John Lennon
Lennon in 1974
Born	John Winston Lennon (1940-10-09)9 October 1940 Liverpool, England
Died	8 December 1980(1980-12-08) (aged 40) New York City, US
Cause of death	Gunshot wounds
Resting place	Cremated; ashes scattered in Central Park, New York City
Occupations	Singer songwriter musician author artist^[1] peace activist
Years active	1956–1980
Spouses	Cynthia Powell (m. 1962; div. 1968) Yoko Ono (m. 1969)
Partner	May Pang (1973–1975)
Children	Julian Sean
Parents	Alfred Lennon Julia Stanley
Relatives	Julia Baird (half-sister) Mimi Smith (aunt)
Musical career
Genres	Rock pop experimental
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards harmonica
Labels	Parlophone Capitol Apple Geffen Polydor
Formerly of	The Quarrymen The Beatles The Dirty Mac Plastic Ono Band
Musical artist
Website	johnlennon.com
Signature

John Winston Ono Lennon^{[nb 1]} (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist. He gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.^[3]

Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Lennon initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney, writing and co-writing songs with increasing innovation, including "Strawberry Fields Forever", which he later cited as his finest work with the band. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the counterculture of the 1960s.

In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration bed-in for peace, and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career. Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums and several more films. After the Beatles disbanded, Lennon released his solo debut John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and the international top-10 singles "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Moving to New York City in 1971, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. Lennon and Ono separated from 1973 to 1975, during which time he produced Harry Nilsson's album Pussy Cats. He also had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John ("Whatever Gets You thru the Night") and David Bowie ("Fame"). Following a five-year hiatus, Lennon returned to music in 1980 with the Ono collaboration Double Fantasy. He was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman, three weeks after the album's release.

As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Double Fantasy, his second-best-selling non-Beatles album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.^[4] That year, he won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2002, Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and 38th greatest artist of all time. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1997) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994).

Early years: 1940–1956

[edit]

A grey two-storey building, with numerous windows visible on both levels — Lennon's home at 251 Menlove Avenue

John Winston Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, the only child of Alfred and Julia Lennon (née Stanley). Alfred was a merchant seaman of Irish descent who was away at the time of his son's birth.^[5] His parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.^[6] His father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother;^[7] the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944.^[8]^[9] When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, but Julia, by then pregnant with another man's child, rejected the idea.^[10] After her sister Mimi complained to Liverpool's Social Services twice, Julia gave her custody of Lennon.

In July 1946, Lennon's father visited her and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.^[11] Julia followed them – with her partner at the time, Bobby Dykins – and after a heated argument, his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. In one account of this incident, Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her.^[12] According to author Mark Lewisohn, however, Lennon's parents agreed that Julia should take him and give him a home. Billy Hall, who witnessed the incident, has said that the dramatic portrayal of a young John Lennon being forced to make a decision between his parents is inaccurate.^[13] Lennon had no further contact with Alf for close to 20 years.^[14]

Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton, with Mimi and her husband George Toogood Smith, who had no children of their own.^[15] His aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, and his uncle, a dairyman at his family's farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles.^[16] Julia visited Mendips on a regular basis, and John often visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool, where she played him Elvis Presley records, taught him the banjo, and showed him how to play "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino.^[17] In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature:

A part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician. But I cannot be what I am not ... I was the one who all the other boys' parents – including Paul's father – would say, "Keep away from him" ... The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did. I did my best to disrupt every friend's home ... Partly out of envy that I didn't have this so-called home ... but I did ... There were five women that were my family. Five strong, intelligent, beautiful women, five sisters. One happened to be my mother. [She] just couldn't deal with life. She was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn't cope with me, and I ended up living with her elder sister. Now those women were fantastic ... And that was my first feminist education ... I would infiltrate the other boys' minds. I could say, "Parents are not gods because I don't live with mine and, therefore, I know."^[18]

He regularly visited his cousin Stanley Parkes, who lived in Fleetwood and took him on trips to local cinemas.^[19] During the school holidays Parkes often visited Lennon with Leila Harvey, another cousin, and the three often travelled to Blackpool two or three times a week to watch shows. They would visit the Blackpool Tower Circus and see artists such as Dickie Valentine, Arthur Askey, Max Bygraves and Joe Loss, with Parkes recalling that Lennon particularly liked George Formby.^[20] After Parkes's family moved to Scotland, the three cousins often spent their school holidays together there. Parkes recalled, "John, cousin Leila and I were very close. From Edinburgh we would drive up to the family croft at Durness, which was from about the time John was nine years old until he was about 16."^[21] Lennon's uncle George died of a liver haemorrhage on 5 June 1955, aged 52.^[22]

Lennon was raised as an Anglican and attended Dovedale Primary School.^[23] After passing his eleven-plus exam, he attended Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool from September 1952 to 1957, and was described by Harvey at the time as a "happy-go-lucky, good-humoured, easy going, lively lad".^[24] However, he was also known to frequently engage in fights, bully and disrupt classes.^[25] Despite this, he quickly built a reputation as the class clown^[26] and often drew comical cartoons that appeared in his self-made school magazine, the Daily Howl.^[27]^{[nb 2]}

In 1956, Julia bought John his first guitar. The instrument was an inexpensive Gallotone Champion acoustic for which she lent her son five pounds and ten shillings on the condition that the guitar be delivered to her own house and not Mimi's, knowing well that her sister was not supportive of her son's musical aspirations.^[29] Mimi was sceptical of his claim that he would be famous one day, and she hoped that he would grow bored with music, often telling him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it."^[30]

Lennon's senior school years were marked by a shift in his behaviour. Teachers at Quarry Bank High School described him thus: "He has too many wrong ambitions and his energy is often misplaced", and "His work always lacks effort. He is content to 'drift' instead of using his abilities."^[31] Lennon's misbehaviour created a rift in his relationship with his aunt.

On 15 July 1958, at the age of 44, Julia Lennon was struck and killed by a car while she was walking home after visiting the Smiths' house.^[32] His mother's death traumatised the teenage Lennon, who, for the next two years, drank heavily and frequently got into fights, consumed by a "blind rage".^[33] Julia's memory would later serve as a major creative inspiration for Lennon, inspiring songs such as the 1968 Beatles song "Julia".^[34]

Lennon failed his O-level examinations, and was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art after his aunt and headmaster intervened.^[35] At the college he began to wear Teddy Boy clothes and was threatened with expulsion for his behaviour.^[36] In the description of Cynthia Powell, Lennon's fellow student and subsequently his wife, he was "thrown out of the college before his final year".^[37]

The Quarrymen to the Beatles: 1956–1970

[edit]

Formation, fame and touring: 1956–1966

[edit]

At the age of 15, Lennon formed a skiffle group, the Quarrymen. Named after Quarry Bank High School, the group was established by Lennon in September 1956.^[38] By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a "spirited set of songs" made up of half skiffle and half rock and roll.^[39] Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen's second performance, which was held in Woolton on 6 July at the St Peter's Church garden fête. Lennon then asked McCartney to join the band.^[40]

McCartney said that Aunt Mimi "was very aware that John's friends were lower class", and would often patronise him when he arrived to visit Lennon.^[41] According to McCartney's brother Mike, their father similarly disapproved of Lennon, declaring that Lennon would get his son "into trouble".^[42] McCartney's father nevertheless allowed the fledgling band to rehearse in the family's front room at 20 Forthlin Road.^[43]^[44] During this time Lennon wrote his first song, "Hello Little Girl", which became a UK top 10 hit for the Fourmost in 1963.^[45]

McCartney recommended that his friend George Harrison become the lead guitarist.^[46] Lennon thought that Harrison, then 14 years old, was too young. McCartney engineered an audition on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, where Harrison played "Raunchy" for Lennon and was asked to join.^[47] Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend from art school, later joined as bassist.^[48] Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe became "The Beatles" in early 1960. In August that year, the Beatles were engaged for a 48-night residency in Hamburg, in West Germany, and were desperately in need of a drummer. They asked Pete Best to join them.^[49] Lennon's aunt, horrified when he told her about the trip, pleaded with Lennon to continue his art studies instead.^[50] After the first Hamburg residency, the band accepted another in April 1961, and a third in April 1962. As with the other band members, Lennon was introduced to Preludin while in Hamburg,^[51] and regularly took the drug as a stimulant during their long, overnight performances.^[52]

Brian Epstein managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. He had no previous experience managing artists, but he had a strong influence on the group's dress code and attitude on stage.^[53] Lennon initially resisted his attempts to encourage the band to present a professional appearance, but eventually complied, saying "I'll wear a bloody balloon if somebody's going to pay me."^[54] McCartney took over on bass after Sutcliffe decided to stay in Hamburg, and Best was replaced with drummer Ringo Starr; this completed the four-piece line-up that would remain until the group's break-up in 1970. The band's first single, "Love Me Do", was released in October 1962 and reached No. 17 on the British charts. They recorded their debut album, Please Please Me, in under 10 hours on 11 February 1963,^[55] a day when Lennon was suffering the effects of a cold,^[56] which is evident in the vocal on the last song to be recorded that day, "Twist and Shout".^[57] The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership yielded eight of its fourteen tracks. With a few exceptions, one being the album title itself, Lennon had yet to bring his love of wordplay to bear on his song lyrics, saying: "We were just writing songs ... pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant".^[55] In a 1987 interview, McCartney said that the other Beatles idolised Lennon: "He was like our own little Elvis ... We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest."^[58]

The Beatles achieved mainstream success in the UK early in 1963. Lennon was on tour when his first son, Julian, was born in April. During their Royal Variety Show performance, which was attended by the Queen Mother and other British royalty, Lennon poked fun at the audience: "For our next song, I'd like to ask for your help. For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands ... and the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery."^[59] After a year of Beatlemania in the UK, the group's historic February 1964 US debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marked their breakthrough to international stardom. A two-year period of constant touring, filmmaking, and songwriting followed, during which Lennon wrote two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works.^[60] The Beatles received recognition from the British establishment when they were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[61]

Lennon grew concerned that fans who attended Beatles concerts were unable to hear the music above the screaming of fans, and that the band's musicianship was beginning to suffer as a result.^[62] Lennon's "Help!" expressed his own feelings in 1965: "I meant it ... It was me singing 'help'".^[63] He had put on weight (he would later refer to this as his "Fat Elvis" period),^[64] and felt he was subconsciously seeking change.^[65] In March that year he and Harrison were unknowingly introduced to LSD when a dentist, hosting a dinner party attended by the two musicians and their partners, spiked the guests' coffee with the drug.^[66] When they wanted to leave, their host revealed what they had taken, and strongly advised them not to leave the house because of the likely effects. Later, in a lift at a nightclub, they all believed it was on fire; Lennon recalled: "We were all screaming ... hot and hysterical."^[67]

In March 1966, during an interview with Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, Lennon remarked, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink ... We're more popular than Jesus now – I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity."^[68] The comment went virtually unnoticed in England but caused great offence in the US when quoted by a magazine there five months later. The furore that followed, which included the burning of Beatles records, Ku Klux Klan activity and threats against Lennon, contributed to the band's decision to stop touring.^[69]

Studio years, break-up and solo work: 1966–1970

[edit]

After the band's final concert on 29 August 1966, Lennon filmed the anti-war black comedy How I Won the War – his only appearance in a non-Beatles feature film – before rejoining his bandmates for an extended period of recording, beginning in November.^[70] Lennon had increased his use of LSD^[71] and, according to author Ian MacDonald, his continuous use of the drug in 1967 brought him "close to erasing his identity".^[72] The year 1967 saw the release of "Strawberry Fields Forever", hailed by Time magazine for its "astonishing inventiveness",^[73] and the group's landmark album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which revealed lyrics by Lennon that contrasted strongly with the simple love songs of the group's early years.^[74]

In late June, the Beatles performed Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" as Britain's contribution to the Our World satellite broadcast, before an international audience estimated at up to 400 million.^[75] Intentionally simplistic in its message,^[76] the song formalised his pacifist stance and provided an anthem for the Summer of Love.^[77] After the Beatles were introduced to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the group attended an August weekend of personal instruction at his Transcendental Meditation seminar in Bangor, Wales.^[78] During the seminar, they were informed of Epstein's death. "I knew we were in trouble then", Lennon said later. "I didn't have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything other than play music. I was scared – I thought, 'We've fucking had it now.'"^[79] McCartney organised the group's first post-Epstein project,^[80] the self-written, -produced and -directed television film Magical Mystery Tour, which was released in December that year. While the film itself proved to be their first critical flop, its soundtrack release, featuring Lennon's Lewis Carroll–inspired "I Am the Walrus", was a success.^[81]^[82]

Led by Harrison and Lennon's interest, the Beatles travelled to the Maharishi's ashram in India in February 1968 for further guidance.^[83] While there, they composed most of the songs for their double album The Beatles,^[84] but the band members' mixed experience with Transcendental Meditation signalled a sharp divergence in the group's camaraderie.^[85] On their return to London, they became increasingly involved in business activities with the formation of Apple Corps, a multimedia corporation composed of Apple Records and several other subsidiary companies. Lennon described the venture as an attempt to achieve "artistic freedom within a business structure".^[86] Released amid the Protests of 1968, the band's debut single for the Apple label included Lennon's B-side "Revolution", in which he called for a "plan" rather than committing to Maoist revolution. The song's pacifist message led to ridicule from political radicals in the New Left press.^[87] Adding to the tensions at the Beatles' recording sessions that year, Lennon insisted on having his new girlfriend, the Japanese artist Yoko Ono, beside him, thereby contravening the band's policy regarding wives and girlfriends in the studio. He was especially pleased with his songwriting contributions to the double album and identified it as a superior work to Sgt. Pepper.^[88] At the end of 1968, Lennon participated in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, a television special that was not broadcast. Lennon performed with the Dirty Mac, a supergroup composed of Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell. The group also backed a vocal performance by Ono. A film version was released in 1996.^[89]

By late 1968, Lennon's increased drug use and growing preoccupation with Ono, combined with the Beatles' inability to agree on how the company should be run, left Apple in need of professional management. Lennon asked Lord Beeching to take on the role but he declined, advising Lennon to go back to making records. Lennon was approached by Allen Klein, who had managed the Rolling Stones and other bands during the British Invasion. In early 1969, Klein was appointed as Apple's chief executive by Lennon, Harrison and Starr,^[90] but McCartney never signed the management contract.^[91]

Lennon and Ono were married on 20 March 1969 and soon released a series of 14 lithographs called "Bag One" depicting scenes from their honeymoon,^[92] eight of which were deemed indecent and most of which were banned and confiscated.^[93] Lennon's creative focus continued to move beyond the Beatles, and between 1968 and 1969 he and Ono recorded three albums of experimental music together: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins^[94] (known more for its cover than for its music), Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions and Wedding Album. In 1969, they formed the Plastic Ono Band, releasing Live Peace in Toronto 1969. Between 1969 and 1970, Lennon released the singles "Give Peace a Chance", which was widely adopted as an anti-Vietnam War anthem,^[95] "Cold Turkey", which documented his withdrawal symptoms after he became addicted to heroin,^[96] and "Instant Karma!".

Give Peace a Chance

Sample of "Give Peace a Chance", recorded in Montreal in 1969 during Lennon and Ono's second bed-in. As described by biographer Bill Harry, Lennon wanted to "write a peace anthem that would take over from the song 'We Shall Overcome' – and he succeeded ... it became the main anti-Vietnam protest song."^[97]

Problems playing this file? See media help.

In protest at Britain's involvement in "the Nigeria-Biafra thing"^[98] (namely, the Nigerian Civil War),^[99] its support of America in the Vietnam War and (perhaps jokingly) against "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts,^[100] Lennon returned his MBE medal to the Queen. This gesture had no effect on his MBE status, which could be renounced but ultimately only the Sovereign has the power to annul the original award.^[101]^[102] The medal, together with Lennon's letter, is held at the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.^[100]

Lennon left the Beatles on 20 September 1969,^[103] but agreed not to inform the media while the group renegotiated their recording contract. He was outraged that McCartney publicised his own departure on releasing his debut solo album in April 1970. Lennon's reaction was, "Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it!"^[104] He later wrote, "I started the band. I disbanded it. It's as simple as that."^[105] In a December 1970 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, he revealed his bitterness towards McCartney, saying, "I was a fool not to do what Paul did, which was use it to sell a record."^[106] Lennon also spoke of the hostility he perceived the other members had towards Ono, and of how he, Harrison and Starr "got fed up with being sidemen for Paul ... After Brian Epstein died we collapsed. Paul took over and supposedly led us. But what is leading us when we went round in circles?"^[107]

Solo career: 1970–1980

[edit]

Initial solo success and activism: 1970–1972

[edit]

When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system's game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they've got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don't know how to handle is non-violence and humor.

—John Lennon^[108]^[109]

Between 1 April and 15 September 1970, Lennon and Ono went through primal therapy with Arthur Janov at Tittenhurst, in London and at Janov's clinic in Los Angeles, California. Designed to release emotional pain from early childhood, the therapy entailed two half-days a week with Janov for six months; he had wanted to treat the couple for longer, but their American visa ran out and they had to return to the UK.^[110] Lennon's debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970), was received with praise by many music critics, but its highly personal lyrics and stark sound limited its commercial performance.^[111] The album featured the song "Mother", in which Lennon confronted his feelings of childhood rejection,^[112] and the Dylanesque "Working Class Hero", a bitter attack against the bourgeois social system which, due to the lyric "you're still fucking peasants", fell foul of broadcasters.^[113]^[114]

In January 1971, Tariq Ali expressed his revolutionary political views when he interviewed Lennon, who immediately responded by writing "Power to the People". In his lyrics to the song, Lennon reversed the non-confrontational approach he had espoused in "Revolution", although he later disowned "Power to the People", saying that it was borne out of guilt and a desire for approval from radicals such as Ali.^[115] Lennon became involved in a protest against the prosecution of Oz magazine for alleged obscenity. Lennon denounced the proceedings as "disgusting fascism", and he and Ono (as Elastic Oz Band) released the single "God Save Us/Do the Oz" and joined marches in support of the magazine.^[116]

"Imagine"

Sample of "Imagine", Lennon's most widely known post-Beatles song.^[117] Like "Give Peace a Chance", the song became an anti-war anthem, but its lyrics offended religious groups. Lennon's explanation was: "If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion – not without religion, but without this 'my god is bigger than your god' thing – then it can be true."^[118]

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Eager for a major commercial success, Lennon adopted a more accessible sound for his next album, Imagine (1971).^[119] Rolling Stone reported that "it contains a substantial portion of good music" but warned of the possibility that "his posturings will soon seem not merely dull but irrelevant".^[120] The album's title track later became an anthem for anti-war movements,^[121] while the song "How Do You Sleep?" was a musical attack on McCartney in response to lyrics on Ram that Lennon felt, and McCartney later confirmed,^[122] were directed at him and Ono.^[123]^{[nb 3]} In "Jealous Guy", Lennon addressed his demeaning treatment of women, acknowledging that his past behaviour was a result of long-held insecurity.^[125]

In gratitude for his guitar contributions to Imagine, Lennon initially agreed to perform at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh benefit shows in New York.^[126] Harrison refused to allow Ono to participate at the concerts, however, which resulted in the couple having a heated argument and Lennon pulling out of the event.^[127]

Lennon and Ono moved to New York in August 1971 and immediately embraced US radical left politics. The couple released their "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single in December.^[128] During the new year, the Nixon administration took what it called a "strategic counter-measure" against Lennon's anti-war and anti-Nixon propaganda. The administration embarked on what would be a four-year attempt to deport him.^[129]^[130] Lennon was embroiled in a continuing legal battle with the immigration authorities, and he was denied permanent residency in the US; the issue would not be resolved until 1976.^[131]

Some Time in New York City was recorded as a collaboration with Ono and was released in 1972 with backing from the New York band Elephant's Memory. A double LP, it contained songs about women's rights, race relations, Britain's role in Northern Ireland and Lennon's difficulties in obtaining a green card.^[132] The album was a commercial failure and was maligned by critics, who found its political sloganeering heavy-handed and relentless.^[133] The NME's review took the form of an open letter in which Tony Tyler derided Lennon as a "pathetic, ageing revolutionary".^[134] In the US, "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" was released as a single from the album and was televised on 11 May, on The Dick Cavett Show. Many radio stations refused to broadcast the song because of the word "nigger".^[135]

Lennon and Ono gave two benefit concerts with Elephant's Memory and guests in New York in aid of patients at the Willowbrook State School mental facility.^[136] Staged at Madison Square Garden on 30 August 1972, they were his last full-length concert appearances.^[137] After George McGovern lost the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixon, Lennon and Ono attended a post-election wake held in the New York home of activist Jerry Rubin.^[129] Lennon was depressed and got intoxicated; he left Ono embarrassed after he had sex with a female guest. Ono's song "Death of Samantha" was inspired by the incident.^[138]

"Lost weekend": 1973–1975

[edit]

As Lennon was about to record Mind Games in 1973, he and Ono decided to separate. The ensuing 18-month period apart, which he later called his "lost weekend" in reference to the film of the same name,^[139]^[140] was spent in Los Angeles and New York City in the company of May Pang.^[141] Mind Games, credited to the "Plastic U.F.Ono Band", was released in November 1973. Lennon also contributed "I'm the Greatest" to Starr's album Ringo (1973), released the same month. With Harrison joining Starr and Lennon at the recording session for the song, it marked the only occasion when three former Beatles recorded together between the band's break-up and Lennon's death.^[142]^{[nb 4]}

In early 1974, Lennon was drinking heavily and his alcohol-fuelled antics with Harry Nilsson made headlines. In March, two widely publicised incidents occurred at The Troubadour club. In the first incident, Lennon stuck an unused menstrual pad on his forehead and scuffled with a waitress. The second incident occurred two weeks later, when Lennon and Nilsson were ejected from the same club after heckling the Smothers Brothers.^[144] Lennon decided to produce Nilsson's album Pussy Cats, and Pang rented a Los Angeles beach house for all the musicians.^[145] After a month of further debauchery, the recording sessions were in chaos, and Lennon returned to New York with Pang to finish work on the album. In April, Lennon had produced the Mick Jagger song "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)" which was, for contractual reasons, to remain unreleased for more than 30 years. Pang supplied the recording for its eventual inclusion on The Very Best of Mick Jagger (2007).^[146]

Lennon had settled back in New York when he recorded the album Walls and Bridges. Released in October 1974, it included "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", which featured Elton John on backing vocals and piano, and became Lennon's only single as a solo artist to top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during his lifetime.^[147]^{[nb 5]} A second single from the album, "#9 Dream", followed before the end of the year. Starr's Goodnight Vienna (1974) again saw assistance from Lennon, who wrote the title track and played piano.^[149] On 28 November, Lennon made a surprise guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving concert at Madison Square Garden, in fulfilment of his promise to join the singer in a live show if "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", a song whose commercial potential Lennon had doubted, reached number one. Lennon performed the song along with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There", which he introduced as "a song by an old estranged fiancé of mine called Paul".^[150]

In the first two weeks of January 1975, Elton John topped the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with his cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", featuring Lennon on guitar and backing vocals - Lennon is credited on the single under the moniker of "Dr. Winston O'Boogie". As January became February, Lennon and Ono reunited as Lennon and Bowie completed recording of their co-composition "Fame",^[110]^[151]^[152]^[153] which became David Bowie's first US number one, featuring guitar and backing vocals by Lennon. In February, Lennon released Rock 'n' Roll (1975), an album of cover songs. "Stand by Me", taken from the album and a US and UK hit, became his last single for five years.^[154] He made what would be his final stage appearance in the ATV special A Salute to Lew Grade, recorded on 18 April and televised in June.^[155] Playing acoustic guitar and backed by an eight-piece band, Lennon performed two songs from Rock 'n' Roll ("Stand by Me", which was not broadcast, and "Slippin' and Slidin'") followed by "Imagine".^[155] The band, known as Etc., wore masks behind their heads, a dig by Lennon, who thought Grade was two-faced.^[156]

Hiatus and return: 1975–1980

[edit]

Lennon began what would be a five-year hiatus from the music industry, during which time, he later said, he "baked bread" and "looked after the baby".^[157] He devoted himself to Sean, rising at 6 am daily to plan and prepare his meals and to spend time with him.^[158] He wrote "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" for Starr's Ringo's Rotogravure (1976), performing on the track in June in what would be his last recording session until 1980.^[159]

Sean Lennon, Lennon's only child with Ono, was born on 9 October 1975 (Lennon's thirty-fifth birthday), after which Lennon took on the role of househusband. He formally announced his break from music in Tokyo in 1977, saying, "we have basically decided, without any great decision, to be with our baby as much as we can until we feel we can take time off to indulge ourselves in creating things outside of the family."^[160] During his career break he created several series of drawings, and drafted a book containing a mix of autobiographical material and what he termed "mad stuff",^[161] all of which would be published posthumously.

Lennon emerged from his hiatus in October 1980, when he released the single "(Just Like) Starting Over". In November, he and Ono released the album Double Fantasy, which included songs Lennon had written in Bermuda. In June, Lennon chartered a 43-foot sailboat and embarked on a sailing trip to Bermuda. En route, he and the crew encountered a storm, rendering everyone on board seasick, except Lennon, who took control and sailed the boat through the storm. This experience re-invigorated him and his creative muse. He spent three weeks in Bermuda in a home called Fairylands writing and refining the tracks for the upcoming album.^[162]^[163]^[164]^[165]

The music reflected Lennon's fulfilment in his new-found stable family life.^[166] Sufficient additional material was recorded for a planned follow-up album Milk and Honey, which was issued posthumously, in 1984.^[167] Double Fantasy was not well received initially and drew comments such as Melody Maker's "indulgent sterility ... a godawful yawn".^[168]

Murder

[edit]

In New York, at approximately 5:00 p.m. on 8 December 1980, Lennon autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Mark David Chapman before leaving The Dakota with Ono for a recording session at the Record Plant.^[169] After the session, Lennon and Ono returned to the Dakota in a limousine at around 10:50 p.m. (EST). They left the vehicle and walked through the archway of the building. Chapman then shot Lennon twice in the back and twice in the shoulder^[170] at close range. Lennon was rushed in a police cruiser to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15 p.m. (EST).^[171]^[172]

Ono issued a statement the next day, saying "There is no funeral for John. Later in the week we will set the time for a silent vigil to pray for his soul. We invite you to participate from wherever you are at the time." She requested that instead of flowers, people could donate to Lennon's personal charitable foundation, the Spirit Foundation. "John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love. Yoko and Sean."^[173]^[174] His remains were cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Ono scattered his ashes in New York's Central Park, where the Strawberry Fields memorial was later created.^[175] Chapman avoided going to trial when he ignored his lawyer's advice and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20-years-to-life.^[176]^{[nb 6]}

In the weeks following the murder, "(Just Like) Starting Over" and Double Fantasy topped the charts in the UK and the US.^[178] "Imagine" hit number one in the UK in January 1981 and "Happy Xmas" peaked at number two.^[179] "Imagine" was succeeded at the top of the UK chart by "Woman", the second single from Double Fantasy.^[180] Later that year, Roxy Music's cover version of "Jealous Guy", recorded as a tribute to Lennon, was also a UK number-one.^[23]

Personal relationships

[edit]

Cynthia Lennon

[edit]

Lennon met Cynthia Powell (1939–2015) in 1957, when they were fellow students at the Liverpool College of Art.^[181] Although Powell was intimidated by Lennon's attitude and appearance, she heard that he was obsessed with the French actress Brigitte Bardot, so she dyed her hair blonde. Lennon asked her out, but when she said that she was engaged, he shouted, "I didn't ask you to fuckin' marry me, did I?"^[182] She often accompanied him to Quarrymen gigs and travelled to Hamburg with McCartney's girlfriend to visit him.^[183]

Lennon was jealous by nature and eventually grew possessive, often terrifying Powell with his anger.^[184] In her 2005 memoir John, Powell recalled that, when they were dating, Lennon once struck her after he observed her dancing with Stuart Sutcliffe.^[185] She ended their relationship as a result, until three months later, when Lennon apologised and asked to reunite.^[186] She took him back and later noted that he was never again physically abusive towards her, although he could still be "verbally cutting and unkind".^[187] Lennon later said that until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitude towards women. He said that the Beatles song "Getting Better" told his (or his peers') own story. "I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace".^[188]

Recalling his July 1962 reaction when he learned that Cynthia was pregnant, Lennon said, "There's only one thing for it Cyn. We'll have to get married."^[189] The couple wed on 23 August at the Mount Pleasant Register Office in Liverpool, with Brian Epstein serving as best man. His marriage began just as Beatlemania was taking off across the UK. He performed on the evening of his wedding day and would continue to do so almost daily from then on.^[190] Epstein feared that fans would be alienated by the idea of a married Beatle, and he asked the Lennons to keep their marriage secret. Julian was born on 8 April 1963; Lennon was on tour at the time and did not see his infant son until three days later.^[191]

Cynthia attributed the start of the marriage breakdown to Lennon's use of LSD, and she felt that he slowly lost interest in her as a result of his use of the drug.^[192] When the group travelled by train to Bangor, Wales in 1967 for the Maharishi Yogi's Transcendental Meditation seminar, a policeman did not recognise her and stopped her from boarding. She later recalled how the incident seemed to symbolise the end of their marriage.^[193] After spending a holiday in Greece,^[194] Cynthia arrived home at Kenwood to find Lennon sitting on the floor with Ono in terrycloth robes^[195] and left the house to stay with friends, feeling shocked and humiliated.^[196] A few weeks later, Alexis Mardas informed Powell that Lennon was seeking a divorce and custody of Julian.^[197] She received a letter stating that Lennon was doing so on the grounds of her adultery with Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, an accusation which Powell denied.^[198] After negotiations, Lennon capitulated and agreed to let her divorce him on the same grounds (adultery).^[199] The case was settled out of court in November 1968, with Lennon giving her £100,000, a small annual payment, and custody of Julian.^[200]

Brian Epstein

[edit]

The Beatles were performing at Liverpool's Cavern Club in November 1961 when they were introduced to Brian Epstein after a midday concert. Epstein was homosexual and closeted, and according to biographer Philip Norman, one of Epstein's reasons for wanting to manage the group was that he was attracted to Lennon.^{[citation needed]} Later biographer Mark Lewisohn called the claim unsubstantiated and wrote:

Suggestions that it was only homoerotic fantasy that drew Brian Epstein to the Beatles are distortion ... and perform a malign disservice to both him and them. It may have been part of the mix, but he was, above all else, simply the latest in an ever-lengthening line of people seduced by the Beatles' singular mix of talents.^[201]

Almost as soon as Julian was born, Lennon went on holiday to Spain with Epstein, which led to speculation about their relationship. When he was later questioned about it, Lennon said, "Well, it was almost a love affair, but not quite. It was never consummated. But it was a pretty intense relationship. It was my first experience with a homosexual that I was conscious was homosexual. We used to sit in a café in Torremolinos looking at all the boys and I'd say, 'Do you like that one? Do you like this one?' I was rather enjoying the experience, thinking like a writer all the time: I am experiencing this."^[202] Soon after their return from Spain, at McCartney's twenty-first birthday party in June 1963, Lennon physically attacked Cavern Club master of ceremonies Bob Wooler for saying "How was your honeymoon, John?" The MC, known for his wordplay and affectionate but cutting remarks, was making a joke,^[203] but ten months had passed since Lennon's marriage, and the deferred honeymoon was still two months in the future.^[204] Lennon was drunk. He later said: "He called me a queer so I battered his bloody ribs in."^[205]

Lennon delighted in mocking Epstein for his homosexuality and for the fact that he was Jewish.^[206] When Epstein invited suggestions for the title of his autobiography, Lennon offered Queer Jew; on learning of the eventual title, A Cellarful of Noise, he parodied, "More like A Cellarful of Boys".^[207] He demanded of a visitor to Epstein's flat, "Have you come to blackmail him? If not, you're the only bugger in London who hasn't."^[206] During the recording of "Baby, You're a Rich Man", he sang altered choruses of "Baby, you're a rich fag Jew".^[208]^[209]

Julian Lennon

[edit]

During his marriage to Cynthia, Lennon's first son Julian was born at the same time that his commitments with the Beatles were intensifying at the height of Beatlemania. Lennon was touring with the Beatles when Julian was born on 8 April 1963. Julian's birth, like his mother Cynthia's marriage to Lennon, was kept secret because Epstein was convinced that public knowledge of such things would threaten the Beatles' commercial success. Julian recalled that as a small child in Weybridge some four years later, "I was trundled home from school and came walking up with one of my watercolour paintings. It was just a bunch of stars and this blonde girl I knew at school. And Dad said, 'What's this?' I said, 'It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds.'"^[210] Lennon used it as the title of a Beatles song, and though it was later reported to have been derived from the initials LSD, Lennon insisted, "It's not an acid song."^[211] Lennon was distant from Julian, who felt closer to McCartney than to his father. During a car journey to visit Cynthia and Julian during Lennon's divorce, McCartney composed a song, "Hey Jules", to comfort him. It would evolve into the Beatles song "Hey Jude". Lennon later said, "That's his best song. It started off as a song about my son Julian ... he turned it into 'Hey Jude'. I always thought it was about me and Yoko but he said it wasn't."^[212]

Lennon's relationship with Julian was already strained, and after Lennon and Ono moved to New York in 1971, Julian did not see his father again until 1973.^[213] With Pang's encouragement, arrangements were made for Julian and his mother to visit Lennon in Los Angeles, where they went to Disneyland.^[214] Julian started to see his father regularly, and Lennon gave him a drumming part on a Walls and Bridges track.^[215] He bought Julian a Gibson Les Paul guitar and other instruments, and encouraged his interest in music by demonstrating guitar chord techniques.^[215] Julian recalls that he and his father "got on a great deal better" during the time he spent in New York: "We had a lot of fun, laughed a lot and had a great time in general."^[216]

In a Playboy interview with David Sheff shortly before his death, Lennon said, "Sean is a planned child, and therein lies the difference. I don't love Julian any less as a child. He's still my son, whether he came from a bottle of whiskey or because they didn't have pills in those days. He's here, he belongs to me, and he always will."^[217] He said he was trying to reestablish a connection with the then 17-year-old, and confidently predicted, "Julian and I will have a relationship in the future."^[217] After his death it was revealed that he had left Julian very little in his will.^[218]

Yoko Ono

[edit]

Lennon first met Yoko Ono on 9 November 1966 at the Indica Gallery in London, where Ono was preparing her conceptual art exhibit. They were introduced by gallery owner John Dunbar.^[219] Lennon was intrigued by Ono's "Hammer A Nail": patrons hammered a nail into a wooden board, creating the art piece. Although the exhibition had not yet begun, Lennon wanted to hammer a nail into the clean board, but Ono stopped him. Dunbar asked her, "Don't you know who this is? He's a millionaire! He might buy it." According to Lennon's recollection in 1980, Ono had not heard of the Beatles, but she relented on condition that Lennon pay her five shillings, to which Lennon said he replied, "I'll give you an imaginary five shillings and hammer an imaginary nail in."^[220] Ono subsequently related that Lennon had taken a bite out of the apple on display in her work Apple, much to her fury.^[221]^{[nb 7]}

Ono began to telephone and visit Lennon at his home. When Cynthia asked him for an explanation, Lennon explained that Ono was only trying to obtain money for her "avant-garde bullshit".^[224] While his wife was on holiday in Greece in May 1968, Lennon invited Ono to visit. They spent the night recording what would become the Two Virgins album, after which, he said, they "made love at dawn".^[225] When Lennon's wife returned home she found Ono wearing her bathrobe and drinking tea with Lennon who simply said, "Oh, hi."^[226] Ono became pregnant in 1968 and miscarried a male child on 21 November 1968,^[175] a few weeks after Lennon's divorce from Cynthia was granted.^[227]

Two years before the Beatles disbanded, Lennon and Ono began public protests against the Vietnam War. They were married in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969,^[228] and spent their honeymoon at the Hilton Amsterdam, campaigning with a week-long bed-in. They planned another bed-in in the United States, but were denied entry,^[229] so held one instead at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, where they recorded "Give Peace a Chance".^[230] They often combined advocacy with performance art, as in their "Bagism", first introduced during a Vienna press conference. Lennon detailed this period in the Beatles song "The Ballad of John and Yoko".^[231] Lennon changed his name by deed poll on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name. The brief ceremony took place on the roof of the Apple Corps building, where the Beatles had performed their rooftop concert three months earlier. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, some official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon.^[2] The couple settled at Tittenhurst Park at Sunninghill in Berkshire.^[232] After Ono was injured in a car accident, Lennon arranged for a king-size bed to be brought to the recording studio as he worked on the Beatles' album, Abbey Road.^[233]

Ono and Lennon moved to New York, to a flat on Bank Street, Greenwich Village. Looking for somewhere with better security, they relocated in 1973 to the more secure Dakota overlooking Central Park at 1 West 72nd Street.^[234]

May Pang

[edit]

ABKCO Industries was formed in 1968 by Allen Klein as an umbrella company to ABKCO Records. Klein hired May Pang as a receptionist in 1969. Through involvement in a project with ABKCO, Lennon and Ono met her the following year. She became their personal assistant. In 1973, after she had been working with the couple for three years, Ono confided that she and Lennon were becoming estranged. She went on to suggest that Pang should begin a physical relationship with Lennon, telling her, "He likes you a lot." Astounded by Ono's proposition, Pang nevertheless agreed to become Lennon's companion. The pair soon left for Los Angeles, beginning an 18-month period he later called his "lost weekend".^[139] In Los Angeles, Pang encouraged Lennon to develop regular contact with Julian, whom he had not seen for two years. He also rekindled friendships with Starr, McCartney, Beatles roadie Mal Evans, and Harry Nilsson.

In June, Lennon and Pang returned to Manhattan in their newly rented penthouse apartment where they prepared a spare room for Julian when he visited them.^[235] Lennon, who had been inhibited by Ono in this regard, began to reestablish contact with other relatives and friends. By December, he and Pang were considering a house purchase, and he refused to accept Ono's telephone calls. In February 1975, he agreed to meet Ono, who claimed to have found a cure for smoking. After the meeting, he failed to return home or call Pang. When Pang telephoned the next day, Ono told her that Lennon was unavailable because he was exhausted after a hypnotherapy session. Two days later, Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment; he was stupefied and confused to such an extent that Pang believed he had been brainwashed. Lennon told Pang that his separation from Ono was now over, although Ono would allow him to continue seeing her as his mistress.^[236]

Sean Lennon

[edit]

Sean Ono Lennon was born on 9 October 1975, his father's 35th birthday. Ono had previously suffered three miscarriages in her attempt to have a child with Lennon. After Ono and Lennon were reunited, she became pregnant again. She initially said that she wanted to have an abortion but changed her mind and agreed to allow the pregnancy to continue on the condition that Lennon adopt the role of househusband, which he agreed to do.^[237]

Following Sean's birth, Lennon's subsequent hiatus from the music industry would span five years. He had a photographer take pictures of Sean every day of his first year and created numerous drawings for him, which were posthumously published as Real Love: The Drawings for Sean. Lennon later proudly declared, "He didn't come out of my belly but, by God, I made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and to how he sleeps, and to the fact that he swims like a fish."^[238]

Former Beatles

[edit]

While Lennon remained consistently friendly with Starr during the years that followed the Beatles' break-up in 1970, his relationships with McCartney and Harrison varied. He was initially close to Harrison, but the two drifted apart after Lennon moved to the US in 1971. When Harrison was in New York for his December 1974 Dark Horse tour, Lennon agreed to join him on stage but failed to appear after an argument over Lennon's refusal to sign an agreement that would finally dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership.^[239]^{[nb 8]} Harrison later said that when he visited Lennon during his five years away from music, he sensed that Lennon was trying to communicate, but his bond with Ono prevented him.^[240]^[241] Harrison offended Lennon in 1980 when he published I, Me, Mine, an autobiography that Lennon felt made little mention of him.^[242] Lennon told Playboy, "I was hurt by it. By glaring omission ... my influence on his life is absolutely zilch ... he remembers every two-bit sax player or guitarist he met in subsequent years. I'm not in the book."^[243]

Lennon's most intense feelings were reserved for McCartney. In addition to attacking him with the lyrics of "How Do You Sleep?", Lennon argued with him through the press for three years after the group split. The two later began to reestablish something of the close friendship they had once known, and, on one occasion in 1974, even recorded music together (later bootlegged as A Toot and a Snore in '74) before eventually growing apart once more. During McCartney's final visit in April 1976, Lennon said that they watched the episode of Saturday Night Live in which Lorne Michaels made a $3,000 offer to get the Beatles to reunite on the show.^[244] According to Lennon, the pair considered going to the studio to make a joke appearance, attempting to claim their share of the money, but they were too tired.^[245] Lennon summarised his feelings towards McCartney in an interview three days before his death: "Throughout my career, I've selected to work with ... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono ... That ain't bad picking."^[246]

Along with his estrangement from McCartney, Lennon always felt a musical competitiveness with him and kept an ear on his music. During his career break from 1975 until shortly before his death, according to Fred Seaman, Lennon and Ono's assistant at the time, Lennon was content to sit back as long as McCartney was producing what Lennon saw as mediocre material.^[247] Lennon took notice when McCartney released "Coming Up" in 1980, which was the year Lennon returned to the studio. "It's driving me crackers!" he jokingly complained, because he could not get the tune out of his head.^[247] That same year, Lennon was asked whether the group were dreaded enemies or the best of friends, and he replied that they were neither, and that he had not seen any of them in a long time. But he also said, "I still love those guys. The Beatles are over, but John, Paul, George and Ringo go on."^[248]

Political activism

[edit]

Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon as a bed-in at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel; the March 1969 event attracted worldwide media ridicule.^[249]^[250] During a second bed-in three months later at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal,^[251] Lennon wrote and recorded "Give Peace a Chance". Released as a single, the song was quickly interpreted as an anti-war anthem and sung by a quarter of a million demonstrators against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC, on 15 November, the second Vietnam Moratorium Day.^[95]^[252] In December, they paid for billboards in 10 cities around the world which declared, in the national language, "War Is Over! If You Want It".^[253]

During the year, Lennon and Ono began to support efforts by the family of James Hanratty to prove his innocence.^[254] Hanratty had been hanged in 1962. According to Lennon, those who had condemned Hanratty were "the same people who are running guns to South Africa and killing blacks in the streets ... The same bastards are in control, the same people are running everything, it's the whole bullshit bourgeois scene."^[255] In London, Lennon and Ono staged a "Britain Murdered Hanratty" banner march and a "Silent Protest For James Hanratty",^[256] and produced a 40-minute documentary on the case. At an appeal hearing more than thirty years later, Hanratty's conviction was upheld after DNA evidence was found to match, validating those who condemned him.^[257]

Lennon and Ono showed their solidarity with the Clydeside UCS workers' work-in of 1971 by sending a bouquet of red roses and a cheque for £5,000.^[258] On moving to New York City in August that year, they befriended two of the Chicago Seven, Yippie peace activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman.^[259] Another political activist, John Sinclair, poet and co-founder of the White Panther Party, was serving ten years in prison for selling two joints of marijuana after previous convictions for possession of the drug.^[260] In December 1971 at Ann Arbor, Michigan, 15,000 people attended the "John Sinclair Freedom Rally", a protest and benefit concert with contributions from Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, and others.^[261] Lennon and Ono, backed by David Peel and Jerry Rubin, performed an acoustic set of four songs from their forthcoming Some Time in New York City album including "John Sinclair", whose lyrics called for his release. The day before the rally, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that significantly reduced the penalties for possession of marijuana and four days later Sinclair was released on an appeal bond.^[130] The performance was recorded and two of the tracks later appeared on John Lennon Anthology (1998).^[262]

Following the Bloody Sunday incident in Northern Ireland in 1972, Lennon said that given the choice between the British army and the IRA he would side with the latter. Lennon and Ono wrote two songs protesting British presence and actions in Ireland for their Some Time in New York City album: "The Luck of the Irish" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday". In 2000, David Shayler, a former member of Britain's domestic security service MI5, suggested that Lennon had given money to the IRA, though this was swiftly denied by Ono.^[263] Biographer Bill Harry records that following Bloody Sunday, Lennon and Ono financially supported the production of the film The Irish Tapes, a political documentary with an Irish Republican slant.^[264] In February 2000 Lennon's cousin Stanley Parkes stated that the singer had given money to the IRA during the 1970s.^[265] After the events of Bloody Sunday Lennon and Ono attended a protest in London while displaying a Red Mole newspaper with the headline "For the IRA, Against British Imperialism".^[266]

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.

—John Lennon^[267]

According to FBI surveillance reports, and confirmed by Tariq Ali in 2006, Lennon was sympathetic to the International Marxist Group, a Trotskyist group formed in Britain in 1968.^[268] However, the FBI considered Lennon to have limited effectiveness as a revolutionary, as he was "constantly under the influence of narcotics".^[269]

In 1972, Lennon contributed a drawing and limerick titled "Why Make It Sad to Be Gay?" to Len Richmond and Gary Noguera's The Gay Liberation Book.^[270]^[271] Lennon's last act of political activism was a statement in support of the striking minority sanitation workers in San Francisco on 5 December 1980. He and Ono planned to join the workers' protest on 14 December.^[272]

Deportation attempt

[edit]

Following the impact of "Give Peace a Chance" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" on the anti-war movement, the Nixon administration heard rumours of Lennon's involvement in a concert to be held in San Diego at the same time as the 1972 Republican National Convention^[273] and tried to have him deported. Nixon believed that Lennon's anti-war activities could cost him his reelection;^[274] Republican Senator Strom Thurmond suggested in a February 1972 memo that "deportation would be a strategic counter-measure" against Lennon.^[275] The next month the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began deportation proceedings, arguing that his 1968 misdemeanour conviction for cannabis possession in London had made him ineligible for admission to the United States. Lennon spent the next 3+1⁄2 years in and out of deportation hearings until 8 October 1975, when a court of appeals barred the deportation attempt, stating "the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds".^[276]^[132] While the legal battle continued, Lennon attended rallies and made television appearances. He and Ono co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show for a week in February 1972, introducing guests such as Jerry Rubin and Bobby Seale to mid-America.^[277] In 1972, Bob Dylan wrote a letter to the INS defending Lennon, stating:

John and Yoko add a great voice and drive to the country's so-called art institution. They inspire and transcend and stimulate and by doing so, only help others to see pure light and in doing that, put an end to this dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as Artist Art by the overpowering mass media. Hurray for John and Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!^[278]^[279]

On 23 March 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days.^[280] Ono, meanwhile, was granted permanent residence. In response, Lennon and Ono held a press conference on 1 April 1973 at the New York City Bar Association, where they announced the formation of the state of Nutopia; a place with "no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people".^[281] Waving the white flag of Nutopia (two handkerchiefs), they asked for political asylum in the US. The press conference was filmed, and appeared in a 2006 documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon.^[282]^{[nb 9]} Soon after the press conference, Nixon's involvement in a political scandal came to light, and in June the Watergate hearings began in Washington, D.C.. They led to the president's resignation 14 months later.^[284] In December 1974, when he and members of his tour entourage visited the White House, Harrison asked Gerald Ford, Nixon's successor, to intercede in the matter.^[285] Ford's administration showed little interest in continuing the battle against Lennon, and the deportation order was overturned in 1975. The following year, Lennon received his green card certifying his permanent residency, and when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as president in January 1977, Lennon and Ono attended the Inaugural Ball.^[284]

FBI surveillance and declassified documents

[edit]

After Lennon's death, historian Jon Wiener filed a Freedom of Information Act request for FBI files that documented the Bureau's role in the deportation attempt.^[286] The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on Lennon, but refused to release most of them on the grounds that they contained national security information. In 1983, Wiener sued the FBI with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. It took 14 years of litigation to force the FBI to release the withheld pages.^[287] The ACLU, representing Wiener, won a favourable decision in their suit against the FBI in the Ninth Circuit in 1991.^[288]^[289] The Justice Department appealed the decision to the Supreme Court in April 1992, but the court declined to review the case.^[290] In 1997, respecting President Bill Clinton's newly instigated rule that documents should be withheld only if releasing them would involve "foreseeable harm", the Justice Department settled most of the outstanding issues outside court by releasing all but 10 of the contested documents.^[290]

