John Lennon Biography
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John Winston Lennon, later John Ono Lennon,
(October 9, 1940–December 8, 1980), was best known as a singer,
songwriter, and guitarist for The Beatles. His creative career also
included the roles of solo musician, political activist, artist, actor
and author. As half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting team,
he heavily influenced the development of rock music, leading it towards
more serious and political messages. He is recognized as one of the
musical icons of the century, and his songs (such as "Imagine" and
"Strawberry Fields Forever") are frequently ranked among the best songs
of the 20th century. In 2002, the BBC conducted a vote to discover the
100 Greatest Britons of all time. The British public voted Lennon into
8th place.
* * * *
Early years
He was born on the evening of October 9,
1940; during a period of much turmoil since Great Britian and her allies
were fully engaged in World War II. Both of his parents had musical
background and experience, though neither pursued it seriously. Lennon
lived with his parents in Liverpool until his father Fred Lennon, a
merchant seaman, walked out on the family. His mother, Julia, then
decided that she was unable to care for her son, and so gave him to her
sister Mimi. Lennon lived with Mimi at Mendips throughout his childhood
and adolescence. Like much of the population of Liverpool, Lennon had
some Irish heritage, his grandfather, James Lennon, having been born in
Dublin in 1858.
Around adolescence, Lennon developed severe
myopia and was obliged to wear glasses in order to see clearly. During
his early Beatle career, Lennon wore contacts or prescription
sunglasses, but later donned his trademark, round "granny-glasses" in
late 1966. Although John lived apart from his mother he still kept in
contact with her through regular visits, and during this time Julia was
responsible for introducing her son to a lifelong interest in music by
teaching him how to play the banjo. On July 15th, 1958 - when Lennon was
17 - his mother was killed after she was struck by a car driven by a
drunken off-duty police officer. This event influenced many of his later
songs, and was also one of the factors that cemented his friendship with
Paul McCartney, who had lost his own mother to breast cancer at the age
of 14 in 1956. Later, in 1968, Lennon wrote songs entitled "Julia", "My
Mummy's Dead" and "Mother" in honour of his mother as well as naming his
firstborn son, Julian, after her.
His Aunt Mimi was able to get him accepted
into the Liverpool College of Art by showing them some of his drawings,
and it was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia Powell. However,
Lennon steadily grew to hate the conformity of art school and, like many
young men of his age, became increasingly interested in Rock 'n' Roll
music and American singers like Elvis Presley,Chuck Berry and Buddy
Holly. Eventually, in the late 1950s, Lennon formed his own skiffle
group called The Quarry Men, which later became Johnny and the Moondogs,
followed by The Silver Beetles (a tribute to Buddy Holly's Crickets) and
soon afterwards was shortened to The Beatles.
He married Powell in 1962 after she became
pregnant with Julian.
Role in the
Beatles
Lennon had a profound influence on rock and
roll, and in expanding the genre's boundaries during the 1960s. He is
widely considered, along with fellow-writing partner Paul McCartney, as
one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians of the 20th
century. Of the two, Lennon is generally viewed as the better lyricist,
while McCartney is seen as the more accomplished composer. Though overly
simplistic, this assessment does have some merit. Many of the songs
credited to Lennon-McCartney, but actually written by Lennon, are more
developed, introspective pieces — often in the first person — and deal
with more personal issues. Lennon's songs are also often the more
lyrical, due to his love of word play, double meaning, and strange
words. His most surreal pieces of songwriting, "Strawberry Fields
Forever" and "I Am the Walrus", are fine examples of his unique style.
Lennon's partnership in songwriting with McCartney many times involved
him in complementing and counterbalancing McCartney's upbeat, positive
outlook with the other side of the coin, as one of their songs, "Getting
Better" demonstrates:
-
McCartney: I have to admit it's getting
better, a little better all the time.
-
Lennon: It can't get no worse!
