John Winston Ono Lennon,MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, and songwriter who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles. With Paul McCartney, Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history". Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and biting wit in his music, on film, in books, and at press conferences and interviews.
John Winston Lennon was born in the Liverpool Maternity Hospital, Oxford Street, Liverpool, to Julia Lennon and Alfred Lennon, during the course of a German air raid in World War II. Julia's sister, Mary "Mimi" Smith, ran through the blacked-out back roads to reach the hospital. During the two-mile trek to the hospital, she used the explosions to see where she was going. John was named after his paternal grandfather, John 'Jack' Lennon, and Winston Churchill.
Lennon started The Quarrymen in March 1957. On 6 July 1957, Lennon met McCartney at the Quarrymen's second concert at the St. Peter's Church Woolton Garden fête. There, Lennon and McCartney began writing songs together. The first song Lennon completed was "Hello, Little Girl" when he was 18 years old, which later became a hit for the Fourmost. McCartney convinced Lennon to allow George Harrison to join the Quarrymen (even though Lennon thought Harrison to be too young) after Harrison played the song "Raunchy" for Lennon on the upper deck of a bus. Harrison joined the band as lead guitarist, and Stuart Sutcliffe — Lennon's friend from art school — later joined as bassist. After a series of name changes, the group decided on The Beatles.
After The Beatles, Lennon enjoyed a successful solo career with such acclaimed albums as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine".
IMAGINE
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
His first "solo" album was Live Peace in Toronto 1969—recorded prior to the breakup of The Beatles—recorded at a Rock 'n' Roll Festival in Toronto with The Plastic Ono Band. He also recorded three solo singles: the anti-war anthem, "Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey", and "Instant Karma!". Following The Beatles' split in 1970, Lennon released John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, a raw emotional album that dealt with Lennon's pain in losing his mother and split with The Beatles.
His album Imagine followed in 1971, and the title song would later become an anthem for anti-war movements. It also included the track "How Do You Sleep?"
On 31 August 1971, Lennon left England for New York, and released the "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single in December 1971. To advertise the single, Lennon and Ono paid for billboards in 9 major cities (and 7 different languages) which declared: "WAR IS OVER!... If you want it". Some Time in New York City was then released in 1972. Recorded with Elephant's Memory, it contained songs about women's rights, race relations, Britain's role in Northern Ireland, and Lennon's problems obtaining a United States Green Card.
After a self-imposed "retirement" from 1976 to 1980, Lennon reemerged with a comeback album, Double Fantasy, which would win the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Less than one month after the release of the album, Lennon was murdered in New York City on 8 December 1980.
On the night of 8 December 1980, at around 10:49 p.m.,Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times in the entrance of the Dakota. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman who had been stalking Lennon since October. Lennon was taken to the Emergency Room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 p.m. On the following day, Ono issued a statement: "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean." Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life; he remains in prison, having been denied all requests for parole. Lennon's body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York; his ashes were then kept by Yoko.
Posts
1 comment:
Amazing artist - thanks for the videos.
Post a Comment