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John Lennon
A bearded, bespectacled man in his late twenties, with long black hair and wearing a loose-fitting white shirt, sings and plays an acoustic guitar. White flowers are visible behind and to the right of him.
Lennon in 1969
Background information
Birth name John Winston Lennon
Born (1940-10-09)9 October 1940
Liverpool, England
Died 8 December 1980(1980-12-08) (aged 40)
New York City, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • artist
  • record producer
  • activist
  • author
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active 1957–75, 1980
Labels
Associated acts

John Winston Ono Lennon (born October 9, 1940 – died December 8, 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, and artist. He became famous around the world as a founder of the rock band the Beatles. After the Beatles stopped making music together in 1970, he moved to the United States with his wife Yoko Ono. He continued his music career until his death in 1980.

John Lennon's Early Life and Music

Brille john lennon
One of John Lennon's glasses

John Lennon started the Beatles in his hometown of Liverpool, England. He formed the band with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. When Ringo Starr joined, the band became very successful. Their music excited people, and their live shows were always popular. Their manager, Brian Epstein, and record producer, George Martin, helped the Beatles become one of the most famous groups in entertainment.

Lennon played the guitar and later learned to play the piano. Most of the songs the Beatles recorded were written by Lennon and McCartney. Their songs were always listed as "Lennon/McCartney" on Beatles records. However, they often wrote their songs on their own. They liked to share the writing credit because they often helped each other make their songs better. Some famous songs Lennon wrote for the Beatles include "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and "A Day In The Life".

As the band members got older, the Beatles started to grow apart. Lennon divorced his first wife, Cynthia Lennon, and married Yoko Ono. Paul McCartney married Linda McCartney. Both Yoko and Linda had different ideas and encouraged their husbands to be more independent. Later, some fans thought Yoko and Linda were reasons the Beatles broke up.

Lennon loved his wife so much that he added her family name, Ono, to his own name. He became John Ono Lennon when he married her. He had never liked his middle name, Winston, which his mother gave him after Winston Churchill. He wanted to change it. He was allowed to add a new name, so he did. He never used the name Winston again, unless he had to for legal reasons, like when he traveled to America. Otherwise, he used his "full name" as John Wong Ono Lennon.

John Lennon's Later Life and Work

Lennon apartment
The Dakota apartment building in New York City, where Lennon lived

Lennon and Ono moved to the United States in 1971 and settled in New York City. Yoko Ono had a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, from an earlier marriage. Her former husband, Anthony Cox, a jazz musician, took Kyoko and disappeared. It was easier for John and Yoko to look for Kyoko and get legal help if they stayed in America. Also, many people in England treated Yoko Ono badly, which hurt them. In America, most people they met accepted them together.

Lennon recorded several albums and singles after the Beatles broke up. His most famous solo album was Imagine. He made many records with Yoko Ono. On some records, they called themselves the Plastic Ono Band. Lennon and Ono worked with different musician friends, including Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, Harry Nilsson, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. Lennon's solo music was different from his Beatles songs. He spoke more directly about his own feelings. This sometimes upset a few fans who wanted more Beatles-style music from him.

Lennon and Ono also became strong supporters for world peace. They used Lennon's famous name to talk to the media (television, radio, and newspapers) about their beliefs. Sometimes, Lennon and Ono had problems with politicians who did not like what they said. President Richard Nixon's government even tried to deport Lennon because of his political views.

The two things Lennon and Ono wanted most were to live permanently in the United States and to have a child together. Their lives were stressful in the early 1970s. They had problems with immigration to the United States and with the search for Kyoko. The public was also sometimes negative toward Ono, her music, and her ideas. The couple had several miscarriages, partly due to the stress.

Lennon's Green Card
Lennon's Green Card, which allowed him to live and work in the United States. He finally received it in 1976.

Lennon also had business problems. Leaving the Beatles was not like quitting a regular job. The Beatles had signed many contracts. They had promised to do things in certain ways, meet deadlines, and work together to be paid as musicians and songwriters. Many business deals had to be finished or changed, and new deals had to be made for their separate music careers. This took time and meant making many hard decisions. The four former Beatles could not always agree on what to do with the things they owned together. It took years to figure out what to still own in common, what to divide, and what to let go. The choices they had to make sometimes hurt their friendships.

Lennon and Ono separated for over a year, from late 1973 to early 1975. This was because of the stress in their lives and their relationship. Each of them dated another person. Lennon was with May Pang, who was his and Ono's personal assistant. Ono was with guitarist David Spinozza. They were almost divorced. However, they spoke nearly every day by telephone and tried to work things out. They decided they wanted to be together more than anyone else could want them apart, and they reunited.

