John Lennon (1940-1980) - Find A Grave Memorial

Rock Musician. He gained fame as a member of The Beatles, an English rock quartet formed in Liverpool in 1960 that is credited with 20 #1 Billboard Hits. Born John Winston Lennon in Liverpool, England, his parents separated when he was four years old, and his mother's sister, Mary Smith, whom he called Aunt Mimi, raised him. Although his mother never lived more than 10 miles from him, they were estranged. As a teenager, he became caught up in the skiffle craze that was sweeping England, and formed a skiffle band called The Blackjacks, who later became The Quarrymen. At a Quarrymen gig on July 6, 1957, at the Woolton Fete in Liverpool, he was introduced to Paul McCartney by their mutual friend, Ivan Vaughan. Neither teen was initially impressed with the other until he learned that Paul could actually tune a guitar. A short time later, Paul joined The Quarrymen. Soon after, he was introduced to Paul's younger schoolmate, George Harrison and after George auditioned on top of a bus, he was invited to join the group. That same year he enrolled in the Liverpool College of Art, where he would meet future wife, Cynthia Powell, and future bandmate, Stuart Sutcliffe. The Quarrymen went through numerous lineup changes as well as name changes from 1959 to 1960. Among those were Johnny and The Moondogs, The Silver Beetles, until finally settling on The Beatles circa 1960. They traveled to Hamburg, Germany's seedy Reperbaun district, playing grueling seven-to-eight-hour sets at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs. Drummer Ringo Starr, of the band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, would watch them play, and would fill whenever then-drummer Pete Best failed to show for gigs. He along with Paul and George were impressed with Ringo's drumming. Eventually, the Beatles were deported from Hamburg as George was discovered to be underage. During their time in Hamburg, the Lennon-McCartney songwriting powerhouse blossomed. Back in Liverpool, they were in demand, and were invited to play the lunchtime sessions at The Cavern Club. While at the Cavern in November 1961, Brian Epstein saw the group perform. Epstein became their manager, and set about sharpening their image. After changing the Beatles' image with tailored suits and the inclusion of songs from musicals, Epstein secured an audition with Decca Records in London on New Year's Day 1962, but the band was rejected. Epstein then went to Parlophone Records with the Decca audition tape, and producer George Martin accepted the band. Martin wanted to replace Pete Best as drummer, complaining that Best could not keep time well. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr before their first recording session. Their first single, "Love Me Do," reached the top twenty in late-1962 on the British charts; "Please Please Me" was their first #1. The Beatles would received 11 consecutive number ones on the British charts from 1963 to 1966. American TV host Ed Sullivan witnessed "Beatlemania" at London's Heathrow Airport, and booked The Beatles to be on his show without seeing them perform. Their performance on the February 9, 1964 episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show" remains one of the most watched shows in television history, with a viewing audience of 73 million people. The Beatles had the top five positions on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Singles chart for the week of April 4, 1964, in addition to seven other singles, for a total of 12 for that week. After years of constant touring and, later on, security issues, including death threats, they performed their final concert on August 29, 1966 in San Francisco's Candlestick Park. The Beatles broke new musical ground with such albums as 1965's "Rubber Soul," where the Hindu sting instrument, the sitar, was first heard on his song, "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," and two years later with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which changed the music industry in every way. His single, "All You Need Is Love," debuted on the first global satellite TV program, "Our World," in 1967, where The Beatles were chosen to represent England. The band started to disintegrate during the sessions for the "White Album" in 1968. At various points in their careers, The Beatles wanted to disband, and at one point with much frustration, he stated he "wanted a divorce" from The Beatles. In 1966 at the Indica Gallery in London, he met Japanese-born Yoko Ono while both were married to other people. As a couple, they made their relationship public in 1968 after he left his wife and was granted a divorce in November of 1968. His main life focus became Yoko to the point that she was included in the Beatles studio recordings. They also embarked on various recording and media stunts that included appearing in white bags in public, as well as appearing nude together on their first collaborative album, "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins." He married Yoko on March 20, 1969 at the British Consulate in Gibraltar and spent their honeymoon in bed for the now legendary "Bed-In For Peace" at the Amsterdam Hilton in The Netherlands. In April of 1969, he legally changed his middle name to Ono. In November of that year, he returned his Member of the British Empire medal, which was awarded in 1966, in a political protest of the British government policy against Nigeria, the Vietnam War, and the poor chart performance of his latest single. After settling in New York, he released successful solo albums such as "Imagine" in 1971 and "Mind Games" in 1973. He faced deportation proceedings in March 1972, when his visa expired, and he was told to leave the country due to his 1968 British drug conviction. During his fight to remain, many people protested in his support, including New York City mayor John Lindsay. From 1972 until two days before his second son's birth in 1975, he faced a few deportation threats, but on October 7, 1975, the New York State Senate reversed the deportation order and he received his Green Card in July of 1976. At that point, he returned to recording in 1980 with "Double Fantasy," his first solo album in over half a decade. On the night of December 8, 1980, he was walking through the archway of The Dakota apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, when a deranged man shot him multiple times at close range. Rushed to the emergency room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital, he was declared dead on arrival. Posthumously, "Double Fantasy" received the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1982. In 1988, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles, and in 1994 as a solo artist by Paul McCartney. He received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy in 1991. Two of his demo tapes, "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," were released to the three surviving Beatles to finish in the early 1990s. During his life, he released 11 solo albums, one live album, and one compilation album. One additional studio album, "Milk and Honey," was released posthumously in 1984. He published two poetry collections, "In His Own Write" in 1964 and "A Spaniard In the Works" in 1965. He had two sons: the first was Julian with wife Cynthia and Sean with his second wife Yoko.