The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky Passes Away

Lucy Vodden, the inspiration behind The Beatles' classic hit "Lucy In  The Sky With Diamonds," passed away after a five-year battle with lupus. She was 46.

Growing up Vodden had been a friend of John Lennon's son Julian Lennon in school. The young Lennon apparently returned from school one day — while The Beatles were in the midst of creating material for what would be 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band — with a drawing of the girl, telling his father it was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds."

The song, written by Lennon and Paul McCartney, has routinely been considered a reference to LSD, resulting in the BBC banning the song because of the alleged drug reference.

According to various newspaper reports, Vodden was contacted often by Julian Lennon during her illness. "I wanted to get a note to her," Lennon said in an interview last June. "Then I heard she had a great love of gardening, and I thought I'd help with something she's passionate about, and I love gardening to. I wanted something to put a smile on her face."

Neither McCartney's site nor The Beatles' site made reference of the passing.

In other Beatles news, Apple Corps Ltd. made a deal with Walt Disney Studios earlier this month to develop a "3D performance capture adaptation" of the animated film Yellow Submarine. The film will be written and directed by Robert Zemeckis.