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John Lennon

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

John Lennon was born in Liverpool on 9 October 1940 and grew up largely with his aunt Mimi. His mother Julia played Elvis Presley records for him and taught him to play the banjo. As a teenager he fell under the spell of skiffle, and in 1956 he founded The Quarrymen, the group that grew into The Beatles in 1960. Lennon sang the lead parts there together with Paul McCartney, played rhythm guitar and was at the beginning the effective leader. Their songwriting duo became the most successful in history.

Music and breakthrough

From All You Need Is Love in 1967, his songs were sung by the counterculture and the movement against the war in Vietnam. In 1969 he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, the artist Yoko Ono. That same year they held their bed-in for peace and Lennon left The Beatles. His first solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band appeared in 1970, followed a year later by Imagine. Singles such as Give Peace a Chance, Instant Karma! and Happy Xmas (War Is Over) made him, as a solo artist too, a voice of the peace movement. In 1971 he moved to New York, where the Nixon administration spent three years trying to have him deported.

Influence

After five years of rest he returned in 1980 with Double Fantasy, which he made together with Ono. Three weeks after its release, on 8 December 1980, he was shot dead in New York. The album won the Grammy for album of the year a year later. As a writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number 1s on the American Billboard Hot 100.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Imagine (1971). Notice how simply the song is built: a calm piano part carries the whole song, and Lennon sings his message of peace almost without emphasis.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsSkiffle