.:John Lennon:.
For class we had to make a Biography. Here is mine on John Lennon and make sure to check out my podcast at the bottom !
John Lennon
One man, one legacy and over one million fans. He lived his life to the fullest, through passionate music in just forty years. This is the life and death of John Lennon.
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England to Alfred and Julia Lennon. His father was a merchant seaman who visited rarely throughout John’s childhood, but sent regular cheques to help them get by. When John was four years old the cheques stopped and when his father eventually returned 6 months later he offered to be a part of the family again. But it was too late; Julia was starting another family and was already pregnant with another man’s child. Without the cheques Julia struggled and after her sister, Mimi Smith, complained twice to social services Mimi took custody of John.
When John was six years old his father returned unexpectedly and John’s aunt Mimi let him take John to Blackpool for a few days but was secretly intending to immigrate to New Zealand. Plans changed when Julia and her new husband followed them and forced John to choose between them. John’s repeated answer was his father but as his mother started to leave, he began to cry and followed her.
When John grew older his mother taught him to play the banjo and the piano. She also bought John his first guitar. But sadly when John was 17 his mother was fatally hit by a car driven by an off duty police officer. John never truly got over this tragedy.
As a young adult John was a rebel and a prankster that liked getting into trouble but underneath John was very artistic and passionate. So John’s principle suggested he go to an art school because of his poor grades.
In September 1956 when John was 15, he created his first band the ‘Quarrymen’ named after Quarry Bank High school. By the next summer the Quarrymen were playing a wide variety of songs half made up of skiffle and the other rock and roll. John first met John McCartney at the Quarrymen second performance and asked to join the band. Next George Harrison joined as lead guitarist although Lennon thought Harrison was too young at the age of 14. John’s friend from art school joined as bassist. Together Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Sutcliffe became the Beatles.
In August 1960 John was 19 and the Beatles applied for a 48 night residency in Hamburg, Germany, in desperate need of publicity. They were also in desperate need of a drummer, so they asked Pete Best to fill in. His aunt Mimi was no pleased he was spending time away from his studies to live with under classed people for such a long period of time. While in Hamburg John was introduced to ‘Preludin’ and took it way to often. He also took amphetamines for long overnight performances. After the residency Sutcliffe decided to stay in Hamburg and McCartney took over as bassist.
In 1961 the Beatles replaced Best with new drummer Ringo Starr and hired Brian Epstein as their manager who singed a record deal with EMI. With his help the Beatles released their first single ‘Love Me Do’ in October 1962 and it reached #17 on the British charts. In the USA alone they were the first band ever, to break out big. They became so popular the media started calling this frenzy Beatlemania.
In 1966 the group was touring when they were informed of their manager, Brian Epstein’s death. Lennon says “I was scared…” John was tired of the routine and concerts. He wanted to leave the band. Apart of this consideration was his introduction to LSD earlier in the year and was almost always under the influence.
John married Yoko Ono on March 20, 1969 and released 14 photos and drawings showing scenes from their honeymoon, 8 of those photos were banned inappropriate and most were banned from the public eye and taken from the couple.
Lennon left the band in 1969 but agreed not to inform the media right away. Then McCartney released his own publicised announcement that it was his idea to departure from the band by releasing his first solo album in 1970. John’s reaction to this madness was “Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit! I started the band, I disbanded it. It’s as simple as that.”
In 1975 after years of trying to embark on his own music, John left the music world to take time off from the music business to focus on his family and to find himself again, because he was struggling with a drinking problem. But it wasn’t long before he returned in 1980 with his single “Just Like Starting Over”. A month later he released his own album “Double Fantasy”.
It was late afternoon on December 8, 1980 when John and Yoko were leaving their apartment building on their way to the recording studio, when crowds surrounded them. John said “It was quite common for people to wait on the streets, just waiting to catch a glimpse. They were dedicated.” A man walked up to John and silently held out a copy of ‘Double Fantasy’. John signed it and then asked if the man needed anything else. The man smiled and walked away.
Coming back from the studio with his wife at 10:50pm John was humming a catchy tune. When they reached the lobby, Mark David Chapman waited in the shadows with a signed copy of ‘Double Fantasy’ in his pocket. He jumped out and shot Lennon in the back four times. John was the taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. It was stated nobody could have survived more than a few seconds after sustaining such injuries. After news stations televised his death crowds gathered outside the hospital to mourn.
Even today people still mourn the death of John Lennon. They remember him for his life story, his passion for music and his tragic ending. They cry for the man who gave them the gift of great music.
Alexandra
Resources:
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006168/bio
Biography.com - http://www.biography.com/articles/John-Lennon-9379045
Sing365.com - http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/john-lennon-biography/db7f22dadcb472614825686d00341339
Here is my John Lennon Official podcast.
Thats all for now!
~Alexandra~
Ontario Time
