NEW YORK—Considering the likelihood of a myriad of theoretical outcomes if the singer had survived his 1980 shooting death, experts reported Monday that John Lennon probably would have eventually died anyway. “If he had enough time and the shooting hadn’t happened, we assume he would have passed away of natural causes or a common disease at some point,” said music historian and Beatles biographer Sophie Bates, explaining that they arrived at this conclusion partially based on the eventual, seemingly inevitable fate of fellow Beatle George Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001. “Even if Lennon was able to avoid contracting any sort of fatal illness, he still could have been killed prematurely, whether in a car accident or simply by being murdered at a different point down the line—maybe by being poisoned or stabbed, or even shot by someone else. Maybe one of the Beatles might have strangled Lennon after an argument about lyrics. What we know for sure is that if he wasn’t shot, he would have certainly died some other way, likely within the following 50 years.” Bates went on to explain that, based on her research, it was unlikely Ringo Starr would ever die.

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