As half of the singing/song-writing core of The Beatles, John Lennon stands as one of the most influential figures in 20th Century music. With Sir Paul McCartney, guitarist George Harrison and drummer Ringo Starr, the Beatles changed the face of popular music forever. Nearly all Beatles songs were co-credited to Lennon-McCartney, but Lennon was solely responsible for many of their most experimental songs, such as "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Revolution 9". He was also the primary writer of "A Hard Day's Night", "All You Need Is Love", "I Am The Walrus", "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "I'm Only Sleeping" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", among many others. After his success with the Beatles, Lennon went on to enjoy a successful solo career and campaign for world peace, before he was tragically shot dead outside his New York apartment at the age of 40.
Before the dissolution of the Beatles in 1970, Lennon formed The Plastic Ono Band with his new wife Yoko Ono, and a revolving door of other musical friends. In March and May 1969, Lennon and Ono famously staged two week-long 'bed-in' protests for peace, during which he wrote and recorded "Give Peace A Chance", which became a chart hit across the world and an anthem for peace activists. His first official solo album was the avant-garde John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which was hugely critically acclaimed and was a Top Ten seller in the UK and USA. In 1971, he released Imagine, which was consciously more commercial than John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and again it was widely praised by reviewers and a huge sales success, topping album charts worldwide. The idealistic title track has become Lennon's most famous solo work, and is often thought to be one of the greatest pop songs of all-time.
Between 1973 and 1975, Lennon and Ono split for a period of 18 months that Lennon referred to as his "lost weekend". He collaborated with Elton John, David Bowie and Ringo Starr among others, and had a relationship with his personal assistant May Pang. He returned to Ono in 1975 and in October they had their first child, Sean. After retiring from music to care for his son, John Lennon returned in 1980 with Double Fantasy, a joint effort with his wife. Only months later, on December 8th, John Lennon was shot four times by Mark David Chapman, who was angry at Lennon for criticising religion and for criticising capitalism while being a multi-millionaire himself. Lennon was rushed to hospital but had already lost too much blood.
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