| “ | Imagine there's no heaven… | ” |
―John Lennon in "Imagine" | ||
John Winston Ono Lennon[1] (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980 [aged 40][2]), was an English singer, songwriter, musician and leftist peace activist. He gained worldwide fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful partnership in history.[3]
After the group disbanded in 1970, he pursued a solo career with his wife Yoko Ono. John retired from making music in 1976, but returned in 1980 with the comeback album "Double Fantasy". Tragically, John was assassinated (shot) by an obsessed fan named Mark David Chapman in December 8, 1980[4], but his work remains archived on a YouTube channel owned by the John Lennon estate.[citation needed]
History[]
Early career & life[]
Lennon was born at Liverpool Maternity Hospital (now Liverpool Women's Hospital) in Liverpool. He was son of Alfred Lennon and Julia Lennon. He started the Beatles in his hometown of Liverpool, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. After Ringo Starr joined the band, they started to be very successful. People were excited by their music, and their live performances always pleased audiences. Manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin helped the Beatles become the most popular act in entertainment.
Lennon played the guitar, and later learned to play the piano. Most of the songs the Beatles recorded were written by Lennon and McCartney. Their songs were always credited as by "Lennon/McCartney" on Beatles records, but in fact they usually wrote their songs on their own. The two men often helped to make each other's songs better, so they liked to share writing credit. Famous songs written by Lennon for the Beatles are "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day In The Life" and many others.
The Beatles grew apart as the members got older. Lennon divorced his first wife, Cynthia Powell, and married Yoko Ono, while McCartney married Linda Eastman. Each wife had different ideas, and encouraged their husbands to depend less on each other. Later, some fans blamed Yoko and Linda for breaking the Beatles up.
Lennon loved his wife so much that he added her surname Ono to his own name, since she became Yoko Ono Lennon when she married him. He had never liked his middle name Winston (given him by his mother after Winston Churchill) and wanted to change it, but was told he could not under British law. He could add a new name though, so he did that. He never used the name Winston again, unless he had to for legal reasons (such as when he travelled to America). Otherwise he gave his "full name" as John Ono Lennon.
Later career & life[]
Lennon recorded several albums and singles after the Beatles disbanded. The best-known one was Imagine. He made many records with Yoko Ono. On some records they called themselves the Plastic Ono Band. Lennon and Ono worked with different musician friends, including Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, Harry Nilsson, Eric Clapton and Elton John. Lennon's solo music was different from his Beatles songs. He spoke more directly about his own feelings, and sometimes used harsh language or loud sounds. This upset a few fans, who wished for more Beatles music from him.
Lennon and Ono moved to the United States in 1971, and settled in New York City. Ono had a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, from an earlier husband, Anthony Cox, a filmmaker, who took her and disappeared. It was easier to look for Kyoko, and get the law's help to look, if they stayed in America. Ono and Lennon were also hurt emotionally by the way Ono was treated by many people in England. Some insulted Ono, and asked Lennon why he was with her. On the other hand, most of the people they met in America accepted them together.
Lennon and Ono were also campaigners for peace in the world. They used Lennon's famous name to talk to the media (television, radio and newspapers) about their beliefs. Lennon and Ono were sometimes in trouble with people like politicians, who did not like the things they said. President Richard Nixon's administration even tried to deport Lennon, because of his political views.
The two things Lennon and Ono wanted most were to live permanently in the United States, and to have a child together. Their lives were stressful in the early 1970s for several reasons. There were the problems with immigrating to the United States, and with the search for Kyoko. The public were also sometimes negative toward Ono, her music, and her ideas. The couple had several miscarriages, caused partly by the stress.
Lennon also had business problems, because leaving the Beatles was not as simple as quitting an ordinary job. The Beatles had signed many contracts. They promised to do things in a certain way, meet deadlines, and work together, to be paid as musicians and songwriters. Many business deals had to be finished or changed, and new deals had to be made, to continue their music careers apart. This took time, and meant making many hard decisions. The four former Beatles could not always agree on what to do with the things they owned together. It took years to work out what to still own in common, what to divide up, and what to let go. The choices they had to make sometimes hurt their friendship.
Lennon and Ono separated for over a year, from late 1973 until early 1975, because of the stress in their lives, and their relationship. Each of them dated another person (Lennon pairing off with May Pang, his and Ono's personal assistant, and Ono with guitarist David Spinozza), and they were nearly divorced. They spoke nearly every day by telephone, however, and tried to work things out. They decided that they wanted to be together more than anyone else could want them apart, and they reunited.
Based off attorney Leon Wildes' side of the story, Lennon and Ono had lost their right to stay in the United States in 1972 due to Lennon pleading guilty and being convicted of having cannabis resin when he was in the United Kingdom prior. The U.S. government would soon order them to be deported, triggering a case with Wildes defending the two, but Ono would eventually gain residency and the order was reversed for Lennon in 1975.[5] Lennon and Ono also finally had a son, Sean Lennon, who shares a birthday with his father on October 9.
Lennon and Ono stopped making music for five years, to be able to spend more time together, and give Sean as much attention as he needed. They lived on Lennon's income from the music he already made. Ono became Lennon's business manager, and invested his money in real estate and organic farming. Her office was downstairs in the Dakota, the apartment building where they lived, so they were never far apart. Lennon became a full-time father to Sean, and he was proud to call himself a "househusband". They also visited Ono's family in Japan several times, and made other trips.
In 1980 Lennon and Ono began to write new music, as Sean got old enough to begin school. They recorded a new album titled Double Fantasy that year. A single from the album, "(Just Like) Starting Over", was a hit, and people welcomed Lennon back. Even people who had not liked Ono earlier now respected her, and more of them began to like her music. Lennon and Ono planned to start fresh, do a world tour, and record more albums.
Murder and legacy[]
On December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot dead as he was going into his home, by a man named Mark David Chapman who was allegedly mentally ill. Even though Chapman was a Beatles fan, he was enraged at Lennon's comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus" and his lyrics in "God" and "Imagine". Chapman was also jealous of Lennon's lifestyle, and was inspired by Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel Catcher In The Rye. Chapman was arrested after commiting the murder.
Even though he was ill, Chapman was still prosecuted for Lennon's murder. Chapman pled guilty to the murder the next year, and is still in prison today. He admitted later he was jealous of Lennon's fame and success, while his own life disappointed him. Chapman thought that killing Lennon would give his own life more meaning. He has been denied parole numerous times[6] and is notoriously known.
Fans all over the world mourned Lennon's death. It made them feel that a special part of their lives was gone. Many met in New York's Central Park, near where Lennon and Ono lived, to say their goodbyes. Some played recordings of Lennon's music. Politicians and celebrities everywhere were sorry Lennon had died, even if they disliked him, because his music meant so much to so many people. Radio stations in the Soviet Union, where rock music was rarely allowed to be played, gave an hour over to Beatles recordings.
There was no funeral for Lennon, but Yoko Ono asked people everywhere to observe ten minutes of silence and prayer for him on Sunday, December 14, 1980, at 2:00 PM. At two o'clock, the music playing in Central Park stopped, and people all over the world fell silent for ten minutes. Other tributes came later, including songs by George Harrison ("All Those Years Ago"), Paul McCartney ("Here Today"), Elton John ("Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)") and Queen ("Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)").
Lennon's music (with and after his Beatles years) is still played everywhere, and people are still touched by it. A series of radio programs were devoted to playing demoes of his songs. Young musicians play Lennon's records, and learn his music. Yoko Ono released an album of acoustic versions of many Lennon songs, to help musicians understand them better.
