1940-1980
Often called the most influential Beatle, John Lennon truly changed the face of Rock and Roll forever. He might have thought when he was young he'd never amount to anything, but we today certainly know this is extremely untrue.
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 to Alfred and Julia Lennon. His family had problems right from the start; John's father was "uncaring and ruthless" towards him and his mother, and soon afterwards he left without telling his wife or young son where he was going. Julia, unable to support her son by herself, sent him to live in another part of Liverpool with his Aunt Mimi, who was strict yet loving towards John.
It was Aunt Mimi who first set an instrument in John's hand. She gave him a banjo as a present one year, and John fell in love with it instantly. In fact, it was up until John received his first guitar that he was excelling in his schoolwork. After he got better at his guitar-playing skills, he paid little interest in his schooling. His Aunt Mimi once told him, "A guitar's all right John, but you'll never make a living out of it." Good job she was wrong! John began to get involved in bands, often playing at clubs in town.
It was soon after this that John's mother passed away, leaving John with no parent. Aunt Mimi became John's legal guardian, and John's life basically resumed to normal quickly afterwards. He picked up a lovely artistic talent along the way, and decided on being a famous artist and rock singer.
John Lennon eventually met Paul McCartney and George Harrison while in the band "the Quarrymen". Pete Best was their drummer, and Stu Sutcliffe played bass. It was while they were in Hamburg, Germany that the three Beatles met Ringo Starr, a promising young drummer. Ringo soon joined the band. Pete and Stu left the group, and the four "Quarrymen" decided to change their band name to the Beatles, an idea that is said to be originated from John Lennon. The Beatles became popular with the crowds very quickly, and soon they were off to America, with John leading the way.
John became especially close with Paul McCartney, whom he had gone to school with. Also, he was going to art college in Liverpool with a "pretty blonde" named Cynthia Powell. Soon afterwards, they married, making Cynthia the envy of many John Lennon fans.
By the mid 1960's, John and the other Beatles were a very successful band, thanks to John's lyrical and vocal talent. John stared in many movies outside of the Beatles and later had a son named John Charles Julian Lennon, Julian Lennon for short. Problems arose with Cynthia, and years later, they divorced. John left Julian with Cynthia, rarely visiting his son whom he hardly knew.
John met and married a new woman named Yoko Ono, who had 2 children of her own, and the two were extremely close, causing problems in the group, and eventually leading to the Beatles' breakup.
After the Beatles, John continued on a solo career more or less, and had another son named Sean Ono Lennon, born on the same day as John. John and Yoko made albums together, and around that time, John's father Alfred showed up again, asking John for money. John helped his father for a while, wanting his fatherly love, but then told his father how he really felt. Alfred left, never to visit again.
In 1980, just before the release of his and Yoko's album Double Fantasy, John Lennon was shot outside his Dakota apartment while returning home from a night recording. Mark David Chapman, the psychopath who shot him 5 times, was put in jail and might be granted parol in the year 2000.
John Lennon has long since been dead, but his memory lives on. Beatles fans everywhere will remember him for his wit and creativity, and his fans and family will miss him eternally.
Biography written by Lovely Rita.
