Julian Lennon refused to join the Beatles 50th anniversary celebrations in America last week (ends09Feb14) because he had no interest in taking part in a celebrity "karaoke" session.

Famous fans joined Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr to celebrate 50 years since the band's arrival in the U.S. with an all-star Grammys tribute concert, which was televised in America on Sunday (09Feb14), but John Lennon's eldest son refused to join his half-brother Sean and Yoko Ono in the audience.

Lennon tells Brooklynvegan.com, "To me, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in the audience with everybody else... clapping my hands and being filmed in front of millions while watching a Beatles karaoke session."

The musician was in Africa on a charity trip when the tribute was filmed, but insists he wouldn't have been there even if he had been in America.

He adds, "Give me the originals any day. I'll listen or watch the originals any day, and that's my cup of tea... I much more preferred to be in a state of reflection and appreciation and doing something much more subtle and much more heartfelt, in my mind, than the glitz and the glam of those kind of shows."