John Lennon years of life. Complex relationships with the environment

The beginning of life

John Winston Lennon was born in 1940 during a raid German troops to Liverpool. His parents were in a difficult relationship even before the birth of their son, and four years after the appearance of John, they completely divorced. The closest relatives on the mother's side, Aunt and Uncle Smith, took up the upbringing of the boy. Already at a young age, Lennon was different from his peers and clearly knew that he wanted to create music. His aunt did not take his hobby seriously, because of which they often had quarrels. Uncle Smith, on the contrary, was the only adult who supported Lennon in his endeavors and helped him learn to play the guitar. At school, the boy was absolutely not interested in learning. Despite his good memory and excellent skills, he gradually became worst student schools. He devoted all his energy to school creative activity.

Genius misunderstood by the world

Lennon was an activist, he was a member of the journalism club, he sang in the choir and often did illustrations for comic stories. In 1952 he was transferred to Quarrybank School to give him the opportunity to improve his grades. However, the boy had little interest in studying and the change of school did not solve the problem. After Elvis Presley visited the UK with concerts in the 1950s, John assembled The Quarry Men. In 1957, Paul McCartney joined the band and the band began playing local gigs as a support act. At the same time, John entered the Liverpool College of Art. In 1958, Lennon is experiencing terrible tragedy his mother died in an accident. This event left a strong imprint on further career musician and served as the theme for several songs. A few months after this tragedy, John's group broke up.

Creation of a legendary team

From the friends who remained with him, he soon assembled a group of " The Beatles". In 1960, Lennon and his band won the attention and love of the public in Liverpool. In order not to waste time, The Beatles went to conquer Hamburg. At the same time, Lennon became addicted to drugs, which negatively affected his health. Given that the group was originally inspired by the images of rock and roll stars, their image included leather items, many metal details and defiant behavior on stage. In 1962, Lennon married Cynthia Powell, the couple soon had a son, John Charles Julian Lennon. In 1962, not only Family status singer, their manager changed the outrageous outfits to modest and neat classic suits, and asked to limit the amount of abuse on stage.

Complex relationships with the environment

To the dismay of Lennon, who was opposed to the change, the public appreciated the manager's efforts, and The Beatles' popularity soared. However, Lennon, who got used to the changes for the longest time, still showed his rebellious character in front of the audience more than once. One of these antics was his speech during one of the performances, he stubbornly proved to the audience that The Beatles would one day become more popular than Jesus. If the British, accustomed to such behavior, missed this phrase past their attention, then the inhabitants of the United States, who were very sensitive to religious issues, went on strike and tried in every possible way to interrupt the just-planned tour of the United States. As demonstrations, especially religious people burned records and images of the band members at the stake. Thanks to this, sales of the new album only increased. In 1967, Lennon returned to his addiction and started using drugs. With the return of drugs to John's life, the group looked less and less like a close-knit team. New songs that go on sale were most often created by either Lennon or McCartney.

Dramatic changes in all aspects of life

In 1968, Lennon created the famous compositions "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "All You Need is Love". At the same time, a surge in the popularity of the hippie movement begins. This cultural event was reflected in appearance all members of the group and on their songs. More philosophical and peaceful compositions, long hair and loose clothing have become a new attribute in creativity. It is at this point in Lennon's life that he begins to wear his signature round glasses. In the same year, John's wife found out that for more than a year Lennon had been cheating on her with the artist Yoko Ono. In early 1969, the couple divorced, and Lennon married Yoko. During honeymoon Lennon recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in honor of his new relationship. Disagreements in the team heated up the situation more and more, which led to the fact that in 1970, after the release of "Let It Be", the group broke up.

The beginning of a solo career

Since the beginning solo career the musician focused on spreading the basic ideas of the hippie movement. The theme of world peace has become main theme all his songs. Before starting the bed interview, John composed "Give Peace a Chance". Lennon tried to sell the world the way other people sell cars, buns and clothes. At first, his ideas were perceived by listeners and journalists as something simply interesting, and no one took his ideas seriously. Soon, many began to realize that his ideas were not a joke at all, and that these songs sometimes make more sense than political speeches many country leaders. With the receipt of US citizenship in 1972, John began to actively fight against racial prejudice and spread the ideas of equal rights for all people.

