John Lennon

Founder of the Beatles and influential songwriter and pioneer for peace

Died: 1980 Age: 40

John Lennon (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) Lennon formed half of music’s most successful songwriting partnership, joining with Paul McCartney to compose dozens of Number 1 hits. Lennon founded the Quarrymen in the late 1950s in his hometown of Liverpool, England, eventually joined in the band by McCartney and guitarist George Harrison. Lennon changed the group’s name to the Beatles and, finally joined by drummer Ringo Starr, in 1962 the band began an eight-year run producing an unprecedented string of hit singles and such influential albums as Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road. After the band broke up in 1970, Lennon went on to have a successful solo career with hits like “Instant Karma,” “Imagine,” “Mind Games,” “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” and “Woman.” After a five-year break from recording to concentrate on raising his young son, Lennon made a successful return to the music scene in 1980. Shortly after the release of the album Double Fantasy, at the age of 40, Lennon was shot to death as he arrived home from a recording session. Lennon was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994.

Insights by Dr. Reebee Garofalo and Elijah Wald: “Having retired from the music business and devoted himself to fatherhood, Lennon returned with a new maturity and would have been likely to continue his social activism with more focus. He paved the way for such musical activists as Bob Geldof and Bono, but given his talent and fame could have accomplished even greater things. Given what he had done already, it is hard to put limits on what he might have attempted, and it seems safe to assume he would have continued to surprise even his most devoted followers. He might have been the first classic rocker to embrace the hip-hop revolution, composed avant-garde experimental music, gone back to his roots by forming a hard-rocking guitar quartet, or most likely would have experimented with all of those alternatives and more. (And yes, he almost certainly would have stayed with Yoko Ono.)”