Cynthia Lennon at book launch
Tributes were paid to Cynthia Lennon, who died from cancer

The woman married to John Lennon when Beatlemania exploded across the globe in the early 1960s has died at her home in Spain.

Cynitha Lennon passed away aged 75 after losing her battle with cancer, with her son Julian - the only child from her marriage to the Beatle - at her bedside in Majorca.

Tributes were paid by drummer Ringo Starr and others to Cynthia - who was almost unknown by legions of Beatles fans during the band's early fame. Managers of the group feared knowledge of John's marriage could hit his popularity as a pin-up idol.

Her biographer, Hunter Davies, called Cynthia "a lovely woman" who was treated "appalling" by the Beatle. Davies told BBC: "He slept with Yoko in their marital home and, as we discovered later, he also physically attacked her but she was loyal to him."

Cynthia was divorced from John after he left her for abstract artist Yoko Ono in 1968, following an affair between the pair. Ono would come to blamed by some for the break up of The Beatles only two years later.

Cynthia married three more times after the end of her relationship to John. Her fourth and final husband died in 2013.

Following news of her death, son Julian posted a heartfelt tribute video on YouTube, including the phrase "You were on a different plane".

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