The Life and Death of John Lennon
The Life and Death of John Lennon
Fame, fascination, love, laughter, money, music, glitz and glamour are just some of the things John Lennon experienced in his lifetime. Seeing life in the middle class and life as an A-list star, World War II and Vietnam made Lennon be loved by many. The general public felt that they could relate to him and everything he stood for. The Beatles got him into the public eye but he made himself who he was, an infamous role model for many to come.
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 to mother, Julia and father, Alfred. They lived in a quiet part of Liverpool, England, not exactly the best place to be situated in the forties. He was born during a German Luftwaffe attack at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool. His mother always supported him in his music; in fact she is the one who bought him his first guitar. Little did she know, he would change the music world and the real world forever.
John got his first guitar in 1956 at the age of sixteen. He loved it so much that he decided to form a band. The bands name was the Quarrymen, and had four members, John and his pals Pete Shotton, Nigel Whalley, and Ivan Vaughan. The group was a self proclaimed skiffle group and is considered to be the prelude to the Beatles even to this day. The main reason for this is because John Lennon met Paul McCartney after a performance with the Quarrymen at a church in Liverpool. It was fate.
By the summer of 1958 the band consisted of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Hanton and Lowe. The group had changed all its members except for Lennon but still kept the original name. The band slowly fell apart and all the members lost touch, except for John and Paul. They continued writing songs together and eventually formed the Beatles together, along with George Harrison, another former member of the Quarrymen.
To fully understand the impact of the assassination of this legend you need to know some about what his life entailed. You need to know about the fame and the fortune, the love and the passion. Once John began playing the guitar he knew music was his passion, his calling in life. Whether he was playing with the Quarrymen, The Beatles or doing his solo career he was always passionate.
Paul McCartney. A best friend to John Lennon, lead singer of the revolutionary music group The Beatle, and co-writer of most of the songs he sang. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. They became a phenomenon and everybody loved them. Before the glitz and glamour there were horrible contracts. Their first contract paid one penny per single sold, this was split between the four members mind you, and a half a penny per single sold outside the United Kingdom. This made for poor pay and unhappy band mates.
The band experienced major success in the United Kingdom and decided to try and make it in America, the land of new music. The sixties was a time of love and music. The birth control pill was introduced to society and rock music began to be more openly accepted. Sex and Rock N’ Roll often went hand in hand. With the prospect of sex came love. The Beatles capitalized on this and began writing songs like “She Wants You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
Lennon and McCartney became the faces of music and all the girls fell in love. As you can imagine the hearts of millions were crushed when they found out about John’s love affair with Yoko Ono. They met in 1966, at the end of The Beatles popularity and career. They fell deeply in love and eventually wrote and produced an entire album together. He himself became a phenomenon. While most people would agree that he was a little eccentric for their tastes, they would also agree to being fascinated by him. He was unpredictable and the country enjoyed guessing what was to come next.
John and Yoko eventually ended up having two children that grew up outside of the spotlight. With their father being a big political activist, the same with their mother, the world really did not focus so much on them, but their parents. They organized what they called “bed-ins” to try and prove whatever point they wanted to. Some people think this is the reason he was murdered.
December 8, 1980 was a day that shook the world. The forty year young musician John Lennon was murdered. He was quoted saying, “I just fired my bodyguard. Its my rationale if theyre gonna get ya, theyre gonna get you anyway” two weeks before he was killed. The irony in this is that it was true. He had just fired his long time bodyguard for undisclosed reasons. Most people believe the reason is he finally felt