Lennon often spoke his mind freely and the
press was used to querying him on a wide range of subjects. On March 4,
1966, in an interview for the London Evening Standard with Maureen
Cleave, who was a friend of his, the subject of religion came up. Lennon
made an off the cuff remark about how religion was becoming less of a
factor in the lives of young people. The article was printed and nothing
came of it, until five months later when a Teen magazine reprinted the
words "I don't know what will go first—Rock and Roll or Christianity.
We're more popular than Jesus now," right on the front cover, completely
out of context.
A firestorm of protest swelled from the
southern Bible Belt area, as conservative groups publicly burning
Beatles records and memorabilia. Radio stations banned Beatles music and
concert venues cancelled performances. Even The Vatican got involved
with a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. On August 11, 1966, the
Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, in order to
address the growing furor.
-
Lennon: "I suppose if I had said
television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away
with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used
the words "Beatles" as a remote thing, not as what I think - as
Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us. I just
said "they" are having more influence on kids and things than
anything else, including Jesus. But I said it in that way which is
the wrong way."
-
Reporter: "Some teenagers have repeated
your statements - "I like the Beatles more than Jesus Christ." What
do you think about that?"
-
Lennon: "Well, originally I pointed out
that fact in reference to England. That we meant more to kids than
Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting
it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for
England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or
comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or
whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was
taken wrong. And now it's all this."
-
Reporter: "But are you prepared to
apologize?"
-
Lennon (thinking that he just had): "I
wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said
it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I
apologize if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what
I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me
to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry."
The Vatican accepted his apology and the
furor eventually died down, but constant Beatlemania, mobs, crazed
teenagers, and now a press ready to tear them to pieces over any
out-of-context quote was too much to handle. The Beatles soon decided to
stop touring, and indeed, never performed a scheduled concert again.
From this point onward the Beatles were a studio band (perhaps the first
ever). Freed from the problem of having to compose music they could
recreate live on stage, they could explore the technological limits of
music and create unique and original sounds.
On November 9, 1966, after their final tour
ended and right after he had wrapped up filming a minor role in the film
How I Won The War, Lennon visited an art exhibit of Yoko Ono's at the
Indica art gallery in London. Lennon began his love affair with Ono in
1968 after returning from India and leaving his estranged wife Cynthia,
who filed for divorce later that year. Lennon and Ono were from then on
inseparable in public and private, as well as during Beatles recording
sessions. The press was extremely unkind to Ono, posting a series of
unflattering articles about her, one even going so far as to call her
"ugly." This infuriated Lennon, who rallied around his new partner and
said publicly that there was no John and Yoko, but that they were one
person, JohnAndYoko. These developments led to friction with the other
members of the group, and heightened the tension during the 1968 White
Album sessions.
Some Beatles fans blame Ono for the
Beatles' breakup, but the band had been growing apart almost immediately
after the death of their manager Brian Epstein in 1967. Lennon in
particular cited Epstein as the glue which had held them all together;
in his absence (together with the influence of drugs, outside friends,
alternate collaborating partners, and marriages/relationships), the
Beatles' interpersonal relationships simply disintegrated.
At the end of 1968, Lennon and Ono
performed as Dirty Mac on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.
During his last two years as a member of
The Beatles, Lennon spent much of his time with Ono on public displays
protesting the Vietnam War. He sent back the MBE (Member of the Order of
the British Empire) he received from Queen Elizabeth II during the
height of Beatlemania "in protest against Britain's involvement in the
Nigeria-Biafra thing and support of America in Vietnam," adding as a
joke, "as well as 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts." On March 20,
1969, Lennon and Ono were married in Gibraltar, and spent their
honeymoon in Amsterdam in a "Bed-In" for peace. They followed up their
honeymoon with another "Bed-In" for peace this time held in Montreal.
