John Lennon 1940 – 1980

Biography

John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, and founded the Quarrymen as a teenager, the skiffle group that became the Beatles when he joined forces with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. As the Beatles’ co-leader, he wrote many of their defining songs, from A Hard Day’s Night and Help! to Strawberry Fields Forever and A Day in the Life, helping transform popular music. After the band’s breakup in 1970, he recorded the solo albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, whose title song became an anthem of peace. With his wife Yoko Ono, he campaigned against war and for human rights. He was shot and killed outside his home, the Dakota in New York City, on December 8, 1980. His song Imagine, released in 1971, has become one of the most famous songs in the world and an anthem for peace movements.