John Lennon

The legendary rock musician and defender of peace John Lennon (born name John Winston Lennon) was born in 1940 in Liverpool. There is absolutely no doubt that for many music lovers Lennon’s name is first of all associated with The Beatles, which is not a surprise. Together with Paul McCartney he wrote many songs that deserved the right to be called rock-n-roll classics. Moreover, the rocker’s solo career proved to be successful as well, and the magazine Rolling Stone ranked John Lennon the fifth greatest singer of all times.

John’s musical career started in late fifties, when he formed the skiffle band The Quarrymen. During one show he met McCartney, who joined the group a bit later. John and Paul managed to find common ground and became real friends. Soon after that they began creating their own songs. At that period Lennon wrote his first composition Hello Little Girl, which peaked at the UK Top Ten five years later. McCartney invited the guitarist George Harrison and that trio became the basis of the band: young men were very determined about the future. Thus, in late fifties, after other members of The Quarrymen quitted the group, the epoch of the legendary The Beatles began.

The Beatles went abroad to perform for the very first time in 1960. They had a show in Germany, where the musicians met Ringo Starr. The quartet was gaining popularity, which was of no surprise: rock-n-roll was extremely popular, and the skills of The Beatles were incredible indeed. The band released such strong albums as Beatles For Sale (1964), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and many others, which found their honorable places in collections of music lovers all over the world. In 1970 the famous quartet was disbanded because of the inner disagreements. Moreover John wanted to create something different in essence, and such songs as I Am The Walrus, Strawberry Fields Forever proved that perfectly. Lennon’s life was really changed after he met and married Yoko Ono. In 1968 the couple issued quite an experimental and unusual album Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins, which simply had no music at all: the whole record consisted of noises, shots and moans. After that release, John and Yoko formed the band Plastic Ono Band in 1969.

John and Yoko gave numerous interviews, calling people to peace and to abandon violence. The singer was sure in his own civil position; music was the way he shared the ideas with listeners. Thus the songs Revolution, Revolution 1, Come Together and others saw the light. Yoko gave birth to Sean Lennon, and the musician spent lots of time with his son. That is why the rocker’s following album titled Double Fantasy was released only in 1980. Unfortunately, that record turned out to be John’s last work: in December 1980 Lennon was shot by Mark Chapman. The murderer took five shots to the musician’s back, and in spite of the fact that John was delivered to the hospital in a few minutes, doctors could not save him.

The legendary singer and composer wrote a great number of amazing songs and created a reputation of a person who really cared about the world. Music helped John to address to people, and he was so much respected that they listened to him indeed. It does not matter what song or album you will choose to start the acquaintance with that wonderful artist’s creativity – they are all good and fascinating in their unique ways.