The famous singer and songwriter John Lennon founded the Beatles, the band that changed the world of popular music unlike any other.
Who Was John Lennon?
Musician John Lennon met Paul McCartney in 1957 and offered McCartney to be part of his group, and they would eventually form the most successful songwriting team in music history. Lennon was exiled from his band, the Beatles, in 1969 and released albums alongside his wife, Yoko Ono, and other artists. On the 8th of December, the 8th of December, 1980, Lennon was shot dead by a fan who possessed Mark David Chapman.
Early Life
John Winston Lennon was born on the 9th of October 1940 in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, during an air raid by a German air strike during World War II.
When he was four years old, his parents divorced, and he was placed with his aunt Mimi. Lennon’s father worked as a merchant seaman. He did not attend his son’s birth and didn’t see much of his son while the young.
His mother, Julia, remarried but visited Lennon and Mimi often. Julia also taught Lennon to play the banjo and the piano, and he also purchased his first guitar. Lennon felt devastated after Julia was killed in the off-duty policeman’s car in July of 1958, and her death was among the most tragic events in his life.
Lennon was a prankster when he was a child and loved getting into trouble. When he was a kid and a young adult, he was drawn to creating grotesque characters and cripples. The school’s principal thought it was possible to go to an art college because he didn’t achieve high marks in school but was talented in art.
Forming the Beatles
The rise of Elvis Presley onto the rock music scene led a 16-year-old Lennon to start a skiffle group called The Quarry Men, named after the school he attended. Lennon was introduced to Paul McCartney at a church celebration on the 6th of July 1957. He invited McCartney to be part of the band, and the two of them eventually formed one of the biggest and most famous collaborations in songwriting in music history.
McCartney introduced George Harrison to Lennon the following year, and Harrison and his art college pal Stuart Sutcliffe also joined Lennon’s group. Always searching for drummers, The group eventually picked Pete Best in 1960.
The first song they recorded included The music of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day” in 1958. Holly’s group, The Crickets, actually caused the band to change their name. Lennon would later say that he saw a vision at the age of 12 old and saw a man appear on a hot pie and said to his bandmates, “From this day on, you are Beatles with an ‘A.'”
Brian Epstein discovered the Beatles in 1961 at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, where they performed frequently. Brian Epstein appointed the band’s manager, and Epstein signed a record deal with EMI. With the addition of a drummer named Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) and George Martin as a producer, The group debuted their debut track, “Love Me Do,” in October 1962. The song reached the top of the British charts at No. 17.
Lennon wrote the group’s next track, “Please Please Me,” which was influenced primarily by Roy Orbison but also inspired by his fascination with the puns in Bing Crosby’s famous lyrics “, Oh, please, lend your little ears to my pleas,” from the song “Please.” “Please Please Me” the Beatles’ “Please Please Me” reached Britain’s top of the charts. The Beatles became the most loved group in Britain by releasing mega-hits, including “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”
Lennon married Cynthia Powell in August 1962. They had a son, Julian, named after the mother, Lennon. Cynthia was forced to maintain a shallow profile throughout Beatlemania. She and Lennon split in 1968. The following year, he remarried on the 20th of March 1969 to Japanese contemporary artist Yoko Ono, who had been introduced to in his Indica Gallery in November 1966.
Beatlemania
In 1964 The Beatles were the first British group to go large across The United States, beginning with their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on the 9th of February 14th, 1964. Beatlemania was the catalyst for the “British Invasion” of rock groups from the United States that also included the Rolling Stones and the Kinks. After performances on Sullivan, The Beatles returned to Britain to shoot their debut feature film, A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and then begin preparations for the band’s first international tour.
The Beatles The 2nd film, Help!, was released in 1965. In June of that year, it was also the month that Queen Elizabeth II declared that the Beatles were named a member of the Order of the British Empire. The band performed in August 1965. the band entertained 55,600 people at New York’s Shea Stadium, setting a record for the biggest crowd in music history. After they returned to England, the Beatles returned to England and recorded their debut record, Rubber Soul (1965), not only for their original pop and love songs that made the band before their fame.
The magical nature of Beatlemania began to fade away in 1966. The lives of the band members were in danger after they came under suspicion of not respecting the family of the president from the Philippines. Then, John Lennon’s comment that the group were “more popular than Jesus now” caused a storm of criticism, and the Beatles recorded bonfires across their U.S. Bible belt. The Beatles quit performing after their 29th August show in San California’s Candlestick Park.
