John+Lennon

John Winston Lennon (October 9th, 1940- December 8th, 1980) was best known as an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Johntoc and Paul McCartney formed the Beatles writing most of the songs that changed rock and roll not only in America, but around the world. Known as one of the greatest music icons of the 20th century, many of his songs are ranked some of the most popular in music history such as “Imagine” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
 * John Lennon **

**Early Life:**
John Lennon was born on October 9th, 1940 in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK**.** When John was four years old his parents separated and he moved in with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. His mother remarried and visited John regularly teaching him how to play the piano and the banjo on her visits. She later bought him his first guitar. His Aunt Mimi told him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a //living// out of it." He later proves his aunt’s words wrong. John was talented in writing stories, poetry, and drawing. He entered Quarry Bank High School in 1952. He was smart but caused mischief and left High School with no formal qualifications**.** His headmaster noticed his talents and helped to get him accepted to the Liverpool College of Art. John had formed his first band known as the Quarry Men in 1957. While performing at Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete, John met Paul McCartney. On July 6th, 1957 John asked Paul to join the band. Tragedy struck in 1958 when John’s mother died in a car accident on the way to visit. This was one of the hardest times for John. He later said, "I lost my mother twice. Once as a child of five and then again at seventeen. It made me very, very bitter inside. I had just begun to re-establish a relationship with her when she was killed." Not long after his mother’s death, John met Cynthia Powell at college. They later married on August 23rd, 1962. On April 8th, 1963 their son Julian was born.

**Beatlemania:**
In 1958 John and Paul’s band invited George Harrison to join with his buddy Stuart Sutcliffe. By 1960 they had a full band made and they called themselves “The Beatles”. The Beatles now consisted of John, Paul McCartney, Pete Best, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe. Stuart left the band in 1961 and Ringo Starr joined the Beatles in 1962. They played regularly at Clubs and were soon noticed by Brian Epstein, owner of a local record shop. Later that year Epstein signed the Beatles up and they soon got a record deal. The Beatles first single ‘Love Me Do’ was their first big hit and was released in October 1962. In January of 1963 their second single, ‘Please Please Me’ went to number one on the charts and they became known worldwide with songs such as: 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', 'Twist and Shout', 'She Loves You'. On February 9th, 1964 the Beatles made their first appearance inAmerica on the Ed Sullivan show which had ten thousand screaming fans waiting for their arrival. One dozen young women were injured trying to get a glimpse of the new singers.

**The Beatle’s Fame and Downfall**
In 1965 the Beatles Starred in the movies: //A Hard Day's Night// and and //Help!// Later that year in June of 1965 the Queen of England announced that the Beatles would be awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). They got the record for largest concert audience in August 1965 when they performed in front of 55,600 fans at New York's Shea Stadium. In 1966 the groups fame was put in danger when John made the remark, “we’re more popular then Jesus now.” This upset many people including the Beatles fans. There were some rallies of young adults stomping on their records and burning Beatle material. In the southern states, Radio stations went to the point of banning their music. He later apologized to the press for his statement. On August 29th, 1966 The Beatles gave up touring after their concert in San Francisco. Their producer, Epstein died from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills on August 27th, 1967. This put a lot of stress on the Beatles and their performing. On November 8th 1968 Cynthia divorced John because of his love affair with Yoko Ono, who he met at an art show in New York. Less then a year later, John married Yoko on March 14th, 1969. With the stress of the Beatle’s producer dying and Yoko always being with John at the studio, tension began to rise between the four Beatles. Paul McCartney was first to leave the band followed by John. On December 31st, 1970 the Beatles confirmed the break up.

** John’s Solo Career and Peace Activism **
After leaving the Beatles in 1970, John continued a solo career and released the //John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band// album. He wasn’t the only one to continue his career with music; all four of the Beatles went on to solo careers after going their separate ways. John Lennon was also a peace activist.On his honeymoon, John and Yoko spent their week in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel where they decided to use their publicity to encourage world peace.To raise awareness, they stayed in bed for one week inviting the press in everyday as they talked about peace.They had a second Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. During this Bed-In the couple recorded "Give Peace a Chance," a song that became an international anthem of the peace movement.