There is now a garden in Central Park in Lennon's memory called "Strawberry Fields", after one of Lennon's most popular songs, which in turn was named after a Salvation Army orphanage near his childhood home. On October 9, 1990, on what would have been Lennon's fiftieth birthday, "Imagine" was simulcast from the United Nations on radio and television stations all over the world, uniting people everywhere to remember Lennon and his music.[7][8]
Controversy[]
Child Neglect and Domestic abuse[]
John with his then-wife Cynthia had a son called Julian in 1963, According to Dorothy Jarlett, Lennon's housekeeper during his first marriage, described Lennon's behavior towards Julian as aggressive and violent. Lennon appeared to resent his son and would often berate him. One time, he even allegedly snapped at the boy for giggling: “I hate the way you f-cking laugh.”[9] Paul McCartney, who felt great empathy for Julian, wrote the 1968 song Hey Jude for him, the original title being "Hey Jules." Years later, Julian said that McCartney had been more of a father to him than his real dad.[10][11] In Cynthia's 2005 memoir book "John", in which she mentions being physically abused by John. With an incident of John hitting her when she was pregnant with Julian.[12] In an Interview before his death, John admitted to abusing Cynthia and said that he deeply regretted it.[13]
1972 controversial song[]
"Woman Is the N****r of the World" is a controversial song written and performed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1972. The song was meant to be a powerful statement about the oppression of women, comparing it to oppression of black people, but its provocative title and lyrics led to significant backlash.[14][15] In a 1972 interview, Lennon explained:
"We’re not using it to demean Black people. We’re using it to show how the woman is oppressed in the same way, or in a very similar way, to how Black people were oppressed."
FBI surveillance[]
Due to his political views, Lennon became a target for the FBI under the Richard Nixon administration.[16] The U.S. government viewed him as a threat, particularly because of his anti-war activism and connection to left-wing political movements. In fact, Lennon was under surveillance for years, and the government even attempted to deport him to the UK in an effort to silence his influence during the 1970s.[17]
Discography[]
Experimental studio albums with Yoko Ono[]
- Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono) (1968)
- Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
- Wedding Album (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
Studio albums[]
- Live Peace In Toronto (with Plastic Ono Band) (1969)
- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
- Imagine (1971)
- Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono) (1972)
- Mind Games (1973)
- Walls and Bridges (1974)
- Rock 'n' Roll (1975)
- Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono) (1980)
- Milk and Honey (with Yoko Ono) (1984)
- Live In New York City (Recorded live in 1972) (1986)
Bibliography[]
- In His Own Write (1964)
- A Spaniard in the Works (1965)
- Skywriting by Word of Mouth (1986)
References[]
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
- ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/467781/it-takes-two-10-songwriting-duos-that-rocked-music-history
- ↑ This Day in History: John Lennon Shot. History.
- ↑ You May Say He’s a DREAMer: John Lennon’s Immigration Case. PBS (December 14, 2012).
- ↑ Dustin Jones (September 13, 2022). The man who shot and killed John Lennon in 1980 was denied parole for the 12th time. NPR.
- ↑ Time Wire Services (October 9, 1990). Lennon Fans ‘Imagine’ Him on 50th Birthday. Los Angeles Times.
- ↑ DavisMix (August 10, 2015). WMMR October 9, 1990 John Lennon's Imagine Broadcast From The U.N. (timestamp 7:19 for beginning of the broadcast) (timestamp 13:55 for the start of the song). Internet Archive.
- ↑ https://www.wtsp.com/article/entertainment/housekeepers-letter-reveals-john-lennons-dark-side/67-236749711
- ↑ https://b95forlife.iheart.com/alternate/amp/2022-12-01-julian-lennon-says-paul-mccartney-was-more-of-a-dad-than-john-was/
- ↑ https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/john-lennon-said-son-julian-wouldve-preferred-paul-mccartney-father-unfortunately-got.html/
- ↑ https://allthatsinteresting.com/cynthia-lennon
- ↑ https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/john-lennon-admitted-hitting-women-interview-right-before-died.html/
- ↑ https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-woman-is-the-n-of-the-world/
- ↑ https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-john-lennon-track-that-radio-stations-refused-to-play/
- ↑ https://vault.fbi.gov/john-winston-lennon
- ↑ https://www.npr.org/2010/10/08/130401193/uncovering-the-truth-behind-lennons-fbi-files