During the second "Bed-In" the couple recorded "Give Peace a Chance"
which would go on to became an international anthem for the peace
movement. They were mainly patronized as a couple of eccentrics by the
media, yet they did a great deal for the peace movement, as well as for
other pet causes, such as women's liberation and racial harmony. As with
the "Bed-In" campaign, Lennon and Ono usually advocated their causes
with whimsical demonstrations, such as Bagism, first introduced during a
Vienna press conference. Shortly after, Lennon changed his middle name
from Winston to Ono to show his "oneness" with his new wife. Lennon
wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko" about his marriage and the
subsequent press it generated.
The failed Get Back/Let It Be
recording/filming sessions did nothing to improve relations within the
band. After both Lennon and Ono were injured in the summer of 1969 in a
car accident in Scotland, Lennon arranged for Ono to be constantly with
him in the studio (including having a full-sized bed rolled in) as he
worked on The Beatles' last album, Abbey Road. While the group managed
to hang together to produce one last superior musical work, soon
thereafter business issues related to Apple Corps came between them.
Lennon decided to quit the Beatles but was
talked out of saying anything publicly. Phil Spector's involvement in
trying to revive the Let It Be material then drove a further wedge
between Lennon (who supported Spector) and McCartney (who opposed him.)
Though the split would only become legal some time later, Lennon and
McCartney's partnership had come to a bitter and definite end. McCartney
soon made a press announcement, declaring he had quit the Beatles, and
promoting his new solo record.
Solo career
Of the four former Beatles, Lennon had
perhaps the most varied recording career. While he was still a Beatle,
Lennon and Ono recorded three albums of experimental and difficult
electronic music, Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, Unfinished Music
No. 2: Life With The Lions, and Wedding Album. His first 'solo' album of
popular music was Live Peace In Toronto, recorded in 1969 (prior to the
breakup of the Beatles) at the Rock 'n' Roll Festival in Toronto with
the Plastic Ono Band, which included Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann. He
also recorded three singles in his initial solo phase, the anti-war
anthem "Give Peace a Chance", "Cold Turkey" (about his struggles with
heroin addiction) and "Instant Karma!".
Following the Beatles' split in 1970, he
released the Plastic Ono Band album, a raw, brutally personal record,
heavily influenced by Arthur Janov's Primal Scream therapy, which Lennon
had undergone previously. The influence of the therapy, which consists
literally of screaming out one's emotional pain, is most obvious on the
songs "Mother" ("Mommy don't go!/Daddy come home!") and "Well Well
Well." The centerpiece is "God," in which he lists all the things he
does not believe in, ending with "Beatles." Lennon continued this effort
to demythologise his old band with a long, confrontational interview
published in Rolling Stone magazine.
This was followed in 1971 by Imagine, his
most successful solo album, which alternates in tone between dreaminess
and anger. The title track has become an anthem for anti-war movements,
and was matched in image by Lennon's "white period" (white clothes,
white piano, white room ...)
Perhaps in reaction, his next album, Some
Time In New York City, was loud, raucous, and explicitly political, with
songs about prison riots, racial and sexual relations, the British role
in the sectarian troubles in Northern Ireland, and his own problems in
obtaining a United States Green Card. This record is generally seen as
the nadir of Lennon's career, full of heavy-handed and simplistic
messaging unredeemed by much artistic value. On 30 August 1972 Lennon
and his backing band Elephant's Memory staged two benefit concerts at
Madison Square Garden in New York; it was to be his last full-length
concert appearance. Lennon and Ono also did a week-long guest co-host
stint on the Mike Douglas Show, in an appearance that showed Lennon's
wit and humour still intact.
In 1972, Lennon released a song, "Woman is
the Nigger of the World", implying that as black people were
discriminated against in some countries so were women globally. The
music industry refused to release the song and it was deamed as banned
material.
Lennon rebounded in 1973 with Mind Games,
which featured a strong title tune and some vague mumblings about a
concept called "Nutopia." His most striking song of that year was the
wry "I'm the Greatest," which he wrote for Ringo Starr's very successful
Ringo album.
During 1974 Lennon's personal life fell
into disrepair when Yoko literally kicked John out of the house. A
temporary move to Los Angeles started off John's infamous "lost
weekend", which actually lasted closer to fourteen months and involved
nightly drinking binges and many public incidents. During this period
Lennon also had an extramarital affair with Ono's former secretary May
Pang.
Despite the chaos, Lennon managed to put
together a reasonably well-received album, Walls And Bridges, which
featured a collaboration with Elton John on the up-tempo number one hit
"Whatever Gets You Through the Night". Another top ten hit from the
album was the Beatlesque reverie "#9 Dream". Lennon capped the year by
making a surprise guest appearance at an Elton John concert in Madison
Square Garden where they performed "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,"
"Whatever Gets You Through the Night," and "I Saw Her Standing There"
together. It was to be his last ever concert appearance.
The following year Lennon released the Rock
'n' Roll album of cover versions of old rock and roll songs of his
youth. This project was complicated by Phil Spector's involvement as
producer and by several legal battles; the result received generally
negative reviews, though it yielded a lauded cover of "Stand By Me"
(considered by some as one of the best covers ever). At this point Yoko
was pregnant with what would be their first child, and Lennon — saddened
by the fact that due to Beatlemania he had never gotten to experience
fatherhood with his first son Julian — retired from music and dedicated
himself to family life. This was made easier in 1976 when his U.S.
immigration status was finally resolved favourably, after a years-long
battle with the Nixon administration that included a FBI investigation
involving surveillance, wiretaps, and agents literally following Lennon
around as he travelled. Lennon claimed the investigation was politically
motivated.
Lennon's retirement, which he began
following the birth of his second son, Sean in 1975, lasted until 1980
when Lennon, for the first time in five years, picked up his guitar
again. At first only curious to see if he could still write music, he
felt refreshed and full of ideas, completely reinvigorated by the
experiences of fatherhood and the long break from the business. On a
trip to the islands down in the southern US he wrote an impressive
amount of material and began thinking about a new album. For this
comeback, he and Ono produced Double Fantasy, a concept album dealing
with their relationship. The name came from a flower Lennon saw at an
exposition; he liked the name, and thought it was a perfect description
of his marriage to Yoko. "(Just Like) Starting Over" began climbing the
singles charts, and Lennon started thinking about a brand new world
tour. Lennon also commenced work on Milk and Honey which he would,
unfortunately, leave unfinished. It was some time before Ono could bring
herself to complete it.
Murder
On the morning of December 8, 1980, in New
York City, deranged fan Mark David Chapman met Lennon as he left for the
recording studio and got his copy of Double Fantasy autographed. Chapman
remained in the vicinity of The Dakota for most of the day as a
fireworks demonstration in nearby Central Park distracted the doorman
and passers-by.
Later that evening, Lennon and Ono returned
to their apartment from recording Ono's single "Walking On Thin Ice" for
their next album. At 10.50pm, their limousine pulled up to the entrance
of the Dakota. Ono got out of the car first, followed by Lennon. Beyond
the main entrance was a door which would be opened and a small set of
stairs leading into the apartment complex. As Ono went in, Lennon got
out of the car and glanced at Chapman, proceeding on through the
entrance to the Dakota.
As Lennon walked past him, Chapman called
out "Mr. Lennon?". Just as Lennon turned, Chapman crouched into a
"combat" stance and fired five hollowpoint bullets into John's back and
shoulder. One of the bullets fatally pierced his aorta. Still, Lennon
managed to stagger up six steps into the concierge booth where he
collapsed, gasping "I'm shot, I'm shot."
Chapman dropped his .38 Charter Arms
revolver, which was kicked away by Jose Perdomo who then asked "Do you
know what you have done ?" to which Chapman replied "I just shot John
Lennon." Chapman then calmly took his coat off placed it at his feet,
took out a book and started reading.