** His Murder and Remembrance **
On the morning of December 8th, 1980 Mark David Chapman shot John five times in the back in front of his apartment, the Dakota in Manhattan, in New York. John Lennon was pronounced dead upon arrival of the [|St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center]. Fans gathered outside his apartment and the Hospital right after they heard the news. He was cremated and Yoko decided not to have a funeral. There is a memorial in Central Park titled “Imagine” for the remembrance of one of the greatest music icons that changed music forever.

Analysis
Many people know that John Lennon made his fame as a singer and song writer. He was very popular as a Beatle and continued his fame with a solo career. But not everyone knows how big of an impact John had on the 20th century. He influenced the peace movements, rock and roll music, and drugs.

John Lennon was all about spreading peace. On his honeymoon he and his wife Yoko performed the first bed-in, where they stayed in bed for one week to raise the awareness about world peace. He focused on free will and anti-war to promote peace, much like the hippies of the time. The hippies used music to express themselves, and they mostly sang about peace. This is portrayed by Lennon who had many hit songs about peace. During his second bed in with his wife he recorded "Give Peace a Chance," a song that became the anthem for the anti-Vietnam war. It included lyrics such as, “Are you listening, Nixon?’ and “Are you listening, Agnew?” This shows how much he was against theU.S.fighting in the Vietnam War. In 1971 John came out with his new hit song, “Imagine.” This new song went to the top of the charts and is still popular today. His belief and feelings about peace are expressed through his lyrics. One verse of his song is, “Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to live or die for, And no religion too, Imagine all the people, Living life in peace…” he is basically saying how war only kills and does not create peace. This relates to the Vietnam War which was being fought at this time. I think that the reason that this song become so admired aroundAmericaat the time is because they felt the same way about the war. Most wanted it to end and their family members to return home. In his song, he later goes on to say, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one, I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.” When John refers to “us”, he is talking about the other peace activists that saw that world the same way he did and thought peace to be the best, such as many hippies.

Being a peace activist wasn’t the only thing that John influenced during his fame. Lennon made is platform by being a member of the Beatles. The Beatles sang “Rock and Roll” music. Even though Rock and Roll had already been around for ten years because of singers such as Elvis Presley and Bill Haley, it was a new form of music that had a lot of possibility to expand. On February 9th, 1964 the Beatles made their first appearance inAmerica on the Ed Sullivan show which had ten thousand screaming fans waiting for their arrival. One dozen young women were injured trying to get a glimpse of the new singers. The screaming continued at all their concerts and whatever the Beatles did seemed to affect society. When John made the comment, “We’re more popular then Jesus now,” it outraged many people and even fans. After he apologized to people things went back to normal because they were accepted and looked up to.

Another thing that John influenced in America at the time was the popularity of drugs. It was said that the Beatles would do drugs before and during recordings. Many teenagers began to use drugs during this time and it became a way of life for them. Lennon took LSD and other drugs along with the other three Beatles. The press was outraged when they discovered that the initials for the Beatles song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” stood for LSD. Drugs are still highly used today by many young adults.

John Lennon has influencedAmerica in many different ways. He has even had an influence changed the way the music industry has worked. It was very uncommon in the 1960s to perform your own music. He has influenced world peace and his music may have been a factor to theU.S. leaving the Vietnam War. His influence of drugs has also made an impact on society then and to this day. John has influencedAmerica more greatly then many Americans have realized.

Work Cited
"John Lennon Biography." //Biography.com//. Web. 06 June 2011. []

"The Story of the Liverpool Lennons: John Lennon." Official Site of Julian Lennon. Web. 06 June 2011. []

"John Lennon's Bigger Than Jesus Statement - In Context." The Beatles Number 9 Super Fan Site - The Beatles Super Fansite for John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr with Daily News Updates. Web. 06 June 2011. []

"John Lennon." United States History. Web. 06 June 2011. 

"Answers.com - Did the Beatles Use Drugs." WikiAnswers - The Q&A Wiki. Web. 06 June 2011. []

Burlingame, Jeff. John Lennon "Imagine" Melrose Park, IL: Ensslow, 2011. Print.

"John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth by Elizabeth Partridge « Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists!" Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists! Web. 06 June 2011. []

"Google Images." Google. Web. 06 June 2011. []