John Lennon

He was the father, with Yoko Ono , of Sean Lennon and father, with Cynthia Lennon , of Julian Lennon.

An actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman lost the part of John Lennon in John and Yoko: A Love Story , because he had a similar name (Mark Chapman) as Lennons killer. Chapman later portrayed Lennon in Chapter 27 .

When "Rolling Stone" magazine was launched in November 1967, Lennon made the first cover, in a photo from How I Won the War .

The first instrument he learned to play was the harmonica.

He used a number of pseudonyms in his musical work. These include Dr. Winston OBoogie, Booker Table, Dwarf McDougal, Rev. Fred Ghurkin, Mel Torment, Dr. Dream, The Honorable John St. John Johnson, John OCean, Joel Nohnn, Kaptain Kundalini, Dad and Winston Leg-Thigh.

He was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles January 20, 1988.

He added "Ono" to his name in honor of wife Yoko Ono (aka Yoko Ono Lennon); he wished to drop his middle name Winston, but couldnt under British law. While he never used "Winston" again, his U.S. Resident Alien card (aka "green card") was issued to "John Winston Ono Lennon.".

He was given his U.S. Resident Alien registration (his "green card") on the bicentennial of the American revolution: July 4, 1976. He was also informed that he would be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship in 1981.

He wrote the song "Beautiful Boy" for his son Sean Lennon , who was born on Johns 35th birthday.

His murder was first announced to the world by U.S. sportscaster Howard Cosell during "NFL Monday Night Football" . According to Frank Gifford , Lennon met Ronald Reagan when both were guests on "Monday Night Football" in the mid-1970s. After appearing on the show, he gave Gifford and Cosell each a complete collection of The Beatles albums, which he autographed.

He was assassinated as he returned from the recording studio at around 10:49 pm on Monday, December 8, 1980, outside the Dakota, his apartment building in New York, by Mark David Chapman , a crazed fan who shot Lennon four times in his back at close range (at least one gunshot wound was fatal which was to the aorta just above Lennons heart). Lennon was declared D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival; either already dead or near death) at 11:07 pm when he was brought by the police to St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospitals emergency room.

In 1974, he and singer Harry Nilsson were ejected from the Troubadour Club in Hollywood by the bouncers, after they both heckled the Smothers Brothers (Tom Smothers and Dick Smothers ) onstage. Lennon and Nilsson both sent flowers and an apology to the Smothers Brothers the next day, and Lennon replied to a columnists speculation that he might have been using drugs, with the confirmation that theyd simply had too many Brandy Alexanders.

In 2001 the Liverpool Airport was renamed the John Lennon Airport after him. In 2005, a replica of a Yellow Submarine was unveiled outside this airport as a further commemorative gesture.

His widow Yoko Ono s photograph of Johns spectacles, bloodstained from day he was fatally shot outside their apartment building in December 1980, sold at auction in London, April 2002 for about $13,000. At a second Christies auction later in April, two tape recordings of Lennon were also sold. One, from the summer of 1969, was of Lennon making up tunes and telling six-year-old Kyoko about a dwarf who lived in their garden. It sold for $110,000. The other tape, a 25-minute recording of Lennon working on the melody and lyrics for "She Said She Said", contains lyrics never heard in the songs final version. It sold for $85,200.

He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a solo artist) in 1994.

His song with The Beatles , "In My Life", was played at the funeral of Kurt Cobain.

In 1989, the Republic of Abkhazia (in the former Soviet Georgia) proclaimed independence. To show the world they were rejecting their Communist past, they issued two postage stamps of Groucho Marx and Lennon (as opposed to Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin ).

He is one of several famous and tragic figures from history to be featured on the sleeve artwork of the album "Clutching at Straws" by rock band Marillion (released in 1987). His voice was also sampled for the introduction of the Marillion song "Gazpacho" (the opening track of their 1995 album "Afraid of Sunlight").

Paul McCartney wrote "Here Today" as a tribute to him. George Harrison remembered Lennon with his song "All Those Years Ago" (featuring Ringo Starr on drums, and Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney on background vocals). He is referenced in the work of several other music artists. Queen recorded a tribute to Lennon called "Life Is Real" from their "Hot Space" album. His death is the subject of The Chameleons song "Here Today" (from their 1983 album "Script of the Bridge"). The Cranberries song "I Just Shot John Lennon" explored the day of his murder. The Marillion song "Warm Wet Circles" refers to it in the lyric "like a bullet hole in Central Park" (from their 1987 album "Clutching at Straws"). His death is also referred to in the lyrics of the Badly Drawn Boy song "You Were Right" and the Bellamy Brothers song "Old Hippie". O.A.R. wrote "Dakota" from their album "Stories of a Stranger" in memory of Lennon. Richie Sambora s song "Made In America" references Lennons death and addresses his legacy. Elton John (a friend of Lennons) recorded "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" from his 1982 album "Jump Up!" as a tribute. David Bowie (also a friend) recorded the song "Never Let Me Down" (the title track of his 1987 album) as a homage to Lennon (Bowie sang it in the style of Lennon as well as performing mouth organ and whistling in a Lennon style).

In 2002 Paul McCartney changed the credits to many of the songs he wrote with Lennon to "McCartney & Lennon" (from "Lennon & McCartney") to a large public uproar. However, this was not the first time McCartneys name appeared first; many of their early songs were so credited, and the same had been done with songs on the 1976 live album "Wings Over America". In the credits to Give My Regards to Broad Street , McCartneys name appeared prominently - and alone - as composer of the songs performed, which included The Beatles tunes "Yesterday" and "Here, There and Everywhere".

He was photographed for the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine by Annie Leibovitz on the day he was murdered. He had also just recorded an extensive interview for RKO Radio, and for the BBC the week before.

He was preoccupied with the number nine: An avant-garde composition on The Beatles "White Album" was "Revolution 9", while a solo recording of his was "#9 Dream", a term he gave to a state of enlightenment. He died at 11 p.m. on December 8, 1980 in New York, but in his native England (five hours ahead), it was already December 9.

His neighbors at the Dakota included singer Roberta Flack , and actors Peter Boyle , Gloria Swanson , and Lauren Bacall.

His mother Julia was killed by a drunk driver when John was seventeen; his stepfather broke down at the news, and John had to go with the police to identify her body (he later named his first son [Julian Lennon ] for her, and remembered his mother in the song "Julia", ten years after her death). His best friend and former band mate Stuart Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in 1962, when they were both 21; John asked Stuarts mother for the old scarf hed worn to art school, and kept it as a memento.

In the days leading up to Lennons murder, his killer Mark David Chapman "lived the life" (in his words) of J.D. Salinger s "Catcher in the Rye" narrator Holden Caulfield, and was browsing a copy of that book when he was arrested.

He married first wife Cynthia Lennon at the Mount Pleasant Registry Office in Liverpool; he married second wife Yoko Ono on the Rock of Gibraltar.

He was cremated privately the day after his death. Yoko Ono has never revealed the whereabouts of the ashes, or what happened to them. In lieu of a funeral for John, Yoko asked the public for ten minutes of silence and prayer at 2pm ET on the following Sunday, December 14th, and to contribute to charities in his memory.

Besides re-releases of his music, his presence has remained in the marketplace and media through selections from his writings and drawings, including a line of childrens products based on creations made for son Sean Lennon.

He didnt spend every day of his five years retirement at the Dakota. Yoko Ono or one of their consultants would occasionally send him (or the family) to different spots around the globe, for vacations or good-luck trips, beginning with a flight around the world from west to east to "clear their karma". Lennon had to visit Hong Kong alone, book his own room, and see to his own meals, which hed never done in his life; after a nervous first day (spent mostly in the bath), he finally tried going out for a walk - and was surprised to find that nobody took him for more than a tourist, let alone one of the world-famous Beatles. Not getting the celebrity treatment for the first time since his early twenties, he felt like hed rediscovered himself.

Although his music with and after The Beatles usually featured the latest technical and sound innovations, he was all thumbs when it came to most audio/visual equipment, and usually depended on a knowing technician or assistant to give him the sound or look he wanted. He also spent little time on remixing with his solo records; latter-day remasters of his solo albums have been carefully remixed, bringing out many subtleties in the music buried or lost in the original mixes.

His first girlfriend (at age fifteen) was named Barbara Baker; his girlfriend at Art school (before dating Cynthia Powell, later Cynthia Lennon ) was named Thelma Pickles.

Yoko Ono signed over the royalties of his song "Imagine", in perpetuity, to Amnesty International, a world-wide organization devoted to political prisoners.

Lennon declared his favorite album to be "Safe as Milk", by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band , buying two copies for the included sticker. Shortly before his death, he also said he enjoyed The Pretenders hit single "Brass in Pocket" as well as the debut album of The B-52s because it reminded him of Yoko Ono s music.

He was voted as a solo artist as the 38th Greatest Rock and Roll Artist by "Rolling Stone". The Beatles were voted the Greatest Rock and Roll Artists of all time on the same list in the magazine.

He was a bright child, but not much of a student from secondary school (akin to middle and high school) on; he found little to engage him, and failed his last round of final exams by just a few points. He was able to enter Art school on a headmasters recommendation, but found it no more engaging, and slacked off, giving most of his energies to the Beatles, friends and girlfriends.

Danish rock band Dizzy Mizz Lizzy is not only named after a famous Beatles song (written by Larry Williams), but included on their second album "Rotator" was the song "11.07pm" honoring the memory of lead singer Tim Christensen s greatest songwriting inspiration.

After his conviction for hashish possession in the fall of 1968 (he pleaded guilty on his lawyers advice, to "get it behind him" and to keep Yoko Ono from being prosecuted, and possibly deported from the U.K.), Lennon was denied entry into the U.S. during 1969 and 1970, at the height of his and Yokos "peace campaign". Psychiatrist and Primal therapist Dr. Arthur Janov was able to arrange a medical visa for Lennon late in 1970, on the grounds that he and Yoko had come to Janov for treatment, and they were also allowed to return the next year for a series of custody hearings over Yokos daughter Kyoko Ono Cox. Their decision to stay in America at the end of 1971 led to a four-year court battle, with the hashish conviction at its heart (the conviction was eventually overturned by a U.S. court, clearing the way for him to apply for permanent resident status).

He kept his old bow-tie from Quarry Bank School, and wore it for special occasions as an adult. He also had a favorite necktie that he wore every day to court in the mid-1970s, during his immigration hearings, and later during a lawsuit brought against him by publisher Morris Levy.

His "Mind Games" album came about because in 1973 the other members of The Beatles were behind quota in their renegotiated contract with EMI. Neither George Harrison nor Ringo Starr had released albums in 1971 or 1972 (Harrisons The Concert for Bangladesh soundtrack didnt count under the contract, as a charity all-star album, co-distributed by EMI and Columbia Records), while Lee Eastman had brokered a separate deal for son-in-law Paul McCartney. Lennon was in no hurry to return to recording after the failure of 1972s "Some Time In New York City", but with legal action pending against the former band, he locked himself away in a bedroom for 48 hours, writing and polishing off an albums worth of songs, which he recorded quickly a couple of weeks later. The album was only a modest hit, but it satisfied EMIs requirements.

The Beatles experimented with names throughout 1959. At one point they were called "Johnny and the Moondogs." Another time they turned up to a show in different coloured shirts, and called themselves "The Rainbows".

The cover of Rolling Stone issue featuring a nude Lennon hugging and kissing a fully clothed Yoko Ono taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz was voted the top magazine cover of the last 40 years by a panel of magazine editors, artists and designers chosen by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The photo was the cover of Rolling Stones tribute to Lennon after his death. Ironically, the picture was taken on the last day of Lennons life.

Moving to New York City in the early 1970s, he and Yoko Ono first sublet a luxury apartment in the Dakota Hotel from actor Robert Ryan , then purchased it from Ryans estate following his death. They later purchased several other apartments in the same building. One became their office, another storage for their video collection, another storage for clothing. One with Lennons instruments and jukebox briefly became the "Club Dakota", for a New Years party with publicist Elliot Mintz.

His song "Jealous Guy" became a UK number one single for Roxy Music in 1981 and was recorded as a tribute to Lennon. The bands lead singer Bryan Ferry later performed it at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985.

His song "Imagine" was performed by Peter Gabriel at the opening ceremony to the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries in 2006, The Beatles are the biggest popular music act of all time, with 400 million albums sold (50 million more albums than their runner-up, Michael Jackson ).

In 1969 he recorded the song "Give Peace A Chance" in room 1742, Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montral, Canada. Norman Mailer , Tom Smothers , and Timothy Leary can be heard as part of the chorus.

He was the only member of The Beatles to eat meat regularly. Ringo Starr was a vegetarian for life, due to health problems. George Harrison converted in 1968, and Paul McCartney became one in 1975. Lennon mostly followed a macrobiotic diet (with brown rice as a staple), but not strictly.

It was after hearing Paul McCartney s new single "Coming Up" that Lennon decided to return to music in early 1980. His reported response was, "Oh shit, Ive got to get back." Lennon loved the song.

He isolated himself from the members of The Beatles after 1974. He had slammed Paul McCartney in the press (to which McCartney vehemently responded), he and George Harrison had stopped talking after an argument over The Concert For Bangladesh (Lennon wanted Yoko Ono to be an integral part of the show, and Harrison didnt want her to even perform). Lennon was also deeply hurt that Harrison largely left him out of his autobiography "I, Me, Mine". They never spoke again after the release of the book. He stayed away from Ringo Starr because he wanted to stay sober (and Starr was always drinking). He and McCartney were together for the last time on April 24th, 1976 (the night of the first "Saturday Night Live" offer of $3200 for the Beatles to reunite). Harrison maintained in later years that their disagreement was petty and that there was no real animosity between them.

He was the first Beatle to perform solo, appearing in The Rolling Stones s The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (filmed in December 1968), and also at a concert in Toronto the next year. He was also the only Beatle never to do a solo tour. Tours were planned for 1972 (cancelled because of his immigration problems) and 1981 (cancelled after his death).

It was said that the birth of his son and his new fatherhood in 1975 made him much more sweet and mellow, even watching The Beatles films and cartoons and listening to their records with Sean Lennon. Although he gave a rather biting interview to Playboy magazine in 1980, he was said by most of his associates to be much easier to work with in that part of his life.

He was the only member of The Beatles never to attend a Paul McCartney solo concert. Ringo Starr went to one in 1976 and Harrison went to one in 1993 (both preferred not to go onstage). Lennon was planning to visit McCartney in New Orleans during the "Venus and Mars" album sessions, but canceled when Yoko Ono became pregnant with Sean Lennon.

Elton John is the godfather of his son Sean Lennon

He was the best man at Peter Boyle s wedding on October 21, 1977 to Loraine Alterman Boyle. Boyles wife was friends with Yoko Ono.

He felt that both "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Across the Universe" were poorly recorded.

He was the posthumous winner of the British Phonographic Industry Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1982.

He is portrayed by Tim Piper in The Linda McCartney Story .

On 11 November 2004, Lennon was inducted as part of The Beatles into the UK Music Hall of Fame. They were inducted for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture.

Amateur photographer Paul Goresh was the last person to photograph Lennon alive, autographing his "Double Fantasy" album for Mark David Chapman , just hours before Chapman fatally shot Lennon. Goresh used his Minolta XG1 camera to take the picture, one of many hed taken of Lennon after developing a casual friendship with him. Goresh took the picture of John and Yoko that Lennon used for the sleeve of his "Watching the Wheels" single that was released posthumously in 1981.

He was a huge fan of Bing Crosby late in his life, reintroduced to Crosbys music by a restauranteur friend.

He is portrayed by Ian Hart in Backbeat .

He was inducted with Paul McCartney into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.

He claimed a disdain for The Beatles memorabilia, but privately sent assistants to fan conventions (including the early Beatlefests) to buy interesting or special items. One such trip reunited him with German friend Jrgen Vollmer. Considered showing up at a convention unannounced, just to see the reaction, but never did.

He was taught banjo chords by his mother, Julia, and played his guitar at first in banjo style. Paul McCartney later taught him proper guitar chords.

Only performed three songs of The Beatles in concert after the group broke up, "Come Together" in Madison Square Garden in 1972, and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There" with Elton John , back at Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving, 1974.

His Steinway Model Z upright piano, the instrument he used to compose and record his signature song "Imagine", was bought by singer George Michael for 1.67m in the year 2000, who then donated it to Liverpools Beatles Story museum.

He was voted the fifth greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll in 2008.

During the 1960s he had attempted to instigate a live action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien s "Lord Of The Rings" books (of which he was a fan), starring himself and his Beatle bandmates. Lennon had expressed interest in the role of Gollum, with Paul McCartney playing Frodo, Ringo Starr playing Sam and George Harrison playing Gandalf.

He and The Beatles were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1750 Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Its location is a few steps north of the (recently sold) Capitol Records tower.

Several of his personal assistants (and also his and Yoko Ono s tarot reader) later wrote memoirs of their time with Lennon, and each successive one picks up the approximate storyline where the last left off. These in order are: "The Beatles, Lennon and Me" by Peter Shotton (Lennons boyhood friend, later on the board of Apple Corps; worked briefly as their personal assistant), "John Lennon: One Day At a Time" by Anthony Fawcett (personal assistant from 1968-1971), "Loving John" by May Pang (personal assistant from 1972-1975, and also Lennons lover with Onos sanction), "Dakota Days" by John Green (Lennon and Onos tarot reader from 1975-1980), and "The Last Days of John Lennon" by Frederic Seaman (personal assistant from 1979-1982).

He owned several cars in the 1960s, but gave up driving after he totaled his Aston-Martin on a trip to Scotland with Yoko Ono , Julian Lennon and Kyoko Ono Cox. Onos back was sprained; the rest of them required stitches. Lennon and Ono later mounted the wrecked car on a pillar at Tittenhurst Park. May Pang learned to drive when she and Lennon were living in Los Angeles, so they could travel together along the California coast.

Number 9 connection: he was born on 9 October 1940, his son Sean Lennon was also born 9 October, 1975. He wrote the songs "#9 Dream" (part of Lennons ninth solo album "Walls and Bridges", which was released in the ninth month of 1974 and peaked at #9 in the US charts) and with The Beatles - One After 909 and Revolution 9.

In a 2007 interview on the BBC Radio program Desert Island Discs, his wife, Yoko Ono , revealed what his last words were. She said that he wanted to go home and see son Sean before he went to sleep rather than go out for dinner after leaving the recording studio. According to Ono: "I said Shall we go and have dinner before we go home? and John said, No, lets go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep." Moments later, he was gunned down in front of the historic Dakota building where the family lived in New York City.

One of the last recordings he made prior to his death was for fellow Beatle Ringo Starr s solo album "Stop and Smell the Roses". John and his wife, Yoko Ono , joined Starr at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood where the album was being recorded.

He was portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Nowhere Boy .

He and the other members of The Beatles were each awarded the MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1965 Queens Birthday Honours List. Lennon later returned his MBE medal, as a protest against "Britains involvement in the Nigeria/Biafra thing, against our support of American in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts".

Lennons first wife, Cynthia, says that when they were dating, John was smitten by French actress Brigitte Bardot. Cynthia says that in order to please John, she dyed her hair blond and began wearing outfits in the same style as Bardot. This included wearing berets, short skirts, and black thigh-high stockings, like the actress. There are many photos of Cynthia from the 1963-1965 time period that show her dressed and styled in this manner.

When Lennon attended Liverpools Dovedale Primary School (1945-1951), it was situated a mere two blocks from a street named "Penny Lane".

He attended Liverpools Dovedale Primary School (1945-1951) with comedian Jimmy Tarbuck.

He felt very guilty about leaving his son Julian and worked hard to bridge their relationship towards the end of his life.

Release of the book, "Lennon Revealed", by his friend, Larry Kane.

Release of the book, "John Lennon: The Life" by Philip Norman.

Release of the book, "Memories of John Lennon" by his widow, Yoko Ono.

(November 2006) LOVE album, a Cirque du Soleil soundtrack, remix, and mash up album of a bundle of The Beatles classics is released and produced by George Martin and his son, Giles.

Release of the book, "John Lennon: The New York Years" by Bob Gruen.

Release of the book, "John" by Cynthia Lennon.

He incorporated various musical genres later on in his career, including R&B, blues, classical and sounds of India and Africa.

He was known for being a very heavy sleeper and treated his bedroom as a very sacred space. Journalist Maureen Cleave wrote of John, "He can sleep almost indefinitely, is probably the laziest person in England.".

He was born in an air-raid shelter during the Blitz.

Like songwriting partner Paul McCartney , he never learned to read sheet music.

After moving to New York city, Lennons natural Liverpool accent slowly started to become less prominent. Paul McCartney once recalled getting a phone call from him and not recognizing his voice since he sounded much more American.

A therapist described him with the statement "Howled like a dog, swore like a Merseyside Docker".

Shortly after his death and before his cremation, John Lennons body was autopsied at the New York City morgue on 1st Avenue where the cause of death was reported as: "hypovolemic shock caused by the loss of more than 80% of blood volume due to multiple through-and-through gunshot wounds to the left chest and aortic arch". The report also stated that as Lennon had been shot four times at close range with.38 caliber hollow-point bullets (which expand upon entering the target and severely disrupt more tissue as they travel through the target), Lennons affected organs (particularly his left lung) and major blood vessels above his heart were virtually destroyed/torn apart upon impact. At that close range, three of the bullets that hit Lennon passed completely through his body and exited out of his chest while the fourth (the fatal shot) logged in his aorta; a total of seven gunshot wounds. The pathologist who performed the autopsy on Lennon also stated in his report that even with prompt medical treatment, no person could have lived for more than a few minutes with such multiple bullet injuries.

