According to multiple sources, Lennon was obsessed with Howard Hughes and Greta Garbo during his own years of seclusion between 1975 and 1980. Lennon admitted in the Playboy interview that he had even taken to referring to himself as "Greta Hughes"
and "Howard Garbo" during this period.

Each of these people had different reasons for withdrawing from the public eye, however. Garbo, as far as I can tell, had grown tired of the film industry. Hughes had become severely mentally ill, and was no longer trimming his nails or cutting
his hair.

In Lennon's case, the withdrawal from music-making occurred while he was in the middle of writing songs for his planned "Between the Lines" album and shortly after the commercal and critical success of "Walls and Bridges." Lennon's early retirement
came immediately after he had returned to the Dakota and Yoko Ono. Lennon stopped songwriting because Ono was jealous of his success ("It's just hype," she hissed to May Pang) and she compelled him to stop working on music.

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