When Richard Nixon faced the Watergate scandal in 1974, it became more important than trying to deport Lennon. The case against him was dropped. Lennon won the right to stay in America in 1975. Lennon and Ono also finally had a son, Sean Lennon, that October. Father and son shared the same birthday.

Lennon and Ono stopped making music for five years. They wanted to spend more time together and give Sean as much attention as he needed. They lived on Lennon's income from the music he had already made. Ono became Lennon's business manager. She invested his money in real estate and organic farming. Her office was downstairs in the Dakota, the apartment building where they lived, so they were never far apart. Lennon became a full-time father to Sean and was proud to call himself a "househusband". They also visited Ono's family in Japan several times and made other trips.

In 1980, Lennon and Ono began to write new music as Sean got old enough to start school. They recorded a new album called Double Fantasy that year. A song from the album, "(Just Like) Starting Over", was a hit. People welcomed Lennon back. Even people who had not liked Ono earlier now respected her, and more of them began to like her music. Lennon and Ono planned to start fresh, do a world tour, and record more albums.

John Lennon's Death and Legacy

Los Angeles (California, USA), Hollywood Boulevard, John Lennon -- 2012 -- 4990
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for John Lennon

On December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot dead as he was going into his home. A man named Mark David Chapman, who was mentally ill, killed him. Even though he was ill, Chapman was still prosecuted for murder because he killed Lennon. Chapman said he was guilty of the murder the next year and is still in prison today. He later admitted he was jealous of Lennon's fame and success, while his own life disappointed him. Chapman thought that killing Lennon would give his own life more meaning. He is always refused for parole and is infamous (hated by many people).

Fans all over the world mourned Lennon's death. It made them feel that a special part of their lives was gone. Many met in New York's Central Park, near where Lennon and Ono lived, to say their goodbyes. Some played recordings of Lennon's music. Politicians and famous people everywhere were sad Lennon had died, even if they had not liked him before. His music meant so much to so many people. Radio stations in the Soviet Union, where rock music was rarely allowed, played Beatles recordings for an hour.

Marx-Lennon Abkhazia stamp
Groucho Marx and Lennon on a 1994 Abkhazia stamp

There was no funeral for Lennon. However, Yoko Ono asked people everywhere to be silent and pray for him for ten minutes on Sunday, December 14, 1980, at 2:00 PM. At two o'clock, the music playing in Central Park stopped, and people all over the world fell silent for ten minutes. Other tributes came later, including songs by George Harrison ("All Those Years Ago"), Paul McCartney ("Here Today"), Elton John ("Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)"), and Queen ("Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)").

Lennon's music, both with the Beatles and after, is still played everywhere. People are still touched by it. Radio programs have played early versions of his songs. Young musicians listen to Lennon's records and learn his music. Yoko Ono released an album of acoustic versions of many Lennon songs to help musicians understand them better.

There is now a garden in Central Park in Lennon's memory called "Strawberry Fields". It is named after one of Lennon's most popular songs, which was named after a Salvation Army orphanage near his childhood home. On October 9, 1990, which would have been Lennon's fiftieth birthday, the song "Imagine" was played on radio and television stations all over the world at the same time. This united people everywhere to remember Lennon and his music.

Awards and Recognition

Statue of John Lennon in Durrës
Statue of John Lennon in Durrës, Albania

John Lennon received many awards and honors for his music.

With The Beatles

  • 1977: BRIT Awards for Outstanding contribution to the recording industry over 25 years.
  • 1977: BRIT Awards for Best British pop group of the past 25 years.
  • 1977: BRIT Awards for Best British pop album of the past 25 years (for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).
  • 1983: BRIT Awards for Outstanding contribution to music.

Solo career

  • 1982: Grammy Award for Album of the Year (for Double Fantasy).
  • 1982: BRIT Awards for Outstanding contribution to music.
  • In 2002, a BBC poll named Lennon as the eighth greatest Briton.
  • In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 38 on its list of "The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".
  • In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number five on its list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

Main Albums

John-lennon-wall-prague
The "John Lennon Wall" in Prague, showing a tag for John Lennon
  • Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono) (1968)
  • Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
  • Wedding Album (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
  • Live Peace In Toronto (with Plastic Ono Band) (1969)
  • John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
  • Imagine (1971)
  • Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono) (1972)
  • Mind Games (1973)

Walls and Bridges (1974)

  • Rock 'n' Roll (1975)
  • Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono) (1980)
  • Milk and Honey (with Yoko Ono) (1984)
  • Live In New York City (Recorded live in 1972) (1986)

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: John Lennon para niños

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