John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 at Liverpool's Oxford Hospital. His father Alfred abandoned him and his mother Julia when John was three years old.

At the age of 17, John's mother was killed when hit by a car, he had witnessed the accident and was devastated by it. This in turn made him get into his music even more as he found it as an escape. It also help build a strong bond with his friend Paul who also had just lost his mother to cancer. The Quarrymen would change their name a couple of times until they settled on the name "The Beatles". John and Paul shared the lead vocals in the band and by the early sixties they were already making a name for themselves. In 1962 John married his long time girlfriend Cynthia Powell and the next year they had a son, Julian.

The Beatles would not only become rock's most famous group but also a phenomena. John was a big reason for that. He was always rebellious as a child and as a young adult hadn't changed much. He would say what was on his mind at press conferences unlike others back then would. He seemed to have an answer for just about anything that the press would toss at him. When he made a statement that the Beatles were more popular then Jesus Christ, he was probably right, but it was taken wrong and he would have that hang over him for a time after.

John met Yoko Ono, an avant-garde artist in late 1966. He had attended a show of her work and was impressed. He decided to finance her art exhibit. In 1968 he fell in love with Yoko and decided to leave his wife for her. Yoko had a strong influence on his music as he got into experimental sounds and progressive music. This was all to the dismay of his fellow Beatles. Tension grew as John would bring Yoko into the studio for Beatle sessions. It became clear that John was more interested in working with Yoko than his bandmates and the end of the Beatles was near. John married Yoko in March of '69. By this time the two of them were into protests against the war in Viet Nam. Amongst other things, they would stage Bed-Ins against the war and write some great anti war songs.

John started his solo career while still in the Beatles. He had already written two well received books, In His Own Write ('64), and A Spaniard in the Works ('65) and in 1966, he acted in Dick Lester's comedy How I Won the War. Musically he and Yoko had released the experimental album Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins in '68. They would release two more similar albums in early '69 and also the live single ""Give Peace a Chance," which was recorded during a Bed-In in Montreal, Canada. In September of 1969, he returned to live performances with a concert at a Toronto rock & roll festival. He was supported by the Plastic Ono Band, which featured Ono, guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Alan White. The next month he would release the single "Cold Turkey", a song about his addiction to heroin.

December 8, 1980, while returning from the recording studio, he was assassinated by a gunman (name purposely withheld in honor of John's families' wishes) outside his apartment building in Manhattan. His death drew grief from the entire world; as everyone reacted in unprecedented mourning, with scenes usually reserved for world leaders. On December 14, millions of fans around the world participated in a ten-minute silent vigil for him at 2 p.m. EST. The dream that Lennon had sang about years earlier was now truly and sadly over.


 


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