Wiener published the results of his 14-year campaign in January 2000. Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files contained facsimiles of the documents, including "lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges".^[291] The story is told in the documentary The US vs. John Lennon. The final 10 documents in Lennon's FBI file, which reported on his ties with London anti-war activists in 1971 and had been withheld as containing "national security information provided by a foreign government under an explicit promise of confidentiality", were released in December 2006. They contained no indication that the British government had regarded Lennon as a serious threat; one example of the released material was a report that two prominent British leftists had hoped Lennon would finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room.^[292]

Writing

[edit]

Beatles biographer Bill Harry wrote that Lennon began drawing and writing creatively at an early age with the encouragement of his uncle. He collected his stories, poetry, cartoons and caricatures in a Quarry Bank High School exercise book that he called the Daily Howl. The drawings were often of crippled people, and the writings satirical, and throughout the book was an abundance of wordplay. According to classmate Bill Turner, Lennon created the Daily Howl to amuse his best friend and later Quarrymen bandmate Pete Shotton, to whom he would show his work before he let anyone else see it. Turner said that Lennon "had an obsession for Wigan Pier. It kept cropping up", and in Lennon's story A Carrot in a Potato Mine, "the mine was at the end of Wigan Pier." Turner described how one of Lennon's cartoons depicted a bus stop sign annotated with the question, "Why?" Above was a flying pancake, and below, "a blind man wearing glasses leading along a blind dog – also wearing glasses".^[293]

Lennon's love of wordplay and nonsense with a twist found a wider audience when he was 24. Harry writes that In His Own Write (1964) was published after "Some journalist who was hanging around the Beatles came to me and I ended up showing him the stuff. They said, 'Write a book' and that's how the first one came about". Like the Daily Howl it contained a mix of formats including short stories, poetry, plays and drawings. One story, "Good Dog Nigel", tells the tale of "a happy dog, urinating on a lamp post, barking, wagging his tail – until he suddenly hears a message that he will be killed at three o'clock". The Times Literary Supplement considered the poems and stories "remarkable ... also very funny ... the nonsense runs on, words and images prompting one another in a chain of pure fantasy". Book Week reported, "This is nonsense writing, but one has only to review the literature of nonsense to see how well Lennon has brought it off. While some of his homonyms are gratuitous word play, many others have not only double meaning but a double edge." Lennon was not only surprised by the positive reception, but that the book was reviewed at all, and suggested that readers "took the book more seriously than I did myself. It just began as a laugh for me".^[294]

In combination with A Spaniard in the Works (1965), In His Own Write formed the basis of the stage play The Lennon Play: In His Own Write,^[295] co-adapted by Victor Spinetti and Adrienne Kennedy.^[296] After negotiations between Lennon, Spinetti and the artistic director of the National Theatre, Sir Laurence Olivier, the play opened at The Old Vic in 1968. Lennon and Ono attended the opening night performance, their second public appearance together.^[296] In 1969, Lennon wrote "Four in Hand", a skit based on his teenage experiences of group masturbation, for Kenneth Tynan's play Oh! Calcutta!^[297] After Lennon's death, further works were published, including Skywriting by Word of Mouth (1986), Ai: Japan Through John Lennon's Eyes: A Personal Sketchbook (1992), with Lennon's illustrations of the definitions of Japanese words, and Real Love: The Drawings for Sean (1999). The Beatles Anthology (2000) also presented examples of his writings and drawings.

Art

[edit]

In 1967, Lennon, who had attended art school, funded and anonymously participated in Ono's art exhibition Half-A-Room that was held at Lisson Gallery. Following his collaborating with Ono in the form of The Plastic Ono Band that began in 1968, Lennon became involved with the Fluxus art movement. In the summer of 1968, Lennon began showing his painting and conceptual art at his You Are Here art exhibition held at Robert Fraser Gallery in London.^[298] The show, that was dedicated to Ono, included a six foot in diameter round white monochrome painting called You Are Here (1968). Besides the white monochrome paint, its surface contained only the tiny hand written inscription "you are here". This painting, and the show in general, was conceived as a response to Ono's conceptual art piece This is Not Here (1966) that was part of her Fluxus installation of wall text pieces called Blue Room Event (1966). Blue Room Event consisted of sentences that Ono wrote directly on her white New York apartment walls and ceiling. Lennon's You Are Here show also included sixty charity collection boxes, a pair of Lennon's shoes with a sign that read "I take my shoes off to you", a ready made black bike (an apparent homage to Marcel Duchamp and his 1917 Bicycle Wheel), an overturned white hat labeled For The Artist, and a large glass jar full of free-to-take you are here white pin badges.^[299] A hidden camera secretly filmed the public reaction to the show.^[300] For the 1 July opening, Lennon, dressed all in white (as was Ono), released 365 white balloons into the city sky. Each ballon had attached to it a small paper card to be mailed back to Lennon at the Robert Fraser Gallery at 69 Duke Street, with the finder's comments.^[301]

After moving to New York City, from 18 April to 12 June 1970, Lennon and Ono presented a series of Fluxus conceptual art events and concerts at Joe Jones's Tone Deaf Music Store called GRAPEFRUIT FLUXBANQUET. Performances included Come Impersonating John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Grapefruit Banquet and Portrait of John Lennon as a Young Cloud by Yoko + Everybody.^[302] That same year, Lennon also made The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game (1970): a conceptual art poem collage that utilized the cut-up (or découpé) aleatory technique typical of the work of John Cage and many Fluxus artists. The cut-up technique can be traced to at least the Dadaists of the 1920s, but was popularized in the early 1960s by writer William S. Burroughs. For The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game, Lennon took the portrait photo of himself that was included in the packaging of the 1968 The Beatles LP (aka The White Album) and cut it into 134 small rectangles. A single word was written on the back of each fragment, to be read in any order. The portrait image was meant to be reassembled in any order. The Complete Yoko Ono Word Poem Game was presented by Lennon to Ono on 28 July in an inscribed envelope for her to randomly assemble and reassemble at will.^[303]

Lennon made whimsical drawings and fine art prints on occasion until the end of his life.^[304] For example, he drew a 1968 comic for the macrobiotic magazine Harmony and one printed inside the sleeve of his Wedding Album (1969).^[305] Lennon exhibited at Eugene Schuster's London Arts Gallery his Bag One lithographs in an exhibition that included several depicting erotic imagery. The show opened on 15 January 1970 and 24 hours later it was raided by police officers who confiscated 8 of the 14 lithos on the grounds of indecency. The lithographs had been drawn by Lennon in 1969 chronicling his wedding and honeymoon with Yoko Ono and one of their bed-ins staged in the interests of world peace.^[306]

In 1969, Lennon appeared in the Yoko Ono Fluxus art film Self-Portrait, which consisted of a single forty-minute shot of Lennon's penis.^[307] The film was premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.^[308]^[309] In 1971, Lennon made an experimental art film called Erection that was edited on 16 mm film^[310] by George Maciunas, founder of the Fluxus art movement and avant-garde contemporary of Ono.^[311] The film uses the songs "Airmale" and "You" from Ono's 1971 album Fly, as its soundtrack.^[312]

Musicianship

[edit]

Instruments

[edit]

Lennon played a mouth organ during a bus journey to visit his cousin in Scotland. Impressed, the driver told Lennon of a harmonica he could have if he came to Edinburgh the following day, where one had been stored in the bus depot since a passenger had left it on a bus.^[313] The professional instrument quickly replaced Lennon's toy; he often used the instrument during the Beatles' Hamburg years, and it became a signature sound in the group's early recordings. His mother taught him how to play the banjo, later buying him an acoustic guitar. At 16, he played rhythm guitar with the Quarrymen.^[314]

As his career progressed, he played a variety of electric guitars, predominantly the Rickenbacker 325, Epiphone Casino and Gibson J-160E, and, from the start of his solo career, the Gibson Les Paul Junior.^[315]^[316] Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas claimed that since his Beatle days Lennon habitually tuned his D-string slightly flat, so his Aunt Mimi could tell which guitar was his on recordings.^[317] Occasionally he played a six-string bass guitar, the Fender Bass VI, providing bass on some Beatles numbers ("Back in the U.S.S.R.", "The Long and Winding Road", "Helter Skelter") that occupied McCartney with another instrument.^[318] His other instrument of choice was the piano, on which he composed many songs, including "Imagine", described as his best-known solo work.^[319] His jamming on a piano with McCartney in 1963 led to the creation of the Beatles' first US number one, "I Want to Hold Your Hand".^[320] In 1964, he became one of the first British musicians to acquire a Mellotron keyboard, though it was not heard on a Beatles recording until "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1967.^[321]

In 2024, a guitar of Lennon's that was thought to have been lost was found in an attic and auctioned at Julien's Auctions for $2.9 million (2.68 million euros)^[322]

Vocal style

[edit]

Lennon's vocal style was heavily influenced by Little Richard, Larry Williams and Little Willie John; the British music writer Ian MacDonald noted that "no white singer" had been able to imitate them successfully before Lennon and McCartney. MacDonald contrasted Lennon's singing voice, a "brassy northern roar flecked with bluesy moans", with the "conventionally glamorous" voices of earlier artists such as Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard.^[323] The British critic Nik Cohn observed of Lennon, "He owned one of the best pop voices ever, rasped and smashed and brooding, always fierce." Cohn wrote that Lennon, performing "Twist and Shout", would "rant his way into total incoherence, half rupture himself".^[324] When the Beatles recorded the song, the final track during the one-day session that produced the band's 1963 debut album, Please Please Me, Lennon's voice, already compromised by a cold, came close to giving out. Lennon said, "I couldn't sing the damn thing, I was just screaming."^[325] In the words of biographer Barry Miles, "Lennon simply shredded his vocal cords in the interests of rock 'n' roll."^[326] The Beatles' producer, George Martin, tells how Lennon "had an inborn dislike of his own voice which I could never understand. He was always saying to me: 'DO something with my voice! ... put something on it ... Make it different.'"^[327] Martin obliged, often using double-tracking and other techniques.^[328]^[329]

As his Beatles era segued into his solo career, his singing voice found a widening range of expression. Biographer Chris Gregory writes of Lennon "tentatively beginning to expose his insecurities in a number of acoustic-led 'confessional' ballads, so beginning the process of 'public therapy' that will eventually culminate in the primal screams of 'Cold Turkey' and the cathartic John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band."^[330] Music critic Robert Christgau called this Lennon's "greatest vocal performance ... from scream to whine, is modulated electronically ... echoed, filtered, and double tracked."^[331] David Stuart Ryan described Lennon's vocal delivery as ranging from "extreme vulnerability, sensitivity and even naivety" to a hard "rasping" style.^[332] Wiener too described contrasts, saying the singer's voice can be "at first subdued; soon it almost cracks with despair".^[333] Music historian Ben Urish recalled hearing the Beatles' Ed Sullivan Show performance of "This Boy" played on the radio a few days after Lennon's murder: "As Lennon's vocals reached their peak ... it hurt too much to hear him scream with such anguish and emotion. But it was my emotions I heard in his voice. Just like I always had."^[334]

Legacy

[edit]

Music historians Schinder and Schwartz wrote of the transformation in popular music styles that took place between the 1950s and the 1960s. They said that the Beatles' influence cannot be overstated: having "revolutionised the sound, style, and attitude of popular music and opened rock and roll's doors to a tidal wave of British rock acts", the group then "spent the rest of the 1960s expanding rock's stylistic frontiers".^[335] On National Poetry Day in 1999, the BBC conducted a poll to identify the UK's favourite song lyric and announced "Imagine" as the winner.^[118]

Two home recording demos by Lennon, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", were finished by the three surviving members of the Beatles when they reunited in 1994 and 1995.^[336] Both songs were released as Beatles singles in conjunction with The Beatles Anthology compilations. A third song, "Now and Then", was also worked on but not released until 2023 whereupon it was dubbed "the last Beatles song", topping the UK charts.^[336]^[337]

In 1997, Yoko Ono and the BMI Foundation established an annual music competition programme for songwriters of contemporary musical genres to honour John Lennon's memory and his large creative legacy.^[338] Over $400,000 have been given through BMI Foundation's John Lennon Scholarships to talented young musicians in the United States.^[338]

In a 2006 Guardian article, Jon Wiener wrote: "For young people in 1972, it was thrilling to see Lennon's courage in standing up to [US President] Nixon. That willingness to take risks with his career, and his life, is one reason why people still admire him today."^[339] For music historians Urish and Bielen, Lennon's most significant effort was "the self-portraits ... in his songs [which] spoke to, for, and about, the human condition."^[340] Writing for El País in 2024, Amaia Odriozola described Lennon's Windsor glasses as being "known all over the world" and credited him with pioneering glasses as a "style statement" for musicians.^[341]

In 2013, Downtown Music Publishing signed a publishing administration agreement for the US with Lenono Music and Ono Music, home to the song catalogues of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, respectively. Under the terms of the agreement, Downtown represents Lennon's solo works, including "Imagine", "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)", "Power to the People", "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", "Jealous Guy", "(Just Like) Starting Over" and others.^[342]

Lennon has been the subject of numerous memorials and tributes. In 2002, the airport in Lennon's home town was renamed the Liverpool John Lennon Airport.^[343] On what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday in 2010, Cynthia and Julian Lennon unveiled the John Lennon Peace Monument in Chavasse Park, Liverpool.^[344] The sculpture, entitled Peace & Harmony, exhibits peace symbols and carries the inscription "Peace on Earth for the Conservation of Life · In Honour of John Lennon 1940–1980".^[345] In December 2013, the International Astronomical Union named one of the craters on Mercury after Lennon.^[346]

There is a John Lennon Park in Havana, Cuba which features a statue in his likeness sitting on a bench.^[347]

Accolades

[edit]

The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is regarded as one of the most influential and successful of the 20th century. As performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number one singles in the US Hot 100 chart.^{[nb 10]} His album sales in the US stand at 14 million units.^[353] Double Fantasy was his best-selling album,^[354] at three million shipments in the US.^[355] Released shortly before his death, it won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.^[4] That year, the BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music was given to Lennon.^[356]

Participants in a 2002 BBC poll voted him eighth of "100 Greatest Britons".^[357] Between 2003 and 2008, Rolling Stone recognised Lennon in several reviews of artists and music, ranking him fifth of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time"^[358] and 38th of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time",^[359] and his albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, 22nd and 76th respectively of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".^[359]^[360] He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) with the other Beatles in 1965, but returned his medal in 1969 because of "Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts".^[361]^[362] Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987^[363] and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.^[364]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (Apple, 1970)
Imagine (Apple, 1971)
Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono, Apple, 1972)
Mind Games (Apple, 1973)
Walls and Bridges (Apple, 1974)
Rock 'n' Roll (Apple, 1975)
Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono, Geffen, 1980)
Milk and Honey (Posthumous with Yoko Ono, Polydor, 1984)

Experimental studio albums with Yoko Ono

[edit]

Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (Apple, 1968)
Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions (Zapple, 1969)
Wedding Album (Apple, 1969)

Filmography

[edit]

All releases after his death in 1980 use archival footage.

