John Lennon

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.

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

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 McCartney's 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 (1984), McCartney's name appeared prominently - and alone - as composer of the songs performed, which included The Beatles tunes "Yesterday" and "Here, There and Everywhere".

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.

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

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

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").

An actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman lost the part of John Lennon in John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985), because he had a similar name (Mark Chapman) as Lennon's killer. Chapman later portrayed Lennon in Chapter 27 (2007).

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 Lennon's death and addresses his legacy. Elton John (a friend of Lennon's) 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).

He was photographed (lying naked in fetal position beside Yoko Ono) for the cover of "Rolling Stone" (issue Jan. 22, 1981) 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 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 Lennon's 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. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room.

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.

They reconciled in early 1975, and Yoko soon became pregnant. After the birth of their son Sean Lennon, John settled into the roles of "househusband" and full-time daddy, while Yoko became his business manager; both appeared happy in their new life together.

When John made a guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving 1974 concert, Yoko was in the audience, and surprised John backstage.

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 (Harrison's The Concert for Bangladesh (1972) soundtrack didn't 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 1972's "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 album's worth of songs, which he recorded quickly a couple of weeks later. The album was only a modest hit, but it satisfied EMI's requirements.

In the early 1970s John and Yoko continued to record together, making television appearances and performing at charity concerts. After the release of John's biggest hit, "Imagine", they moved to the US, where John was nearly deported because of his political views (a late-'60s conviction for possession of hashish in the U. K. was the excuse given by the government), but after a four-year legal battle he won the right to stay. In the midst of this, John and Yoko separated for over a year; John lived in Los Angeles with personal assistant May Pang, while Yoko dated guitarist David Spinozza.

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

After his conviction for hashish possession in the fall of 1968 (he pleaded guilty on his lawyer's 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 Yoko's "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 Yoko's 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).

When "Rolling Stone" magazine was launched November 9, 1967, Lennon made the first cover, in a black & white photo from How I Won the War (1967). The issue cost 25 cents when released as an 11" x 17" magazine printed on newsprint and folded in half.

John and the Beatles continued to tour and perform live until 1966, when protests over his calling the Beatles phenomenon "more popular than Jesus" and the frustrations of touring made the band decide to quit the road. They devoted themselves to studio work, recording and releasing albums such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Magical Mystery Tour" and the "White Album". Instead of appearing live, the band began making their own "pop clips" (an early term for music videos), which were featured on television programs of the time.

medals in 1965, for import revenues from their record sales; John returned his four years later, as part of an antiwar statement.

After some years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, "Beatlemania" erupted in England and Europe in 1963 after the release of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me". That same year, John's first wife Cynthia Lennon welcomed their only son Julian Lennon, named after John's mother.

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 Stuart's mother for the old scarf he'd worn to art school, and kept it as a memento.

In the late 1960s John began performing and making albums with his second wife Yoko Ono, as the Beatles began to break up.

Their first two albums, "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions", were experimental and flops by Beatles standards, while their "Wedding Album" was almost a vanity work, but their live album "Live Peace In Toronto" became a Top Ten hit, at the end of the 1960s.

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".

In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, which he attended) who, with the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, later became The Beatles.

The next year the Beatles flew to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka The Ed Sullivan Show), and Beatlemania spread worldwide. Queen Elizabeth II granted all four Beatles M. B. E.

John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith.

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