Police arrived within minutes, to find
Chapman still waiting quietly outside, reading a copy of J.D. Salinger's
novel, "The Catcher in the Rye."
The two officers transported Lennon to the
hospital in the back of their squad car as they thought John was too
badly hurt to take the risk of waiting for an ambulance. One of the
officers asked Lennon if he knew who he was. Lennon's reply is reported
to have been "Yeah", or "I'm John Lennon of the Beatles", or simply a
nod of the head before he passed out. Despite extensive resuscitative
efforts in the hospital, Lennon had lost over 80% of his blood volume
and died of shock. Millions would receive the news that night from
Howard Cosell, commentator for ABC's Monday Night Football.
Memorial
A crowd gathered outside the Dakota the
night of Lennon's death. Ono sent word that their singing kept her awake
and asked that they re-convene in Central Park the following Sunday, for
ten minutes of silent prayer (see also the 1980 Central Park Vigil -
Tribute to John Lennon). Her request for a silent gathering was honoured
all over the world.
A special commemorative issue of Rolling
Stone magazine released shortly after the murder featured as its cover a
photo taken the morning of the shooting by Annie Leibovitz showing a
nude Lennon in an embryonic pose kissing a fully clothed Ono.
The Strawberry Fields Memorial was
constructed in Central Park across the street from the Dakota, in memory
of Lennon. When George Harrison died in 2001, people congregated on the
"Imagine" mosaic circle in Strawberry Fields.
In 1988, Warner Bros. produced a
documentary film, Imagine: John Lennon (sanctioned in part by Yoko Ono.)
The movie was a biography of the former Beatle, featuring interviews,
rarely seen musical material, and narration by Lennon himself (formed
from interviews and tapes recorded by Lennon). It also introduced "Real
Love", one of the last songs composed by Lennon, in an early demo (a
later demo would form the basis for the version rehashed by The Beatles
for The Beatles Anthology). The following year, at an auction of Beatles
memorabilia, Lennon's jukebox was sold at Christie's for 2,500 pounds.
The Mellotron that Lennon used to record, amongst other songs,
"Strawberry Fields Forever", is currently owned by Trent Reznor of the
band Nine Inch Nails.
Specially selected radio stations aired a
syndicated series called The Lost Lennon Tapes in 1990. Hosted by Lennon
publicist Elliot Mintz, the show spotlighted raw sessions from
throughout Lennon's career with and without The Beatles, including rare
material never released to the public. During the America: A Tribute to
Heroes concert on September 21, 2001, Neil Young (an avowed devotee of
Lennon) sang "Imagine."
In October 2000 John Lennon Museum was
opened in Ono's hometown Saitama, Japan, to preserve knowledge of his
works and career. In March, 2002, his native city, Liverpool, honored
his memory by renaming their airport "Liverpool John Lennon Airport,"
and adopting as its motto a line from his song "Imagine" "Above us only
sky". In the same year, Lennon was voted 8th by the British public in
the "100 Greatest Britons" poll run by the BBC. BBC History Magazine
commented that his "generational influence is immense."
In 2004 Madonna paid tribute to Lennon by
singing a cover of "Imagine" during her anti-war themed "Re-Invention
World Tour."
In 2005, a musical titled "Lennon" was
shown for the first time in San Francisco. It recevied a very lackluster
response from theater critics and Beatles fans alike.
In 2005, Cowboy Junkies covered "I Don't
Want To Be A Soldier" on their anti-war album, "Early 21st Century
Blues".
John Lennon Park was built in Cuba as a
memorial to the musician.
Lennon's son with Cynthia, Julian Lennon,
enjoys a notable recording career of his own, as does his son with Yoko,
Sean Lennon.
Throughout his solo career, Lennon appeared
on his own albums (as well as those of other artists like Elton John)
under such pseudonyms as Dr. Winston O'Boogie, Mel Torrment, and The
Reverend Fred Gherkin.
* * * *
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