Film

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	A Hard Day's Night	Himself
1965	Help!	Himself
1967	Bottoms	Himself	Documentary
1967	How I Won the War	Gripweed
1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Himself / Ticket Salesman / Magician with Coffee	Also narrator, writer and director (producer uncredited)
1967	Pink Floyd: London '66-'67	Himself (uncredited)	Documentary short
1968	Yellow Submarine	Himself	Cameo at the end
1968	Two Virgins	Himself	Short film, writer, producer, director
1968	No. 5	Himself	Short film, writer, producer, director
1969	Bed Peace	Himself	Writer, producer, director
1969	Honeymoon	Himself	Writer, producer, director
1969	Self-Portrait	Himself	Short film, writer, producer, director
1969	Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches)	Himself	Documentary
1969	Muhammad Ali, the Greatest	Himself	Documentary
1970	Apotheosis	Himself	Short film, writer, producer, director
1970	Let It Be	Himself	Documentary (executive producer – as The Beatles)
1970	Fly	—	Short film, writer, producer, director
1970	Freedom	—	Short film, music, writer, producer, director
1970	3 Days in the Life	Himself	Documentary
1971	Breathing Together: Revolution of the Electric Family	Himself	Documentary
1971	Up Your Legs Forever	—	Producer, director
1971	Erection	—	Short film, producer, director
1971	Clock	Himself / Singer	Music, writer, producer, director
1971	Sweet Toronto	Himself	Concert film
1971	The Museum of Modern Art Show	Himself	Documentary short
1972	Ten for Two: The John Sinclair Freedom Rally	Himself	Documentary
1972	Eat the Document	Himself	Documentary
1976	Chelsea Girls with Andy Warhol	Himself	Documentary
1977	The Day the Music Died	Himself	Documentary
1982	The Compleat Beatles	Himself	Documentary
1988	Imagine: John Lennon	Himself	Documentary
1990	The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit	Himself	Documentary
1996	The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus	Himself	Concert film from 1968
2003	Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon	Himself	Remastered music video collection
2006	The U.S. vs. John Lennon	Himself	Documentary
2006	John & Yoko: Give Peace a Song	Himself	Documentary
2007	I Met the Walrus	Himself (voice)	Short film, recorded 1969
2008	All Together Now	Himself	Documentary
2010	LennoNYC	Himself	Documentary
2016	The Beatles: Eight Days a Week	Himself	Documentary
2018	Looking for Lennon	Himself	Documentary
2021	The Beatles: Get Back	Himself	Documentary
2022	The Lost Weekend : A Love Story	Himself	Documentary
2024	Daytime Revolution	Himself	Documentary
2024	One to One: John & Yoko	Himself	Documentary
2024	No Hamburg No Beatles	Himself	Documentary
2024	Beatles '64	Himself	Documentary
2025	Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade	Himself	Documentary

Television

[edit]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963–64	Ready Steady Go!	Himself	Music program, 4 episodes
1964	Around the Beatles	Himself	Concert special
1964	What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A.	Himself	Documentary
1964–65	The Ed Sullivan Show	Himself	Variety show, 4 episodes
1965	The Music of Lennon & McCartney	Himself	Variety tribute special
1965–66	Not Only... But Also	Lavatory Attendant / Guest	Episodes: "Episode #1.1" (1965) and "Christmas Special" (1966)
1966	The Beatles at Shea Stadium	Himself	Concert special
1966	The Beatles in Japan	Himself	Concert special
1969	Rape	Himself	Drama/thriller, sound, editor, writer, producer, director
1971–72	The Dick Cavett Show	Himself	Talk show, 3 episodes
1972	John Lennon and Yoko Ono Present the One-to-One Concert	Himself	Concert special
1972	The Mike Douglas Show	Himself	Talk show, 5 episodes
1972	Imagine	Himself	Music film special
1975	A Salute to the Beatles: Once upon a Time	Himself	Documentary
1975	The Tomorrow Show	Himself	Talk show
1977	All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music	Himself	Documentary mini-series
1987	It Was Twenty Years Ago Today	Himself	Documentary
1995	The Beatles Anthology	Himself	Documentary mini-series
2000	Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album	Himself	Documentary
2000	John & Yoko's Year of Peace	Himself	Documentary
2008	Classic Albums: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band	Himself	Documentary
2018	John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky	Himself	Documentary

Bibliography

[edit]

In His Own Write (1964)
A Spaniard in the Works (1965)
Skywriting by Word of Mouth (1986)
Lyrics of John Lennon (1997)
The John Lennon Letters (2012)

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

^ Lennon changed his name by deed poll on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon.^[2]
^ In 2005, the National Postal Museum in the US acquired a stamp collection that Lennon had assembled when he was a boy.^[28]
^ Lennon softened his stance in the mid-1970s, however, and said he had written "How Do You Sleep?" about himself.^[123] In 1980, he said that rather than the song representing a "terrible vicious horrible vendetta" against McCartney, "I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and the Beatles, and the relationship with Paul, to write 'How Do You Sleep'. I don't really go 'round with those thoughts in my head all the time."^[124]
^ An alternate take of "I'm the Greatest", with Lennon singing a guide vocal, appears on John Lennon Anthology.^[143]
^ "Imagine" topped the US singles chart compiled by Record World magazine, however, in 1971.^[148]
^ In September 2022, he was denied parole for the 12th time.^[177]
^ According to McCartney, he himself met Ono a few weeks before this event,^[222] when she visited him in the hope of obtaining a Lennon–McCartney song manuscript for a book John Cage was working on, Notations. McCartney declined to give her any of his own manuscripts but suggested that Lennon might oblige. When asked, Lennon gave Ono the original handwritten lyrics to "The Word".^[223]
^ Lennon eventually signed the papers while he was on holiday in Florida with Pang and Julian.^[239]
^ Lennon's Mind Games (1973) included the track "Nutopian International Anthem", which comprised three seconds of silence.^[283]
^
Lennon was responsible for 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles as performer, writer or co-writer.
- Solo (2): "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", "(Just Like) Starting Over".^[348]
- With the Beatles (20): "Can't Buy Me Love", "I Feel Fine", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Love Me Do", "She Loves You", "A Hard Day's Night", "Eight Days a Week", "Help!", "Ticket to Ride", "Yesterday", "Paperback Writer", "We Can Work It Out", "All You Need Is Love", "Hello, Goodbye", "Penny Lane", "Hey Jude", "Something"/"Come Together", "Get Back", "Let It Be", "The Long and Winding Road"/"For You Blue".^[349]
- As co-writer of and performer on releases by another artist (2): "Fame" (David Bowie),^[350] "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Elton John).^[351]
- As co-writer of releases by other artists (1): "A World Without Love" (Peter and Gordon)^[352]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]

^ Christgau, Robert. "John Lennon | Biography, Songs, Albums, Death, & Facts". Britannica. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b Coleman 1984b, p. 64.
^ Newman, Jason (23 August 2011). "It Takes Two: 10 Songwriting Duos That Rocked Music History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2017. By any measure, no one comes close to matching the success of The Beatles' primary songwriters.
^ ^a ^b "24th Annual GRAMMY Awards | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 504.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 24: "Julia offered the name in honour of ... Winston Churchill".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 24: "The entire Stanley clan gathered nightly at Newcastle Road".
^ Lennon 2005, p. 54: "Until then he had sent her money each month from his wages, but now it stopped".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 26: "In February 1944 ... he was arrested and imprisoned. Freddie subsequently disappeared for six months".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 27.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 56: "Alf admitted to her that he had planned to take John to live in New Zealand".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 30: "Julia went out of the door ... John ran after her".
^ Lewisohn 2013, pp. 41–42.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 497.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 56: "Hard to see why Mimi wanted John, as she had always said she didn't want children".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 32: "When he was old enough, taught John how to solve crossword puzzles".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 48: "To get them started, she applied the triad to 'Ain't That a Shame'".
^ Sheff 2000, pp. 158–59, 160–61.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 32: "Parkes recalled ... Leila and John to the cinema as often as three times a day".
^ Harry 2009.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 702.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 819.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 411.
^ Spitz 2005, pp. 32–33.
^ Kenny, Francis (11 July 2018). The Making of John Lennon. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-1-68435-036-0. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
^ [Must Read Personalities] A life Story of John Lennon. by Mocktime Publication. 5 June 2022. p. 10. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 40.
^ John Lennon's First Album. Archived 2 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine Owen Edwards, Smithsonian.com, September 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 45.
^ Norman 2008, p. 89.
^ Heichelbech, Rose (19 December 2018). "John Lennon's Abysmal 1956 Report Card Shows Grades Aren't Everything". Dusty Old Thing. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
^ Miles 1997, p. 48.
^ MacDonald 2005, p. 326.
^ MacDonald 2005, p. 327.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 100.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 553–555.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 50.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 738.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 95.
^ Spitz 2005, pp. 93–99.
^ Miles 1997, p. 44.
^ Miles 1997, p. 32.
^ Miles 1997, pp. 38–39.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 47.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 337–338.
^ Miles 1997, pp. 47, 50.
^ Miles 1997, p. 47.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 64.
^ Miles 1997, p. 57.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 53.
^ Miles 1997, pp. 66–67.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 57.
^ The Beatles 2000, p. 67.
^ Frankel 2007.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 721.
^ Lewisohn 1988, pp. 24–26: "Twist and Shout, which had to be recorded last because John Lennon had a particularly bad cold".
^ Spitz 2005, p. 376: "He had been struggling all day to reach notes, but this was different, this hurt".
^ Doggett 2010, p. 33.
^ Shennan 2007.
^ Coleman 1984a, pp. 239–240.
^ London Gazette 1965, pp. 5487–5489.
^ Coleman 1984a, p. 288.
^ Gould 2008, p. 268.
^ Lawrence 2005, p. 62.
^ The Beatles 2000, p. 171.
^ Rodriguez 2012, pp. 51–52.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 570.
^ Cleave 2007.
^ Gould 2008, pp. 5–6, 249, 281, 347.
^ Hoppa 2010.
^ Gould 2008, p. 319.
^ MacDonald 2005, p. 281.
^ Time 1967.
^ Gould 2008, pp. 399–400.
^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 116.
^ Schaffner 1978, p. 86.
^ Wiener 1990, pp. 39–40.
^ BBC News 2007b.
^ Brown 1983, p. 276.
^ Miles 1997, pp. 349–373.
^ Logan 1967.
^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 131.
^ Doggett 2010, pp. 33, 34.
^ Miles 1997, p. 397.
^ Schaffner 1978, p. 89.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 31.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 60.
^ Fortnam, Ian (October 2014). "You Say You Want a Revolution ...". Classic Rock. p. 46.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 774–775.
^ TelegraphKlein 2010.
^ Miles 1997, p. 549: "Paul never did sign the management contract".
^ Fawcett 1976, p. 185.
^ Coleman 1984a, p. 279.
^ Coleman 1984a, pp. 48–49.
^ ^a ^b Perone 2001, pp. 57–58.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 160–161.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 276–278.
^ "John Lennon MBE refusal letter valued at £60k". BBC News. Liverpool. 27 October 2016. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
^ Miles 2001, p. 360.
^ ^a ^b "Beatles fans call for return of MBE medal rejected by John Lennon". The Daily Telegraph. 2 August 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
^ "Having honours taken away (forfeiture)". GOV.UK. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 615–617.
^ Norman 2008, pp. 622–624.
^ Spitz 2005, pp. 853–54.
^ Loker 2009, p. 348.
^ Wenner 2000, p. 32.
^ Wenner 2000, p. 24.
^ "Playing the Government's Game: When It Comes to Violence, We All Lose". HuffPost. 6 January 2016.
^ Lennon, John. "Quote by John Lennon". Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b Madinger, Raille, Lennonology, Open Your Books 2015 ISBN 978-1-63110-175-5
^ Schaffner 1978, pp. 144, 146.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 640–641.
^ Riley 2002, p. 375.
^ Schechter 1997, p. 106.
^ Blaney 2005, pp. 70–71.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 157.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 382.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, pp. 382–383.
^ Schaffner 1978, p. 146.
^ Gerson 1971.
^ Vigilla 2005.
^ Goodman 1984.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, pp. 354–356.
^ Peebles 1981, p. 44.
^ Sheff 2000, p. 210.
^ Rodriguez 2010, pp. 48–49.
^ Badman 2001, p. 44.
^ Allmusic 2010f.
^ ^a ^b DeMain, Bill. "John Lennon and the FBI". Dangerous Liaisons: The FBI Files of Musicians. Performing Songwriter. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
^ ^a ^b Glenn 2009.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 204.
^ ^a ^b BBC News 2006a.
^ Rodriguez 2010, pp. 95, 180–82.
^ Hunt, Chris, ed. (2005). NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980. London: IPC Ignite!. p. 65.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 979–980.
^ Badman 2001, p. 81.
^ Rodriguez 2010, pp. 56–57.
^ LennoNYC, PBS Television 2010
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, pp. 698–699.
^ White, Dave. "Lennon's "Lost Weekend" Lover". About, Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
^ Gleiberman, Owen (11 June 2022). "'The Lost Weekend: A Love Story' Review: May Pang Tells Her Story, and a Piece of John Lennon's, in a Compelling Documentary". Variety. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
^ Jackson 2012, p. 97.
^ Urish & Bielen 2007, p. 47.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 927–929.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 735.
^ The Very Best of Mick Jagger liner notes
^ Badman 2001, 1974.
^ Spizer 2005, p. 59.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 284.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 970.
^ Jones, David Bowie A Life, Windmill Books 2018 ISBN 978-1-78609-043-0
^ Cherry 2022, p. 137.
^ "Fame". John Lennon official website. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 240, 563.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 758.
^ Madinger, Eight Arms to Hold You, 44.1 Publishing, 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4
^ Sheff 2000, p. 4.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 553.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 166.
^ Bennahum 1991, p. 87.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 814.
^ BBC News 2006b.
^ "Lennon article (circa 1980/ Double Fantasy)". Steve Hoffman Music Forums. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
^ "John Lennon and son's double-fantasy trip". The Independent. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022.
^ Neil, Scott (22 June 2012). "Yoko Ono thanks Bermuda for tribute to John Lennon | The Royal Gazette:Bermuda News". The Royal Gazette. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
^ Schinder & Schwartz 2007, p. 178.
^ Ginell 2009.
^ Badman 2001, p. 268.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 145.
^ Thiel, Stacia (2 December 2005). "Revolver". New York. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
^ Ingham 2006, p. 82.
^ "John Lennon's Death: A Timeline of Events". Biography.com. 16 June 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
^ Joyce Wadler and Mike Sager, "'I Just Shot John Lennon,' He Said Coolly." Washington Post, Dec. 8, 1980.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 692.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 510.
^ "Inmate Population Information Search". Nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ "John Lennon's Killer, Mark David Chapman, Denied Parole for the 12th Time". Rolling Stone. 12 September 2022. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ Badman 2001, p. 277.
^ Badman 2001, p. 279.
^ "All The Number 1 Singles". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 17–23.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 21.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 89–95.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 492–493.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 37.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 38: "After three months, he phoned me and asked me to go back to him. It had taken him that long to pluck up the courage. He apologized for hitting me and said it would never happen again".
^ Lennon 2005, p. 38: "He was deeply ashamed of what he had done: I think he had been shocked to discover he had it in him to hit me. So, although he was still verbally cutting and unkind, he was never again physically violent to me. As we grew closer, in the second phase of our romance, even his verbal putdowns and attacks diminished".
^ Sheff 2000, p. 182.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 91.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 493–495.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 113.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 496–497.
^ Warner Brothers 1988.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 211–213.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 213.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 214–215: "I was in shock, [...] It was clear that they had arranged for me to find them like that and the cruelty of John's betrayal was hard to absorb", "I felt utterly humiliated, and longed to disappear. [...] Their intimacy had been so powerful that I had felt like a stranger in my own home".
^ Lennon 2005, p. 221.
^ Lennon 2005, p. 222: "It was laughable. Roberto had been kind and a good friend, but I had never been unfaithful to John. It was his attempt to make himself feel better about what he was doing".
^ Lennon 2005, p. 229.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 305–306: "He had agreed that I should have custody of Julian", "He raised his offer to £100, 000".
^ Lewisohn 2013.
^ Harry 2000a, p. 232.
^ Harry 2000a, pp. 1165, 1169.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 94, 119–120.
^ Harry 2000a, p. 1169.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 232.
^ Coleman 1992, pp. 298–299.
^ Norman 2008, p. 503.
^ MacDonald 2005, p. 206.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 517.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 574.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 341.
^ Pang 2008, back cover.
^ Lennon 2005, pp. 252–255.
^ ^a ^b Lennon 2005, p. 258.
^ Times Online 2009.
^ ^a ^b Sheff 2000, p. 63.
^ Badman 2003, p. 393.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 682.
^ Sheff 2000, p. 104.
^ "Apple. Yoko Ono. 1966". Museum of Modern Art. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
^ Miles 2001, p. 246.
^ Miles 1997, p. 272.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 683.
^ Two Virgins liner notes
^ Lennon 1978, p. 183.
^ Spitz 2005, p. 800.
^ Coleman 1992, p. 705.
^ Kruse 2009, p. 16.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 276.
^ Coleman 1992, p. 550.
^ Norman 2008, p. 615 et seq.
^ Emerick & Massey 2006, pp. 279–280.
^ "Sharing the Dakota With John Lennon". The New York Times. 6 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 700.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 700–701.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 535, 690.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 535.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, p. 195.
^ Doggett 2010, pp. 247–48.
^ The Editors of Rolling Stone 2002, p. 146.
^ Tillery 2011, p. 121.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 327.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 934–935.
^ Sheff 2000, pp. 81–82.
^ Cohn 2010–2011, p. 95.
^ ^a ^b Seaman 1991, p. 122.
^ Sheff 2000, p. 82.
^ Miles 2001, p. 337: "They were ridiculed by the world's media".
^ Anderson 2010, p. 83: "The bed-in stunt was ridiculed by the press".
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 745–748.
^ Holsinger 1999, p. 389.
^ "John Lennons Convey Greetings via Billboards" The New York Times 16 December 1969: 54
^ Wenner 2000, p. 43.
^ Clark 2002.
^ Miles 2001, p. 362.
^ "Hanratty: The damning DNA". BBC News. 10 May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ McGinty 2010.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 344.
^ Buchanan 2009.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 789–790, 812–813.
^ Calkin 2002.
^ Bright 2000.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 403.
^ "John Lennon's family 'hit the roof' when funds were donated to IRA". independent. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
^ Wiener, Jon (1984). Come Together John Lennon in His Time. University of Illinois Press. p. 159.
^ Lennon, John (8 December 2016). "Quote by John Lennon". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
^ Ali 2006.
^ Brooks 2005.
^ Lennon, John. Richmond, Len; Noguera, Gary (eds.). "The Gay Liberation Book". Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
^ Richmond, Len (1973). The gay liberation book by Len Richmond – Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists. Goodreads.com. ISBN 978-0-87867-031-4. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
^ "John Lennon's last public political statement. – Dynamic Tension". Crowdog89.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
^ Wiener 1999, p. 2.
^ BBC News 2000.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 225.
^ Coleman 1992, pp. 576–583.
^ BBC News 2006c.
^ Wiener, Jon. "Bob Dylan's defense of John Lennon". Archived 2 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine The Nation, 8 October 2010
^ "Photo Copy of Bob Dylan's 1972 Letter to the INS in Defense of John Lennon". Lennonfbifiles.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
^ Wiener 1999, p. 326.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 663.
^ Urish & Bielen 2007, p. 143.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 664.
^ ^a ^b Coleman 1984a, p. 289.
^ Lavezzoli 2006, p. 196.
^ Wiener 1999, p. 13.
^ Friedman 2005, p. 252.
^ Wiener v. F.B.I., 943 F.2d 972 (9th Cir. 12 July 1991).
^ Wiener 1999, p. 315.
^ ^a ^b Wiener 1999, pp. 52–54, 76.
^ Wiener 1999, p. 27.
^ The Associated Press 2006.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 179–181.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 393–394.
^ Lewisohn 2000, p. 287.
^ ^a ^b Harry 2000b, pp. 396–397.
^ "Oh! Calcutta!". specialsections.absoluteelsewhere.net. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
^ "John Lennon and Yoko Ono launch art exhibition You Are Here". The Beatles Bible. 30 June 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
^ John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band book by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, October 2020, pp. 196-199
^ John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band book by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, October 2020, pp. 202-203
^ John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band book by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, October 2020, pp. 200-201
^ "Joint Yoko Ono, John Lennon, & Fluxgroup Project / Press Release -- April 1, 1970". Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
^ John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band book by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, October 2020, pp. 212-213
^ "John Lennon drawings go on show in New York". The Independent. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022.
^ "John Lennon". lambiek.net. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
^ "The Beatles Bible - John Lennon's Bag One exhibition is raided by police". The Beatles Bible. 16 January 1970. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
^ French, Philip (4 July 2009). "John Lennon's rise and fall". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ Show: The Magazine of Films and the Arts. H & R Publications. January 1970. p. 50. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
^ Doggett, Peter (17 December 2009). The Art and Music of John Lennon. Omnibus Press. pp. 230–. ISBN 978-0-85712-126-4. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
^ "Oh Yoko: Four by Yoko Ono". Cinema Project. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
^ "Erection (John Lennon & Yoko Ono, 1971)". Postiar. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
^ Levitz, Tamara (2004). "Yoko Ono and the Unfinished Music of 'John & Yoko': Imagining Gender and Racial Equality in the Late 1960s". In Bloch, Avital H.; Umansky, Lauri (eds.). Impossible to hold : women and culture in the 1960s. New York: New York University Press. p. 233. ISBN 0814799108.
^ Harry 2000b, p. 313.
^ Harry 2000b, pp. 738–740.
^ Prown and Newquist 2003, p. 213.
^ Lawrence 2009, p. 27.
^ Appleford, Steve (6 August 2010). "Yoko Ono Discusses New John Lennon Documentary". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017.
^ Everett 1999, p. 297.
^ Blaney 2005, p. 83.
^ Everett 2001, p. 200.
^ Babiuk 2002, pp. 164–165.
^ "Найденная гитара Джона Леннона была продана почти за три миллиона долларов". ru.euronews.com (in Russian). 30 May 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
^ MacDonald, Ian (2003). The People's Music. London: Pimlico. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-1-84413-093-1.
^ Evans, Mike, ed. (2014). The Beatles: Paperback Writer: 40 Years of Classic Writing. Plexus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8596-589-66. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
^ Wenner 2000, p. 14.
^ Miles 2001, p. 90.
^ Coleman 1992, pp. 369–370.
^ Andrews, Travis (3 October 2018). "He did the impossible and made John Lennon sound like the Dalai Lama". The Washington Post.
^ Hodenfield, Chris (15 July 1976). "George Martin Recalls the Boys in the Band". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
^ Gregory 2007, p. 75.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 143.
^ Ryan 1982, pp. 118, 241.
^ Wiener 1990, p. 35.
^ Urish & Bielen 2007, p. 123.
^ Schinder & Schwartz 2007, p. 160.
^ ^a ^b Petridis, Alexis (2 November 2023). "The Beatles: Now and Then review – 'final' song is a poignant act of closure". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
^ Brandle, Lars (13 November 2023). "The Beatles Blast to No. 1 in U.K. With 'Now and Then'". Billboard. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "BMI Foundation's John Lennon Scholarships". Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
^ Wiener 2006.
^ Urish & Bielen 2007, pp. 121–122.
^ Odriozola, Amaia (3 March 2024). "The Meaning of 'Lennon's Disobedient Glasses,' Which Are Beloved by Everyone from Denzel Washington to Harry Potter". El País. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
^ "Exclusive: John Lennon, Yoko Ono Catalogs Sign With Downtown Music Publishing". Billboard. 25 January 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
^ "Recent History and Current Developments". Friends of Liverpool Airport. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
^ "Monument to John Lennon unveiled in Liverpool on his '70th birthday'". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 October 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015.
^ "Unveiling of 'Peace & Harmony', European Peace Monument – Dedicated to John Lennon". 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013 – via YouTube.
^ "Mercury Crater Named After John Lennon". Space.com. 20 December 2013. Archived from the original on 14 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
^ "She has one job: Guard John Lennon's glasses". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
^ Allmusic 2010a.
^ "Most No. 1s By Artist (All-Time)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
^ Allmusic 2010e.
^ Allmusic 2010c.
^ Allmusic 2010d.
^ RIAA 2010b.
^ Greenberg 2010, p. 202.
^ RIAA 2010a.
^ Brit Awards 1982.
^ BBC News 2002.
^ Browne 2008.
^ ^a ^b Rolling Stone 2008.
^ Rolling Stone 2003.
^ "Queen's honours: People who have turned them down named". BBC News. 26 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
^ London Gazette 1965, p. 5488.
^ Songwriters Hall of Fame 2015.
^ The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum 1994.

