John Lennon Biography and Works.

John Winston Lennon (October 9, 1940 December 8, 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter.

Lennon rose to worldwide fame being among the founding members of one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music, The Beatles.

He and Paul McCartney formed one of the most successful song-writing partnerships of the 20th century.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon’s first band The Quarrymen evolved into The Beatles in 1960.

After the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ and ‘Imagine’ and iconic songs, such as ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and ‘Imagine’. He married Yoko Ono in 1969 and changed his name to John Ono Lennon.

In 1975, Lennon disengaged himself from the music business to devote time to his son, Sean but re-emerged in 1980s with a new album, ‘Double Fantasy’.

Lennon was murdered three weeks after the album was released.

Lennon gave a sense of a rebellious nature in his music, his drawing, his writing, on film, and in interviews, which made him controversial. He moved to New York City in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon’s administration to deport him, but his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement.

Trivia

As of 2010 data, Lennon’s solo album sales in the US exceed 14 million units. As a writer, co-writer or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart.