took a few years away from music as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I stopped performing because Melbourne was the most locked down city in the world. A lot of artists pivoted to different areas and I decided to focus on online comedy with a character I created,” he said.

“But the music kept calling me back and I ended up focusing on releasing this song.”

He hadn’t planned to write a homage to the Beatles, but found himself living in a Melbourne suburb neighbouring the one where he grew up. This conjured memories, including listening to Beatles records. His song Eleanor Rigby’s Ghost incorporates Beatles references and its title partly refers to a ghost believed to have been present in his childhood home.

“The song is really connecting to my childhood, and part of that is my love of The Beatles. That’s how it came about. It wasn’t me sitting down to write a Beatles homage, even though that’s what it is in the end.”

He recorded the track with a band. It is well-formed with quite a complex arrangement featuring more than 30 chord changes.

Mr Vargas has since been interviewed about the song by a Beatles-focused podcast, and recorded an interview with his uncle about the nightclub evening with Lennon.

Mr Stevenson, who lives in Australia, features as a backing singer on the track. He recalls his nephew coming over and wanting him to hear the song, saying: “It was an early version, it was still developing. I thought it was pretty amazing and couldn’t get it out my head.”

He said it had sparked a lot of memories and led him to contact “quite a few Bermuda mates”. Mr Stevenson added: “It’s really made me think about Bermuda a lot.”

The pair are bonded through a love of music, particularly The Beatles, Mr Stevenson’s encounter with Lennon, and both being longtime guitarists. Indeed, on the night he met Lennon, Mr Stevenson tried to encourage the star to play some guitar at his lodgings opposite the Botanical Gardens, but the invite came too late in the evening for the musician.

Mr Stevenson briefly returned to Bermuda a few years after leaving in 1984, and last visited in the 1990s to see friends. Both he and Mr Vargas now want to take a Bermuda trip.

Mr Vargas, who hasn’t been to the island, said: “We need to go to Bermuda, document it and revisit all these places that John went. And at the end, get a band together and perform a couple of Lennon songs.”

In 2012, Bermuda celebrated Lennon’s connection to the island with a concert in the Botanical Gardens, a sculpture created by Graham Foster and the release of a CD featuring Bermudian artists and those with a Bermuda connection performing Lennon songs. There was also a Lennon Bermuda book which told the story for the musician’s time on the island, including the Disco 40 encounter. The Lennon Bermuda multimedia venture was produced by Tony Brannon and Michael Freisenbruch. Mr Brannon was a co-owner of Disco 40 in 1980 and remembered seeing Lennon at the venue.

Mr Vargas has a number of social media platforms, including a Patreon community, Instagram and YouTube connections, gathered on Linktree. From there it is possible to stream Eleanor Rigby’s Ghost and watch his interview with Mr Stevenson. Go to: https://linktr.ee/gabvargasofficial