John Lennon

British musician, an icon in popular culture, Lennon became a megastar in the internationally renowned rock 'n roll group, "The Beatles," followed by a solo career that reflected the angst of the times. Known as the 'Fab Four,' the Beatles arrived in America, taking the country by storm in the "British Invasion." On February 7, 1964, with two million copies sold of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," 4,000 screaming fans waited for the Beatles' arrival at 1:20 PM at JFK airport, creating a wave of hysteria that swept the young men into history. The songwriting team of Lennon and Paul McCartney, performing with their compatriots George Harrison and Ringo Starr, created music enjoyed by millions long after the group disbanded in 1970. Lennon went on performing with his wife, conceptual artist, Yoko Ono, in concerts and recording albums. After dropping out of the music scene in 1975, Lennon re-emerged in 1980 with his critically acclaimed "Double Fantasy" album, released the same year he was murdered. John's early childhood was unstable. His dad, Alfred, a ship’s waiter, married his mom, Julia, in December 1938 but jumped ship in America, deserting his wife and five-year-old son. John’s mother couldn’t cope with the responsibility of caring for her "wild child," who terrorized other kids and found himself expelled from kindergarten. At the age of six, he went to live with his mother's sister, Aunt Mimi who, with Uncle George, raised the boy as their own, providing security and stability in his life. In school, John received poor marks. At age 11, he was diagnosed with eye problems forcing him to wear glasses, and a pair of the round wire-rimmed variety ultimately became a trademark. Visiting his mother Julia in 1955, John became exposed to the rock 'n roll music that he heard on the radio. Aunt Mimi bought Lennon his first guitar and encouraged the young man to make music. At 16, Lennon finished last in his class. In 1957, he entered art school in Liverpool, a nice break, while he continued to experiment with the new rock music scene. On July 6th that year, he met Paul McCartney, and the two lads began playing together in a music group called The Quarry Men. Tragedy befell the following year when John’s mother, Julia, was struck by a car and killed at 9:40 P.M. on July 15, 1958, a shock that he never quite put behind him. In this, his second year at art school, the sadness around his mother’s death was lightened a bit when he met Cynthia Powell. After she got pregnant, they married on August 23, 1962 without his family in attendance. Their baby, John Charles Julian Lennon, born on April 8, 1963, didn’t meet his dad for the first time until a week later. In 1959, Lennon and his band, then named The Silver Beetles, performed at Liverpool's Cavern Club. After playing in Hamburg in 1961, the Beatles returned to Liverpool with favorable reviews in the papers and began recording together. In the following year, under contract with George Martin and EMI records, the Beatles got their big commercial break in the music industry. Their first single, “Love Me Do” was released on October 5, 1962. In 1963, the Beatles performed at the London Palladium and the Royal Variety Show, and Beatlemania began its pervasive hold on the world. By January of the following year “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had flown to the top of the charts. The band appeared on the Ed Sullivan show on February 9, 1964, watched by approximately 73 million TV viewers in the United States. Lennon and his band mates filmed the hit "A Hard Days Night" in 1964, and the band continued to gain followers throughout the 1960s. The Beatles were awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in October 1965, an award that Lennon would later return in protest. In March 1966, Lennon's controversial quip that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus caused a ripple and Lennon apologized for his remark. That year, the Beatles decided to stop touring and become a studio group. On November 9, 1966, Lennon met Yoko Ono in London, a meeting that began a new chapter in his life. Yoko pursued John, knowing that he was a married man with a baby. In May 1968, Cynthia came home to find Yoko and John living together in their house and divorced him. On March 14, 1969, John and Yoko made plans to marry, which they did a week later on the 20th in a three-minute ceremony in Gibraltar. A few days later in Amsterdam, the couple staged a "bed-in," wearing pajamas as they held court in front of the world media with their plea, "Give peace a chance." In 1973, Yoko and Lennon separated and John had an affair with May Pang. While he was with Pang in New York City, he walked out on his balcony one summer night (August 23, 1974) and saw something that he later described as a flying saucer. He had reportedly always been fascinated by UFOs and wrote about his experience in two songs on different albums. Lennon and Ono reunited two years later, and, after many miscarriages, they produced their only son, Sean Lennon, on October 9, 1975. John, however, continued to sleep with his mistress May Pang off and on until their last meeting in December 1978. By 1969, relationships between members of the Beatles were beginning to fray, and in 1970 the band members went their separate ways. On August 30, 1972, Lennon played a successful solo concert at Madison Square Garden, his last full-length concert. After recording a few albums, the songwriter decided in 1975 to retire from the music industry. The recordings he made with the Beatles continued to sell and by 1977, the band had sold an estimated 100 million albums, setting world records in sales. In the meantime, Lennon wrote two books, "A Spaniard in the Works" and "In His Own Write." In 1980, Lennon made a critical comeback to the popular music charts with his album "Double Fantasy." Lennon had spent much of his music career indulging in illegal substances, including LSD and pot. In 1968, Lennon went on a drug binge with booze, acid, speed, cocaine and heroin. The following year he was denied entrance into the U.S. because of a police drug-bust in the UK. On March 5, 1970, Lennon and his wife checked into a detox clinic in London but he fell off the wagon in 1972, going into seclusion with drugs and booze. On December 8, 1980 at 10:50 PM local time, Lennon was shot five times outside his New York City apartment by Mark David Chapman who had asked Lennon for his autograph earlier in the evening. Lennon died shortly afterward at about 11:30 PM. After his death, Beatles fans spent days outside the Dakota apartment complex playing Beatles records and holding candlelight vigils. Link to Wikipedia biography Link to Astrodienst discussion forum