John Winston Lennon was born at 6:30 p.m. on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool,
England. His parents were Julia and Alfred Lennon. Throughout the week
before John was born, Liverpool was subjected to heavy air raids but on the
night of John's birth there was a lull in the bombing.

John's father rarely saw his son because he was away at sea. John's mother
was also more of a friend to John than an actual mother. Julia felt like she
couldn't care for the boy so she sent him off to live with his Aunt Mary
"Mimi" Smith. In 1946 Fred Lennon returned to Liverpool and
took his son to Blackpool where he made plans to emigrate to New Zealand
with John. John's mother came and made John make the heart breaking decision to stat with either his mother or his father. First John said he wanted to stay with his father, but when his mother went John followed her home. John would not see his father again till he was a Beatle. As soon as John got home with his mother, she sent him back to his Aunt Mimi.

John's childhood was a very tough one. John went to Dovedale Primary School
where he began to portray the streak of rebelliousness which was to remain
with him the rest of his life. It was here where John first became interested
in drawing. In 1955, while John was away visiting another Aunt, his Uncle
George died. John was left to deal with more grief. Uncle George was the
closest thing John every had as a father figure.

John began attending Quarry Bank Grammar School in September 1952. He
quickly became friends with Peter Shotton and the two became inseparable.
They always got into trouble by playing pranks on teachers, this didn't help
their grades. John was displaying, however, though he was slightly dyslexic a great talent for writting and an art. He was always into books and started to read at an early age.

The major fad going through Britain in the mid-1950's was a thing called
"skiffle groups". John quickly gathered some friends together in May 1955
and named the band "The Quarry Men". The Quarry Men's first major gig was at
"The Woolton Parish Church Fete" on July 6, 1957. After John and The Quarry
Men had finished their set, John met a young and talented guitar player by
the name of Paul McCartney. John called Paul up and asked him, "Do you want to
join me band?", and Paul said yes the next day.

George Harrison was later introduced into the band by Paul McCartney. John at first treated him like a kid but then saw how much talent George really had.

John loved the music of Elvis Presley and it had a profound effect on The
Quarry Men's performances. At one point they had been known as folkies but
soon had developed into a rock 'n' roll group. As for John and Paul, their
musical relationship grew stronger and soon they became a song writing team
coming up with their now legendary vocal-harmony style. Around this time
there was a lot of pressure for the group to change their name. At that time
many bands had the leader's name in front of the group name. At one point
they did change their name to "Johnny & The Moondogs" but they quickly
changed their minds and went back to The Quarry Men. Soon John would come up
with the legendary name "The Beatles" and kept it as the band's name.

In September 1957, John enrolled in "The Liverpool Art College." There he
met, and would later marry, Cynthia Powell. He also met Stuart Sutcliffe,
who became his best friend and the "Fifth Beatle." In 1960, with new band
member Pete Best in tow, The Beatles travelled to Hamburg for the first time.
Stuart had little interest in music and could barely play the bass so after
Hamburg he decided to go back to art college. John, although disappointed,
remained good friends with Stuart and Paul took over as bass player. In
1961, The Beatles first met Brian Epstein in "The Cavern Club" after one of
their many performances there. Later that year Brian Epstein became The
Beatles manger and the following year they signed with Parlphone after
George Martin suggested getting a new drummer. Brian and The Beatles decided
on Ringo Starr. While all this was going on John found time to marry Cynthia
on August 23, 1962 and she gave birth to their son Julian on April 8, 1963.

The Beatles were enjoying international success when John's first book "In
His Own Write" was published on March 23, 1964 and became a best-seller. On
June 24, 1965 his second book "A Spaniard In the Works" was published.
During that same year The Beatles received their MBE's or "Members of the
British Empire". John would later turn in his MBE in the late 60's because
of Britain's support of the United States in Vietnam. Around the time when
John got his MBE his father turned up in his life again. John slammed the
door in his face and said, "Why should I look after a father who never
really looked after me?".

In 1966 there was a degree of anti-Beatle fever in America following
comments John had made in an interview with Maureen Cleave, in which he said
that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus, and he reluctantly made a
public apology. In August of that year The Beatles played their lasted live concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In November John met a Japanese artist
named Yoko Ono at the Indica Gallery in London.

The Beatles had been experimenting with various drugs since late 1964 when
they first smoke marijuana with Bob Dylan and now in the mid-to-late 60's
they began to experiment with LSD. John and George were into LSD more than
Paul and Ringo. Paul felt that you would never be the same after you'd have
taken it. In August 1967, The Beatles met the Marharishi Mahesh Yogi. During
that same month their manager Brian Epstein was found dead from an
accidental drug overdose. John's relationship with Yoko grew stronger and he
sponsored an exhibition of her work call "Yoko and Me" in October 1967.
Later that month "How I Won The War", in which he played his first solo
feature film role, premiered.

After The Beatles went to Maharishi's ashram in India to learn
transcendental meditation, John and Cynthia divorced and he began to live
with Yoko. John and Yoko were raided by the police while staying at Ringo's
flat in Montague Square and John was fined for possession of cannabis. John
and Yoko's album "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins" was issued in
November and created international controversy due to the cover, which
showed the couple in a full frontal nude pose. John also appeared on the
un-shown "Rolling Stones Rock 'n' Roll Circus".

In 1969, The Beatles started their own company "Apple Corps." After many
months of shuffling around responsibilities The Beatles chose Allen Klein to
take control of Apple. In February 1969 Yoko divorce from Anthony Cox came
through and John and Yoko were married in Gibraltar March 20. John and Yoko
made a series of films together, "Apotheosis, Clock, Fly, Freedom Films,
Imagine" just to name a few. In May 1969 they bought a mansion in Ascot
called Tittenhurst Park and issued their second album "Unfinished Music No.
2: Life With The Lions". In September John first introduced the "Plastic Ono
Band" on record. In November the couple issued their "Wedding Album".

After The Beatles officially broke up in April 1970 John went on to write
and record many more albums with Yoko through out the early 70's. In 1972
John first fought to get his green card so he could be able to stay in the
United States. He was finally successful in 1976. During this time John and
Yoko had been trying to have a baby but were plagued by several
miscarriages. Sean Lennon was born on John's 35th birthday. John would later
say, "I felt higher than the empire state building!".

John didn't mind reversing roles at all with Yoko. John was staying home
taking care of Sean while Yoko was out working. John described himself as a
"house husband" during the period. He liked taking care of Sean and baking,
particularly bread. "I took a Polaroid of my first loaf!", John once said.

In August 1980, John came out of retirement to record his first album in six
years and agreed to a number of interviews prior to him becoming active in
the music scene again. On December 8, 1980 around 11 p.m. tragedy stuck.
While coming home from a late-night recording session with Yoko, John was
shot by David Mark Chapman outside his apartment building The Dakota. John
was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

 

R.I.P
John Winston Lennon
1940 - 1980