Because The Beatles debut album "Please Please Me" was rushed into production and recorded in twelve hours, they recorded "Twist and Shout" last. Lennon had a bad cold, and producer George Martin feared that the songs throat-shredding vocal would ruin his voice and thus the whole recording session.

Dr. Stephan Lynn was the emergency room physician who received Lennon in the ER at Roosevelt Hospital after Lennon was shot a few minutes before 11:00 pm that night. When Lennon arrived after being brought in by the police, he had no pulse and was not breathing. Dr. Lynn, two other doctors and a nurse worked on Lennon for 15 to 20 minutes in attempting to revive him. As a last resort, Dr. Lynn cut open Lennons chest and attempted manual heart massage to restore circulation, but he quickly discovered that the damage to the blood vessels above and around Lennons heart from the through-and-through gunshot wounds was too great. Dr. Lynn soon gave up and pronounced Lennon dead on arrival at 11:15 pm, but the time of 11:07 pm has also been reported by unknown sources. In response to Lennons wounds and medical treatment, Dr. Lynn later stated to reporters that: "If Lennon had been shot this way in the middle of this hospitals operating room with myself and a whole team of surgeons and doctors ready to work on him... he still wouldnt have survived his injuries".

Like fellow Beatle George Harrison , Lennon was also known to be a very private man.

He allegedly gave money to the Provisional Irish Republican Army at the height of its terrorist campaign. Yoko Ono said that Lennon never knowingly gave money to the paramilitary group.

The singer Liam Gallagher (whose band Oasis was often compared to The Beatles ) named his son with Nicole Appleton Lennon as a tribute to him.

He supposedly made many anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks to Brian Epstein , the gay and Jewish manager of The Beatles who died of a drug overdose in 1967. Of course, Lennon grew up in a very different time from today, with homosexual acts between men over the age of 21 only being legalized in the UK in the year of Epsteins death. Some rumors have circulated that the two had an affair, but Paul McCartney denied this in an interview, saying that he never had any impression from spending years with Lennon that he was anything except heterosexual.

At the end of his life Lennon was said to have distanced himself from his previous counterculture viewpoint.

He is one of many personalities mentioned in the song "Jesus Numa Moto" by S e Guarabyra.

New York-based Bob Gruen was Lennons personal photographer and close friend.

Named his son Julian Lennon after his own mother Julia Lennon.

Had 3 younger half-sisters, Victoria, Julia Baird and Jackie Dykins.

Son of Julia Lennon and Alfred Lennon.

His aunt was Mimi Smith , aunt Mimi, his mothers Julia Lennon s older sister.

He and Paul McCartney had begun to mend Their friendship in the months before Lennons death.

Simple.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

If everybody wished for peace instead of another television set, then,there would be peace.

The more I see, the less I know for sure.

(about the song "Help!") I was eating and drinking like a pig, and I was,fat as a pig, dissatisfied with myself, and subconsciously I was crying,for help. It was my fat Elvis period.

Eternity is a hell of a long time.

When I used to see cowboys-and-Indians films when I was a kid in,Liverpool, I was always on the side of the Indians.

[Offered mange-tout peas, in a high-class restaurant] Can you put them,over there, away from the food?,In the old days I used to think song writing was this and you know, "I,love you" and "You love me" and my writing was something else you know.

Sex is the only kind of exercise I bother with.

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on across the universe.

Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.

I was feeling insecure you might not love me anymore,When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.

The more I see, the less I know for sure.

Living is Easy with Eyes Closed.

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

There are only a few notes. Just variations on a theme.

God is a concept by which we measure our pain.

Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.

War is over . . . If you want it.

As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.

All we are saying is give peace a chance.

Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace. . . we just need to declare it.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

The more real you get the more unreal the world gets.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t expect Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

I used to think it was mere homesickness, then I started getting it at home.

Whatever gets you through the night,I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence.

We all shine on. . . like the moon and the stars and the sun. . . we all shine on. . . come on and on and on. . .

I am he As you are me And we are all together.

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

I believe time wounds all heels.

You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.