Here are some facts about John Lennon.
- John Lennon was one of the founding members of the Beatles, the most famous pop group of all time. Along with Paul McCartney, he wrote almost 200 of the group’s songs.
- Lennon was born in Liverpool in 1940 and was shot dead in New York in 1980. Today, his childhood home is a museum, visited by thousands of fans every year.
- He and McCartney first met at a church event in 1957. The two of them wrote songs and played instruments together after school, with Lennon first playing the harmonica.
- During a Beatles concert in London attended by the Queen in 1963, Lennon asked the audience at the back to clap their hands, and for those sitting in the expensive seats at the front to rattle their jewellery.
- One of John Lennon’s best known songs. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, was inspired by a drawing made by his son, as well as the book Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
- John Lennon also enjoyed writing and drawing, and published 2 successful books of his writings and cartoons. His first book sold 50,000 copies in the first day.
- The Beatles broke up in 1970, partly because of the influence of Yoko Ono. The group’s last live performance was in 1969 on the roof of their recording studio.
- Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono once spent 2 weeks in bed in hotel rooms, to protest against the Vietnam War. Several of Lennon’s songs were anti-war, including Give Peace a Chance.
- Lennon has been voted number 8 on a list of 100 great Britons. He was awarded the MBE in 1965, and has had over 20 number 1 singles in the UK and US.
- There is a statue of John Lennon in Liverpool, and a memorial in New York’s Central Park. In 2002, Liverpool Airport was renamed John Lennon Airport, and a peace monument was unveiled in the city in 2010.