After an extended break, the band returned to the studio to expand their experimental sound with drug-influenced exotic instrumentation/lyrics and tape abstractions. The first track included “Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever,” followed by an album by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) is widely regarded by fans as the best rock album.
The Beatles Break Up
The Beatles were then dealt a devastating hit when Epstein passed away due to an unintentional overdose of sleeping tablets on the 27th of August, 1967. After being devastated by the death of Epstein, the Beatles returned to their original form under McCartney’s direction in the fall and recorded Magical Mystery Tour. Critics widely criticized the film. The soundtrack album included the song by John Lennon, “I Am The Walrus,” the band’s most obscure work to date.
Magical Mystery Tour failed to succeed in the commercial arena. The Beatles turned to Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The latter brought the group on a journey to India over two years at the beginning of 1968. Their subsequent effort, Apple Corps Ltd., was plagued by mismanagement. The group had to face its final enthusiastic crowd at their movie Yellow Submarine premiere. In November 1968, the Beatles recorded their double album The Beatles (also known as The White Album) displayed their divergent direction.
In the meantime, the artist-partnership between Lennon and his second wife, Ono, began to trigger significant conflicts within the band. Lennon and Ono created a method of peaceful protest, resting in bed while being interviewed and filmed. Their hit song “Give Peace a Chance” (1969), which was released under the moniker “the Plastic Ono Band,” was an anthem for the nation for those who are pacifists.
Lennon quit. Lennon left the Beatles on the 29th of September, 1969, shortly after the group had finished recording Abbey Road. The news of the split was kept a secret until McCartney declared his resignation in April of 1970, just a month before the release of Let It Be, recorded prior to Abbey Road.
Solo Career: ‘Imagine’ Album
After the Beatles disbanded in 1970, Lennon released his first solo album, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, which featured an uncompromising, minimalist style that was a follow-up to “primal-scream” therapy. The album was followed by 1971’s Imagine, The most commercially profitable and critically appreciated of his post-Beatles albums. The album’s title track was later designated the No. #3 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “All-Time Best Songs” list.
Love and peace, however, it wasn’t always on the agenda of Lennon. Imagine was also the source of “How Do You Sleep?” which was a furious protest against veiled insults towards Lennon in a few of McCartney’s solo records. The bandmates and songwriting duo later put down the hatchet but never officially collaborated for the next time.
Lennon and Ono relocated to Ono, and Lennon moved to the United States in September 1971. However, they were continually threatened with exile from The Nixon Administration. Lennon was informed that he would be removed from the United States because of his cannabis conviction from Britain The singer thought he was exiled for his stance against the famous Vietnam War, and the documents later proved that he was right. (Two months after Nixon was ousted on the day of his resignation, Lennon received permanent U.S. residency.)
In 1972, as he fought to remain within America, Lennon performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City to aid disabled children. He also continued to advocate peace. The battle with immigration caused a lot of stress on his marriage, and in the autumn of 1973, Lennon and Ono divorced. Lennon moved on a trip to Los Angeles, California, where he partied and took his lover, May Pang. Lennon was able to put out successful albums, such as Mind Games (1973), Walls and Bridges (1974) and Rock ‘n’ roll (1975). At this time, Lennon famously collaborated with David Bowie and Elton John.
Lennon and Ono were reconciled in 1974, and Ono gave birth to their sole child, named Sean, at the time of Lennon’s birthday (the 9th of October in 1975). After a short time, Lennon decided to leave the music business to concentrate on becoming the husband and father of his children.
Tragic Death
In 1980, Lennon returned to the music scene with the Double Fantasy album. Double Fantasy, featuring the popular single “(Just Like) Starting Over.” Tragically, only a few weeks after the album’s release, Mark David Chapman, a fan with a mental illness, killed Lennon numerous times in the vicinity of the complex where he lived in New York City. Lennon died in the city’s Roosevelt Hospital on the 8th of December, 1980, aged 40.
Lennon’s murder was, and continues to be, a significant influence to pop music. After the tragic incident took place, millions of fans around the world grieved while record-breaking sales skyrocketed. The sad death of Lennon is a source of deep sorrow worldwide, and the singer continues to be loved and adored by generations of new fans. Lennon was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