Sources

[edit]

Ali, Tariq (20 December 2006). "John Lennon, the FBI and me". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
"David Bowie – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
"Elton John – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
"John Lennon – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
"John Lennon Discography, Singles & EPs, Happy Xmas (War is Over)". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
"Peter and Gordon – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
"The Beatles – Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
Anderson, Jennifer Joline (2010). John Lennon: Legendary Musician & Beatle. ABDO Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-60453-790-1. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear. Backbeat. ISBN 978-0-87930-731-8.
Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Diary, Volume 2 : After the Break-Up, 1970–2001. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8307-6.
Badman, Keith (2003). The Beatles Off The Record: The Dream Is Over. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-9199-6. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
"100 great British heroes". BBC News. 21 August 2002. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"1969: Millions march in US Vietnam Moratorium". BBC News. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"The Beatles in Bangor". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
"Judge releases Lennon letters". BBC News. 19 February 2000. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"Lennon filmmakers credit campaign". BBC News. 12 October 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"Lennon ship log book up for sale". BBC News. 27 March 2006. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"The Lennon–McCartney Songwriting Partnership". BBC News. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
"US chat show veteran Douglas dies". BBC News. 12 August 2006. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
"Lennon killer is denied parole for the sixth time". BBC News. 7 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
Bennahum, David (1991). The Beatles After the Break-Up: In Their Own Words. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-2558-8. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to this Book. Paper Jukebox. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Bright, Martin (20 February 2000). "Lennon aided IRA, claims MI5 renegade". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Brooks, Richard (13 June 2009). "Julian Lennon gives family peace a chance". The Times. UK. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Brooks, Xan (23 September 2005). "Lennon too stoned to be a revolutionary". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
Brown, Peter (1983). The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles. McGraw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-008159-8.
Browne, Jackson (12 November 2008). "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
Buchanan, Jason (2009). "Overview of Twenty to Life: The Life and Times of John Sinclair". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Calkin, Graham (2002). "Anthology". Graham Calkin. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
Cherry, Ava (2022). All That Glitters. Aquarius Press. ISBN 978-1-73676-776-4. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
Clark, Neil (11 May 2002). "Hanratty Deserved to Die". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
Cleave, Maureen (5 October 2005). "The John Lennon I Knew". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
Cohn, Jonathan. "The Lost Lennon Tapes". Rolling Stone. No. 1120/1121. 23 December 2010, 6 January 2011.
Coleman, Ray (1984). John Winston Lennon. Sidjwick & Jackson. ISBN 978-0-283-98942-1.
Coleman, Ray (1984). John Ono Lennon: Volume 2 1967–1980. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 978-0-283-99082-3.
Coleman, Ray (1992). Lennon: The Definitive Biography. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-098608-7.
Deming, Mark (2008). "Overview of John Lennon: Live in New York City". AllMovie. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Doggett, Peter (2010). You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-177446-1.
The Editors of Rolling Stone (2002). Harrison. New York, NY: Rolling Stone Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-3581-5.
Edmondson, Jacqueline (2010). John Lennon: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-37938-3. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Emerick, Geoff; Massey, Howard (2006). Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-179-6.
Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512941-0. Archived from the original on 21 January 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514104-7. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Fawcett, Anthony (1976). John Lennon: One Day at a Time. Evergreen. ISBN 978-0-394-17754-0.
Frankel, Glenn (26 August 2007). "Nowhere Man (p4)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Friedman, John S. (2005). The Secret Histories: Hidden Truths that Challenged the Past and Changed the World. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-42517-3.
Gerson, Ben (28 October 1971). "Imagine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
Ginell, Richard S. (2009). "Milk and Honey Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Glenn, Alan (2009). "The Day a Beatle Came to Town". The Ann Arbor Chronicle. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
Goldman, Albert Harry (2001). The Lives of John Lennon. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-399-1.
Goodman, Joan (December 1984). "Playboy Interview with Paul and Linda McCartney". Playboy. Archived from the original on 31 May 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
Gould, Jonathan (2008). Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America. Piatkus. ISBN 978-0-7499-2988-6. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
"Grammy Award Winners". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search Archived 19 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Gregory, Chris (2007). Who Could Ask For More: Reclaiming The Beatles. The Plotted Plain Press. ISBN 978-0-9557512-0-2. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Greenberg, Keith Elliot (2010). December 8, 1980: The Day John Lennon Died. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-963-3. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7535-0481-9.
Harry, Bill (2000). The John Lennon Encyclopedia. Virgin. ISBN 978-0-7535-0404-8.
Harry, Bill (2009). "John Lennon and Blackpool". Mersey Beat. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
Holsinger, M. Paul (1999). War and American popular culture: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29908-7.
Hoppa, Jocelyn (10 November 2010). "Celluloid Heroes: John Lennon and How I Won the War". Crawdaddy!. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
Ingham, Chris (2006). The Rough Guide to The Beatles. Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1-84353-720-5.
Jackson, Andrew Grant (2012). Still the Greatest: The Essential Solo Beatles Songs. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8222-5.
Kruse, Robert J. II (2009). "Geographies of John and Yoko's 1969 Campaign for Peace: An Intersection of Celebrity, Space, Art, and Activism". In Johansson, Ola; Bell, Thomas L. (eds.). Sound, Society and the Geography of Popular Music. Ashgate. pp. 11–32. ISBN 978-0-7546-7577-8.
Landau, Jon (3 January 1974). "Mind games". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
Lavezzoli, Peter (2006). The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. New York, NY: Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3.
Lawrence, Ken (2005). John Lennon: In His Own Words. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7407-5477-7. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Lawrence, Robb (2009). The Modern Era of the Les Paul Legacy: 1968–2008. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-4234-5531-8.
Lennon, Cynthia (1978). A Twist of Lennon. Avon. ISBN 978-0-380-45450-1.
Lennon, Cynthia (2005). John. Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-307-33855-6.
Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. Harmony Books. ISBN 978-0-517-57066-1.
Lewisohn, Mark (2000) [1992]. The Complete Beatles Chronicle: The Only Definitive Guide to the Beatles' Entire Career. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-60033-5.
Lewisohn, Mark (2013). The Beatles: All These Years, Volume 1. New York: Crown Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4000-8305-3.
Logan, Nick (25 November 1967). "Magical Mystery Tour". NME. UK.
Loker, Bradford E. (2009). History with the Beatles. Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60844-039-9. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
"Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The London Gazette (supplement). 4 June 1965. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. Pimlico. ISBN 978-1-84413-828-9.
McGinty, Stephen (12 August 2010). "Jimmy Reid: A working-class hero and the saviour of Clyde yards". The Scotsman. UK. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-5248-0.
Miles, Barry (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8308-3. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
Norman, Philip (25 May 1981). "A Talk with Yoko". New York. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
Norman, Philip (2008). John Lennon: The Life. Ecco. ISBN 978-0-06-075401-3. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Pang, May (2008). Instamatic Karma: Photographs of John Lennon. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-37741-0.
Peebles, Andy; Lennon, John; Ono, Yoko (1981). The Lennon tapes: John Lennon and Yoko Ono in conversation with Andy Peebles, 6 December 1980. BBC. ISBN 978-0-563-17944-3.
Perone, James E. (2001). Songs of the Vietnam Conflict. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31528-2. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Prown, Pete; Newquist, Harvey P. (1997). Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-0-7935-4042-6. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
"RIAA: Searchable database". Recording Industry Association of America. 2010. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
"RIAA Gold & Platinum Top Selling Artists". Record Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
Roberts, David (2001). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles (14th ed.). Guinness World Records. ISBN 978-0-85156-156-1.
Riley, Tim (2001). Tell me why: a Beatles commentary. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81120-3. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Rodriguez, Robert (2010). Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-9093-4.
Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0.
"David Bowie". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1996. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
"The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 18 November 2003. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
"100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 12 April 2008. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Ryan, David Stuart (1982). John Lennon's Secret. Kozmik Press Centre. ISBN 978-0-905116-08-2. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
Schaffner, Nicholas (1978). The Beatles Forever. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-055087-2.
Schechter, Danny (1997). The More You Watch, the Less You Know: News Wars/Submerged Hopes/Media Adventures. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 978-1-888363-80-7.
Schinder, Scott; Schwartz, Andy (2007). Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33845-8.
Seaman, Frederic (1991). The Last Days of John Lennon. Birch Lane Press. ISBN 978-1-55972-084-7.
Sheff, David (2000) [1981]. All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
Shennan, Paddy (26 November 2007). "What will Liz think of these?". The Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
Songwriters Hall of Fame (2015). "John Lennon". Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
Spizer, Bruce (2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. New Orleans, LA: 498 Productions. ISBN 978-0-9662649-5-1.
Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-80352-6.
"Other noises, Other notes". Time. 3 March 1967. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-2684-6.
"The Brits 1982". The Brit Awards. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
"John Lennon". The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1994. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
"Celebrity Obituaries – Allen Klein". The Telegraph. 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
"FBI Releases Last Pages From Lennon File". The Washington Post. 20 December 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5.
Urish, Ben; Bielen, Kenneth G (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-99180-7. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Vigilla, Hubert (29 August 2005). "Album Review : John Lennon – Imagine". Treble. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
Wald, Jonathan (6 October 2004). "Lennon killer denied parole". CNN. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
Warner Brothers. John Lennon: Imagine, Cynthia Lennon Interview (DVD). Warner Brothers. 1988.
Wenner, Jann S (2000). Lennon Remembers. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-600-1. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Wiener, Jon (1990). Come Together: John Lennon in His Time. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06131-8.
Wiener, Jon (1999). Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22246-5. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
Wiener, Jon (19 December 2006). "He didn't have to do it. That's one reason he's still admired". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2010.

Further reading

[edit]

Kane, Larry (2007). Lennon Revealed. Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-2966-0
Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015). Lennonology Strange Days Indeed – A Scrapbook of Madness. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. ISBN 978-1-63110-175-5.
Pang, May; Edwards, Henry (1983). Loving John: The Untold Story. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-37916-6.
Prato, Greg (2020). John Winston Ono Lennon. Kindle Direct. ISBN 979-8-6983-2911-4
Riley, Tim (2011). Lennon: Man, Myth, Music. Hyperion. ISBN 978-1-4013-2452-0
Wiener, Jon. The John Lennon FBI Files Archived 12 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Yorke, Richard (1969). "John Lennon: Ringo's Right, We Can't Tour Again", New Musical Express, 7 June 1969, reproduced by Crawdaddy!, 2007.
Burger, Jeff, ed: Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon (2017) Chicago Review Press, ISBN 978-1-61374-824-4

External links

[edit]

John Lennon at AllMusic
John Lennon in the Hollywood Walk of Fame Directory
"John Lennon". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
John Lennon at IMDb
John Lennon at the TCM Movie Database
BBC Archive on John Lennon
NPR Archive on John Lennon
FBI file on John Lennon
John Lennon hosted by EMI Group Limited
Lambiek Comiclopedia biography about John Lennon, with detailed information about his graphic career.

John Lennon

Studio albums

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Imagine Mind Games Walls and Bridges Rock 'n' Roll
with Yoko Ono	Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions Wedding Album Some Time in New York City Double Fantasy Milk and Honey

Live albums

Compilations

Hits	Shaved Fish The John Lennon Collection Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon Power to the People: The Hits Icon
Themed	Menlove Ave. Wonsaponatime Acoustic Peace, Love & Truth
Box sets	Lennon John Lennon Anthology John Lennon Signature Box Gimme Some Truth Gimme Some Truth. The Ultimate Mixes
Video	The John Lennon Video Collection Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon

Books

Films

Self-Portrait (1969)
Apotheosis (1970)
Fly (1970)
Erection (1971)
Up Your Legs Forever (1971)
Live in New York City (1972)
Imagine (1972)

Bootlegs

Associates

Fictionalised

Tributes and
memorials

Related media

Other topics

Category

John Lennon singles discography

Lifetime

1969	"Give Peace a Chance" / "Remember Love" (Ono) "Cold Turkey" / "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)" (Ono)
1970	"Instant Karma!" / "Who Has Seen the Wind?" (Ono) "Mother" / "Why" (Ono)
1971	"Power to the People" / "Open Your Box" (Ono) (UK) "Power to the People" / "Touch Me" (Ono) (US) "Imagine" / "It's So Hard" (US) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" / "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" (Ono)
1972	"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" / "Sisters O Sisters" (Ono)
1973	"Mind Games" / "Meat City"
1974	"Whatever Gets You thru the Night" / "Beef Jerky" "#9 Dream" / "What You Got" "Ya Ya" / "Be-Bop-a-Lula" (Germany only)
1975	"Stand by Me" / "Move Over Ms. L" "Imagine" / "Working Class Hero" (UK)
1977	"Stand by Me" / "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (reissue) (US)
1980	"(Just Like) Starting Over" / "Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Ono)

Posthumous

1981	"Woman" / "Beautiful Boys" (Ono) "Watching the Wheels" / "Yes, I'm Your Angel" (Ono) (UK) "Watching the Wheels" / "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" (US)
1982	"Love" / "Give Me Some Truth"
1984	"Nobody Told Me" / "O' Sanity" (Ono) "Borrowed Time" / "Your Hands" (Ono) "I'm Stepping Out" / "Sleepless Night" (Ono) "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" / "It's Alright" (Ono)
1985	"Jealous Guy" / "Going Down on Love"
1986	"Rock and Roll People" (promo)
1998	"I'm Losing You" (promo)

Awards for John Lennon

v t e Academy Award for Best Original Score
1930s	Louis Silvers (1934) Max Steiner (1935) Leo F. Forbstein (1936) Charles Previn (1937) Erich Wolfgang Korngold / Alfred Newman (1938) Herbert Stothart / Richard Hageman, W. Franke Harling, John Leipold and Leo Shuken (1939)
1940s	Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith and Ned Washington / Alfred Newman (1940) Bernard Herrmann / Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace (1941) Max Steiner / Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld (1942) Alfred Newman / Ray Heindorf (1943) Max Steiner / Morris Stoloff and Carmen Dragon (1944) Miklos Rozsa / Georgie Stoll (1945) Hugo Friedhofer / Morris Stoloff (1946) Miklos Rozsa / Alfred Newman (1947) Brian Easdale / Johnny Green and Roger Edens (1948) Aaron Copland / Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton (1949)
1950s	Franz Waxman / Adolph Deutsch and Roger Edens (1950) Franz Waxman / Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin (1951) Dimitri Tiomkin / Alfred Newman (1952) Bronislau Kaper / Alfred Newman (1953) Dimitri Tiomkin / Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin (1954) Alfred Newman / Robert Russell Bennett, Jay Blackton and Adolph Deutsch (1955) Victor Young / Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1956) Malcolm Arnold (1957) Dimitri Tiomkin / Andre Previn (1958) Miklos Rozsa / Andre Previn and Ken Darby (1959)
1960s	Ernest Gold / Morris Stoloff and Harry Sukman (1960) Henry Mancini / Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal (1961) Maurice Jarre / Ray Heindorf (1962) John Addison / Andre Previn (1963) Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman / Andre Previn (1964) Maurice Jarre / Irwin Kostal (1965) John Barry / Ken Thorne (1966) Elmer Bernstein / Alfred Newman and Ken Darby (1967) John Barry / Johnny Green (1968) Burt Bacharach / Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman (1969)
1970s	Francis Lai / The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) (1970) Michel Legrand / John Williams (1971) Charlie Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell / Ralph Burns (1972) Marvin Hamlisch / Marvin Hamlisch (1973) Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola / Nelson Riddle (1974) John Williams / Leonard Rosenman (1975) Jerry Goldsmith / Leonard Rosenman (1976) John Williams / Jonathan Tunick (1977) Giorgio Moroder / Joe Renzetti (1978) Georges Delerue / Ralph Burns (1979)
1980s	Michael Gore (1980) Vangelis (1981) John Williams / Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse (1982) Bill Conti / Michel Legrand, Alan and Marilyn Bergman (1983) Maurice Jarre / Prince (1984) John Barry (1985) Herbie Hancock (1986) Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su (1987) Dave Grusin (1988) Alan Menken (1989)
1990s	John Barry (1990) Alan Menken (1991) Alan Menken (1992) John Williams (1993) Hans Zimmer (1994) Luis Bacalov / Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (1995) Gabriel Yared / Rachel Portman (1996) James Horner / Anne Dudley (1997) Nicola Piovani / Stephen Warbeck (1998) John Corigliano (1999)
2000s	Tan Dun (2000) Howard Shore (2001) Elliot Goldenthal (2002) Howard Shore (2003) Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (2004) Gustavo Santaolalla (2005) Gustavo Santaolalla (2006) Dario Marianelli (2007) A. R. Rahman (2008) Michael Giacchino (2009)
2010s	Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (2010) Ludovic Bource (2011) Mychael Danna (2012) Steven Price (2013) Alexandre Desplat (2014) Ennio Morricone (2015) Justin Hurwitz (2016) Alexandre Desplat (2017) Ludwig Göransson (2018) Hildur Guðnadóttir (2019)
2020s	Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste (2020) Hans Zimmer (2021) Volker Bertelmann (2022) Ludwig Göransson (2023) Daniel Blumberg (2024)

v t e Grammy Award for Album of the Year
1950s	The Music from Peter Gunn – Henry Mancini (1958) Come Dance with Me! – Frank Sinatra (1959)
1960s	The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart – Bob Newhart (1960) Judy at Carnegie Hall – Judy Garland (1961) The First Family – Vaughn Meader (1962) The Barbra Streisand Album – Barbra Streisand (1963) Getz/Gilberto – Stan Getz & João Gilberto (1964) September of My Years – Frank Sinatra (1965) A Man and His Music – Frank Sinatra (1966) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles (1967) By the Time I Get to Phoenix – Glen Campbell (1968) Blood, Sweat & Tears – Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)
1970s	Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel (1970) Tapestry – Carole King (1971) The Concert for Bangladesh – George Harrison & Friends (1972) Innervisions – Stevie Wonder (1973) Fulfillingness' First Finale – Stevie Wonder (1974) Still Crazy After All These Years – Paul Simon (1975) Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder (1976) Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (1977) Saturday Night Fever – Various Artists (1978) 52nd Street – Billy Joel (1979)
1980s	Christopher Cross – Christopher Cross (1980) Double Fantasy – John Lennon & Yoko Ono (1981) Toto IV – Toto (1982) Thriller – Michael Jackson (1983) Can't Slow Down – Lionel Richie (1984) No Jacket Required – Phil Collins (1985) Graceland – Paul Simon (1986) The Joshua Tree – U2 (1987) Faith – George Michael (1988) Nick of Time – Bonnie Raitt (1989)
1990s	Back on the Block – Quincy Jones and Various Artists (1990) Unforgettable... with Love – Natalie Cole (1991) Unplugged – Eric Clapton (1992) The Bodyguard – Whitney Houston (1993) MTV Unplugged – Tony Bennett (1994) Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette (1995) Falling into You – Celine Dion (1996) Time Out of Mind – Bob Dylan (1997) The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill (1998) Supernatural – Santana (1999)
2000s	Two Against Nature – Steely Dan (2000) O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Various Artists (2001) Come Away with Me – Norah Jones (2002) Speakerboxxx/The Love Below – Outkast (2003) Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles & Various Artists (2004) How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2 (2005) Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks (2006) River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock (2007) Raising Sand – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (2008) Fearless – Taylor Swift (2009)
2010s	The Suburbs – Arcade Fire (2010) 21 – Adele (2011) Babel – Mumford & Sons (2012) Random Access Memories – Daft Punk (2013) Morning Phase – Beck (2014) 1989 – Taylor Swift (2015) 25 – Adele (2016) 24K Magic – Bruno Mars (2017) Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves (2018) When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish (2019)
2020s	Folklore – Taylor Swift (2020) We Are – Jon Batiste (2021) Harry's House – Harry Styles (2022) Midnights – Taylor Swift (2023) Cowboy Carter – Beyoncé (2024)

v t e Grammy Award for Song of the Year
1950s	"Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)" – Domenico Modugno (songwriter) (1958) "The Battle of New Orleans" – Jimmy Driftwood (songwriter) (1959)
1960s	"Theme of Exodus" – Ernest Gold (songwriter) (1960) "Moon River" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (songwriters) (1961) "What Kind of Fool Am I?" – Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley (songwriters) (1962) "Days of Wine and Roses" – Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini (songwriters) (1963) "Hello, Dolly!" – Jerry Herman (songwriter) (1964) "The Shadow of Your Smile" – Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel (songwriters) (1965) "Michelle" – John Lennon & Paul McCartney (songwriters) (1966) "Up, Up, and Away" – Jimmy Webb (songwriter) (1967) "Little Green Apples" – Bobby Russell (songwriter) (1968) "Games People Play" – Joe South (songwriter) (1969)
1970s	"Bridge over Troubled Water" – Paul Simon (songwriter) (1970) "You've Got a Friend" – Carole King (songwriter) (1971) "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Ewan MacColl (songwriter) (1972) "Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox (songwriters) (1973) "The Way We Were" – Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch (songwriters) (1974) "Send In the Clowns" – Stephen Sondheim (songwriter) (1975) "I Write the Songs" – Bruce Johnston (songwriter) (1976) "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" – Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams (songwriters) / "You Light Up My Life" – Joe Brooks (songwriter) (1977) "Just the Way You Are" – Billy Joel (songwriter) (1978) "What a Fool Believes" – Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald (songwriters) (1979)
1980s	"Sailing" – Christopher Cross (songwriter) (1980) "Bette Davis Eyes" – Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon (songwriters) (1981) "Always on My Mind" – Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson (songwriters) (1982) "Every Breath You Take" – Sting (songwriter) (1983) "What's Love Got to Do with It" – Graham Lyle & Terry Britten (songwriters) (1984) "We Are the World" – Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (songwriters) (1985) "That's What Friends Are For" – Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager (songwriters) (1986) "Somewhere Out There" – James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (songwriters) (1987) "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – Bobby McFerrin (songwriter) (1988) "Wind Beneath My Wings" – Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar (songwriters) (1989)
1990s	"From a Distance" – Julie Gold (songwriter) (1990) "Unforgettable" – Irving Gordon (songwriter) (1991) "Tears in Heaven" – Eric Clapton & Will Jennings (songwriters) (1992) "A Whole New World" – Alan Menken & Tim Rice (songwriters) (1993) "Streets of Philadelphia" – Bruce Springsteen (songwriter) (1994) "Kiss from a Rose" – Seal (songwriter) (1995) "Change the World" – Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick & Tommy Sims (songwriters) (1996) "Sunny Came Home" – Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal (songwriters) (1997) "My Heart Will Go On" – James Horner & Will Jennings (songwriters) (1998) "Smooth" – Itaal Shur & Rob Thomas (songwriters) (1999)
2000s	"Beautiful Day" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2000) "Fallin'" – Alicia Keys (songwriter) (2001) "Don't Know Why" – Jesse Harris (songwriter) (2002) "Dance with My Father" – Richard Marx & Luther Vandross (songwriters) (2003) "Daughters" – John Mayer (songwriter) (2004) "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" – Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2005) "Not Ready to Make Nice" – Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson (songwriters) (2006) "Rehab" – Amy Winehouse (songwriter) (2007) "Viva la Vida" – Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin (songwriters) (2008) "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" – Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart (songwriters) (2009)
2010s	"Need You Now" – Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott (songwriters) (2010) "Rolling in the Deep" – Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth (songwriters) (2011) "We Are Young" – Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess (songwriters) (2012) "Royals" – Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor (songwriters) (2013) "Stay with Me" (Darkchild version) – James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith (songwriters) (2014) "Thinking Out Loud" – Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge (songwriters) (2015) "Hello" – Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin (songwriters) (2016) "That's What I Like" – Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters) (2017) "This Is America" – Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson & Jeffery Lamar Williams (songwriters) (2018) "Bad Guy" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2019)
2020s	"I Can't Breathe" – Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas (songwriters) (2020) "Leave the Door Open" – Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II & Bruno Mars (songwriters) (2021) "Just Like That" – Bonnie Raitt (songwriter) (2022) "What Was I Made For?" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2023) "Not Like Us" – Kendrick Lamar (songwriter) (2024)

v t e Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
1950s	No Award (1958) Anatomy of a Murder – Duke Ellington (1959)
1960s	Exodus – Ernest Gold (1960) Breakfast at Tiffany's – Henry Mancini (1961) No Award (1962) Tom Jones – John Addison (1963) Mary Poppins – Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman (1964) The Sandpiper – Johnny Mandel (1965) Doctor Zhivago – Maurice Jarre (1966) Music from Mission: Impossible – Lalo Schifrin (1967) The Graduate – Dave Grusin & Paul Simon (1968) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Burt Bacharach (1969)
1970s	Let It Be – The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr) (1970) Shaft – Isaac Hayes (1971) The Godfather – Nino Rota (1972) Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Neil Diamond (1973) The Way We Were: Original Soundtrack Recording – Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch (1974) Jaws – John Williams (1975) Car Wash – Norman Whitfield (1976) Star Wars – John Williams (1977) Close Encounters of the Third Kind – John Williams (1978) Superman – John Williams (1979)
1980s	The Empire Strikes Back – John Williams (1980) Raiders of the Lost Ark – John Williams (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – John Williams (1982) Flashdance – Michael Boddicker, Irene Cara, Kim Carnes, Doug Cotler, Keith Forsey, Richard Gilbert, Jerry Hey, Duane Hitchings, Craig Krampf, Ronald Magness, Dennis Matkosky, Giorgio Moroder, Phil Ramone, Michael Sembello & Shandi Sinnamon (1983) Purple Rain – Prince and the Revolution (1984) Beverly Hills Cop – Marc Benno, Harold Faltermeyer, Keith Forsey, Micki Free, John Gilutin Hawk, Howard Hewett, Bunny Hull, Howie Rice, Sharon Robinson, Danny Sembello, Sue Sheridan, Richard Theisen & Allee Willis (1985) Out of Africa – John Barry (1986) The Untouchables – Ennio Morricone (1987) The Last Emperor – David Byrne, Cong Su & Ryuichi Sakamoto (1988) The Fabulous Baker Boys – Dave Grusin (1989)
1990s	Glory – James Horner (1990) Dances with Wolves – John Barry (1991) Beauty and the Beast – Alan Menken (1992) Aladdin – Alan Menken (1993) Schindler's List – John Williams (1994) Crimson Tide – Hans Zimmer (1995) Independence Day – David Arnold (1996) The English Patient – Gabriel Yared (1997) Saving Private Ryan – John Williams (1998) A Bug's Life – Randy Newman (1999)
2000s	American Beauty – Thomas Newman (2000) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Tan Dun (2001) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Howard Shore & John Kurlander (engineer/mixer) (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Howard Shore, John Kurlander (engineer/mixer) & Peter Cobbin (engineer/mixer) (2003) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Howard Shore, John Kurlander (engineer/mixer) & Peter Cobbin (engineer/mixer) (2004) Ray – Craig Armstrong (2005) Memoirs of a Geisha – John Williams (2006) Ratatouille – Michael Giacchino (2007) The Dark Knight – Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard (2008) Up – Michael Giacchino (2009)
2010s	Toy Story 3 – Randy Newman (2010) The King's Speech – Alexandre Desplat (2011) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (2012) Skyfall – Thomas Newman (2013) The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat (2014) Birdman – Antonio Sánchez (2015) Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams (2016) La La Land – Justin Hurwitz (2017) Black Panther – Ludwig Göransson (2018) Chernobyl – Hildur Guðnadóttir (2019)
2020s	Joker – Hildur Guðnadóttir (2020) The Queen's Gambit – Carlos Rafael Rivera / Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (2021) Encanto – Germaine Franco (2022) Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson (2023) Dune: Part Two – Hans Zimmer (2024)

v t e Grammy Award for Best Music Film
1983–1986	Duran Duran – Duran Duran (1983) Making Michael Jackson's Thriller – Michael Jackson (1984) Huey Lewis & The News: The Heart of Rock 'n Roll – Huey Lewis and the News (1985) Bring On the Night – Sting (1986)
Best Performance Music Video (1987−1988)	The Prince's Trust All-Star Rock Concert – Various Artists (1987) "Where the Streets Have No Name" – U2 (1988)
1989–2009	Rhythm Nation 1814 – Janet Jackson (1989) Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em: The Movie – MC Hammer (1990) Live! – Blond Ambition World Tour 90 – Madonna (1991) Diva – Annie Lennox (1992) Ten Summoner's Tales – Sting (1993) Zoo TV: Live from Sydney – U2 (1994) Secret World Live – Peter Gabriel (1995) The Beatles Anthology – The Beatles (1996) Jagged Little Pill, Live – Alanis Morissette (1997) American Masters: Lou Reed: Rock & Roll Heart – Lou Reed (1998) Band of Gypsys: Live at Fillmore East – Jimi Hendrix (1999) Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album – John Lennon (2000) Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks – Mel Brooks (2001) Westway to the World – The Clash (2002) Legend – Sam Cooke (2003) Concert for George – Various Artists (2004) No Direction Home – Bob Dylan (2005) Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen (2006) The Confessions Tour – Madonna (2007) Runnin' Down a Dream – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2008) The Beatles Love – All Together Now – The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil (2009)
2010–present	When You're Strange: A Film About The Doors – The Doors (2010) Back and Forth – Foo Fighters (2011) Big Easy Express – Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show (2012) Live Kisses – Paul McCartney (2013) 20 Feet from Stardom – Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill (2014) Amy – Amy Winehouse (2015) The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years – The Beatles (2016) The Defiant Ones – Various Artists (2017) Quincy – Quincy Jones (2018) Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé – Beyoncé (2019) Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice – Linda Ronstadt (2020) Summer of Soul – Various Artists (2021) Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story – Various Artists (2022) Moonage Daydream – David Bowie (2023) American Symphony – Jon Batiste (2024)

v t e Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1963–1990	1963 Bing Crosby 1965 Frank Sinatra 1966 Duke Ellington 1967 Ella Fitzgerald 1968 Irving Berlin 1971 Elvis Presley 1972 Louis Armstrong Mahalia Jackson 1984 Chuck Berry Charlie Parker 1985 Leonard Bernstein 1986 Benny Goodman The Rolling Stones Andrés Segovia 1987 Roy Acuff Benny Carter Enrico Caruso Ray Charles Fats Domino Woody Herman Billie Holiday B. B. King Isaac Stern Igor Stravinsky Arturo Toscanini Hank Williams 1989 Fred Astaire Pablo Casals Dizzy Gillespie Jascha Heifetz Lena Horne Leontyne Price Bessie Smith Art Tatum Sarah Vaughan 1990 Nat King Cole Miles Davis Vladimir Horowitz Paul McCartney
1991–2000	1991 Marian Anderson Bob Dylan John Lennon Kitty Wells 1992 James Brown John Coltrane Jimi Hendrix Muddy Waters 1993 Chet Atkins Little Richard Thelonious Monk Bill Monroe Pete Seeger Fats Waller 1994 Bill Evans Aretha Franklin Arthur Rubinstein 1995 Patsy Cline Peggy Lee Henry Mancini Curtis Mayfield Barbra Streisand 1996 Dave Brubeck Marvin Gaye Georg Solti Stevie Wonder 1997 Bobby "Blue" Bland The Everly Brothers Judy Garland Stéphane Grappelli Buddy Holly Charles Mingus Oscar Peterson Frank Zappa 1998 Bo Diddley The Mills Brothers Roy Orbison Paul Robeson 1999 Johnny Cash Sam Cooke Otis Redding Smokey Robinson Mel Tormé 2000 Harry Belafonte Woody Guthrie John Lee Hooker Mitch Miller Willie Nelson
2001–2010	2001 The Beach Boys Tony Bennett Sammy Davis Jr. Bob Marley The Who 2002 Count Basie Rosemary Clooney Perry Como Al Green Joni Mitchell 2003 Etta James Johnny Mathis Glenn Miller Tito Puente Simon & Garfunkel 2004 Van Cliburn The Funk Brothers Ella Jenkins Sonny Rollins Artie Shaw Doc Watson 2005 Eddy Arnold Art Blakey The Carter Family Morton Gould Janis Joplin Led Zeppelin Jerry Lee Lewis Jelly Roll Morton Pinetop Perkins The Staple Singers 2006 David Bowie Cream Merle Haggard Robert Johnson Jessye Norman Richard Pryor The Weavers 2007 Joan Baez Booker T. & the M.G.'s Maria Callas Ornette Coleman The Doors The Grateful Dead Bob Wills 2008 Burt Bacharach The Band Cab Calloway Doris Day Itzhak Perlman Max Roach Earl Scruggs 2009 Gene Autry The Blind Boys of Alabama The Four Tops Hank Jones Brenda Lee Dean Martin Tom Paxton 2010 Leonard Cohen Bobby Darin David "Honeyboy" Edwards Michael Jackson Loretta Lynn André Previn Clark Terry
2011–2020	2011 Julie Andrews Roy Haynes Juilliard String Quartet The Kingston Trio Dolly Parton Ramones George Beverly Shea 2012 The Allman Brothers Band Glen Campbell Antônio Carlos Jobim George Jones The Memphis Horns Diana Ross Gil Scott-Heron 2013 Glenn Gould Charlie Haden Lightnin' Hopkins Carole King Patti Page Ravi Shankar The Temptations 2014 The Beatles Clifton Chenier The Isley Brothers Kraftwerk Kris Kristofferson Armando Manzanero Maud Powell 2015 Bee Gees Pierre Boulez Buddy Guy George Harrison Flaco Jiménez The Louvin Brothers Wayne Shorter 2016 Ruth Brown Celia Cruz Earth, Wind & Fire Herbie Hancock Jefferson Airplane Linda Ronstadt Run-DMC 2017 Shirley Caesar Ahmad Jamal Charley Pride Jimmie Rodgers Nina Simone Sly Stone The Velvet Underground 2018 Hal Blaine Neil Diamond Emmylou Harris Louis Jordan The Meters Queen Tina Turner 2019 Black Sabbath George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Billy Eckstine Donny Hathaway Julio Iglesias Sam & Dave Dionne Warwick 2020 Chicago Roberta Flack Isaac Hayes Iggy Pop John Prine Public Enemy Sister Rosetta Tharpe
2021–present	2021 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Lionel Hampton Marilyn Horne Salt-N-Pepa Selena Talking Heads 2022 Bonnie Raitt 2023 Bobby McFerrin Nirvana Ma Rainey Slick Rick Nile Rodgers The Supremes Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson 2024 Laurie Anderson The Clark Sisters Gladys Knight N.W.A Donna Summer Tammy Wynette 2025 Frankie Beverly The Clash Bobby Jones Taj Mahal Prince Roxanne Shante Frankie Valli

v t e Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Class of 1988
Performers	The Beach Boys Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson The Beatles George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr The Drifters Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, Clyde McPhatter, Johnny Moore, Bill Pinkney, Charlie Thomas, Gerhart Thrasher Bob Dylan The Supremes Florence Ballard, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson
Early influences	Woody Guthrie Lead Belly Les Paul
Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award)	Berry Gordy

v t e Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Class of 1994
Performers	The Animals Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, Alan Price, John Steel, Hilton Valentine The Band Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson Duane Eddy Grateful Dead Tom Constanten, Jerry Garcia, Donna Jean Godchaux, Keith Godchaux, Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Brent Mydland, Bob Weir, Vince Welnick Elton John John Lennon Bob Marley Rod Stewart
Early influences	Willie Dixon
Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award)	Johnny Otis

The Beatles

History

Lists

Tours and
performances

Personnel

Management	Neil Aspinall Tony Barrow Peter Brown Brian Epstein Mal Evans Dick James Freda Kelly Allen Klein Joseph Lockwood Alistair Taylor Derek Taylor Allan Williams
Production	Geoff Emerick Richard Lush George Martin Phil McDonald Billy Preston Ken Scott Tony Sheridan Phil Spector Norman Smith Chris Thomas

Associated
companies

Associated
places

Selected books

Other topics

Category

Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon
Yoko Ono

Members

1969–1974	Eric Clapton Klaus Voormann Alan White Ringo Starr Delaney Bramlett Bonnie Bramlett Jim Gordon George Harrison Nicky Hopkins Bobby Keys Keith Moon Billy Preston Jim Price Hugh McCracken Stuart Scharf David Spinozza Kenneth Ascher Michael Brecker Arthur Jenkins David Friedman Pete Kleinow Don Brooks Jeremy Steig Jesse Ed Davis Eddie Mottau
2009–present	Sean Ono Lennon Cornelius Yuka Honda Michael Leonhart Erik Friedlander

Albums

Live Peace in Toronto 1969
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
Some Time in New York City
Approximately Infinite Universe
Feeling the Space
Mind Games
Walls and Bridges
Shaved Fish
Live in New York City
Don't Stop Me!
Between My Head and the Sky
The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
Take Me to the Land of Hell

Singles

"Give Peace a Chance"/"Remember Love"
"Cold Turkey"/"Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)"
"Instant Karma!"/"Who Has Seen the Wind?"
"Mother"/"Why"
"Power to the People"/"Open Your Box"
"Power to the People"/"Touch Me"
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"/"Listen, the Snow Is Falling"
"Woman Is the Nigger of the World"/"Sisters, O Sisters"
"Now or Never"/"Move on Fast"
"Death of Samantha"/"Yang Yang"
"Mind Games"/"Meat City"
"Whatever Gets You thru the Night"/"Beef Jerky"
"#9 Dream"/"What You Got"
"Working Class Hero"

Related articles

Category

v t e John Lennon family
Parents	Alfred Lennon (1912–1976) Julia Lennon (1914–1958)
Aunts and uncles	George Toogood Smith (1903–1955) Mimi Smith (1906–1991)
Half-sibling	Julia Baird (born 1947)
Children	Julian Lennon (born 1963) Sean Lennon (born 1975)
Wives	Cynthia Powell (1939–2015; married 1962–1968) Yoko Ono (born 1933; married 1969)
Relationships	May Pang (born 1950; partnered 1973–1975)

Yoko Ono

Studio albums

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band Fly Approximately Infinite Universe Feeling the Space Season of Glass It's Alright (I See Rainbows) Starpeace Rising A Story Blueprint for a Sunrise Between My Head and the Sky Yokokimthurston Take Me to the Land of Hell Warzone
with Lennon	Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions Wedding Album Some Time in New York City Double Fantasy Milk and Honey

Live albums

Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (with The Plastic Ono Band)
Live Jam (with Plastic Ono Band/The Mothers of Invention)

Compilations

Onobox
Walking on Thin Ice

Remix albums

Other albums

Singles

"Remember Love"
"Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)"
"Who Has Seen the Wind?"
"Why"
"Open Your Box"
"Touch Me"
"Mrs. Lennon" / "Midsummer New York"
"Listen, the Snow Is Falling"
"Sisters, O Sisters"
"Now or Never" / "Move on Fast"
"Death of Samantha" / "Yang Yang"
"Woman Power"
"Kiss Kiss Kiss"
"Beautiful Boys"
"Walking on Thin Ice"
"Yes, I'm Your Angel"
"No, No, No"
"My Man"
"Never Say Goodbye"
"Hell in Paradise"
"Open Your Box (remixes)"
"Kiss Kiss Kiss (remixes)"
"Yang Yang (remixes)"
"Walking on Thin Ice (remixes)"
"Hell in Paradise (remixes)"
"Everyman... Everywoman... (remixes)"
"You're the One (remixes)"
"No, No, No (remixes)"
"Give Peace a Chance (remixes)"
"I'm Not Getting Enough (remixes)"
"Give Me Something (remixes)"
"Wouldnit (I'm a Star) (remixes)"
"Move on Fast (remixes)"
"Talking to the Universe (remixes)"
"She Gets Down on Her Knees (remixes)"
"I'm Moving On (remixes)"
"Hold Me"
"Walking on Thin Ice (remixes)"
"Angel"
"Woman Power (remixes)"

Books

Grapefruit (1964)
Acorn (2013)

Films

Self-Portrait (1969)
Apotheosis (1970)
Fly (1970)
Freedom (1970)
Up Your Legs Forever (1971)
Imagine (1972)

Art

Voice Piece for Soprano (1961)
Cut Piece (1964)
Apple (1966)
Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting (1966)
Half-A-Room (1967)
Wish Tree (c.1981; ongoing)
- Wish Tree for Washington, DC

Family

Toshi Ichiyanagi (first husband)
Anthony Cox (second husband)
John Lennon (third husband)
Sean Lennon (son)
Yasuda Zenjirō (great-grandfather)

Related

Category

Julian Lennon

Studio albums

Singles

Related articles

Albums	Dave Clark's "Time" Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark Mr. Holland's Opus – Soundtrack
Family	John Lennon (father) Cynthia Lennon (mother) Sean Lennon (half-brother)
People	Yoko Ono Phil Ramone Mark Spiro
Other	Discography

v t e Sean Lennon
Studio albums	Into the Sun (1998) Friendly Fire (2006)
Extended plays	Half Horse, Half Musician (1999)
Related	The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger Cibo Matto Charlotte Kemp Muhl Dopo Yume The Claypool Lennon Delirium Monolith of Phobos South of Reality John Lennon (father) Yoko Ono (mother) Julian Lennon (brother)

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST 2 WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Italy Australia Czech Republic Russia Spain Romania Portugal Netherlands Norway Taiwan Latvia Croatia Chile Greece Argentina Korea Sweden Poland Israel Finland Catalonia Belgium
Academics	CiNii 2 ORCID Scopus
Artists	ULAN MusicBrainz RKD Artists Museum of Modern Art Grammy Awards FID
People	Trove Deutsche Biographie Deutsche Synchronkartei DDB
Other	IdRef NARA SNAC Te Papa (New Zealand) RISM