Depression and insurmountable drug addiction

In 1972, the album "Some Time In New York City" was released. In the same year, the relationship between the musician and his wife cracked. Lennon began cheating on Yoko with her secretary May Pang. Unable to withstand such a betrayal, Yoko left for her homeland without saying anything to John and cutting off all ties with him for a year. Lennon did not expect that the departure of his wife would undermine him so much state of mind. In an attempt to find peace, John began to use drugs again. During this period, his work stopped, he stopped releasing songs and practically did not appear at the recording studio. In 1974, the singer released new compilation"Walls And Bridges", which received many good reviews from experts and raised the level of sales.

Family life

In 1975, Yoko returned to Lennon, and soon the couple had a son, Sean, who in the future followed in his father's footsteps, like all his children. At the time of the birth of his second son, John's firstborn was at the age of twelve and already led his first rock band. Sean's godfather famous singer Elton John, and for the first son - the manager of the group and close friend Lennon Brian Epstein. After the birth of his son, the singer retired from show business and devoted himself entirely to his family. He appeared in public only to receive some kind of award and at especially solemn parties of his close friends.

Last years of activity. Murder

Activity in the musical career appeared only in 1980 with the release of "Double Fantasy". Lennon and his wife created this album together, and many of the songs on this album became part of love story couples. Three weeks after the release of the album, John Lennon went to the recording studio to record new songs that were to be included in future albums. On the way to the studio, he was met by a fan, David Chapman, who asked for an autograph. A few hours later, this man killed Lennon in front of several reporters and John's wife. Four shots in the back led to an instant loss of consciousness, an hour after this event, the singer died from blood loss. Lennon was cremated, the ashes of the musician are with his wife. After his death, Yoko released the last album "Milk and Honey", which put an end to the career and life of John Lennon.

• In 1967, John became a follower of Timothy Leary, a well-known researcher of psychedelic states, because of which he became heavily addicted to drugs. However, already in 1968, the Beatles in in full force went to India, to the ashram of the Maharishi, which had a positive effect on their psyche: drugs were forgotten, but a new “drug” appeared - meditation.
• "Strawberry fields" was the name of the Salvation Army orphanage not far from where Lennon lived in his childhood on the outskirts of Liverpool, called Woolton. During his life, Lennon constantly provided financial assistance shelter, and after his death in 1980, this business was continued by his relatives. However, 10 years ago it ceased to exist.
• Despite poor eyesight, in his youth Lennon refused to wear glasses. Visiting cinemas, he asked his friends to tell him about what was happening on the screen. As a creative person, he presented his illness as a reaction to the separation of his parents - during this period he did not want to see anything. Subsequently, he found his own form of glasses and ordered a dozen of them a year.
• In 1965, the members of the Beatles became members of the Order of the British Empire from the hands of Queen Elizabeth II. However, in 1969, Lennon returned the Order, thus showing disagreement with the policy of the country that intervened in the war between Nigeria and Biafra and supported the Americans in the aggression against Vietnam. The official message was signed “With love. John Lennon".

Awards:

• Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year (1982)
• Grammy Award for Best Song of the Year (1967)
• NME Awards in the nomination " Best Album"(1972)
• Juno Award for International Album of the Year (1982)

John Lennon was born in the port English city Liverpool. His mother Julia and father Alfred Lennon barely lived together. Soon after the birth of their son Alfred was taken to the front, and Julia met another man and married him. When John was 4 years old, he went to live with his mother's sister, Mimi Smith, who had no children of her own. The boy rarely saw his own mother, their relationship was more friendly than mother-son.

John has had enough high ratio IQ, but at school he studied very poorly, as he could not bear the routine of daily activities. But the boy began to realize his creative potential in childhood. John sang in the choir, published his own magazine, and painted talentedly.

When rock 'n' roll boomed in England in the mid-1950s, teenagers began to create their own bands at every turn. The young Lennon did not stand aside either. He organized the group "The Quarrymen", the name was given to him by the school in which all its members studied.

A year later, the first boy from another part of the city joined the group. He was younger than the others, but played the guitar much better. It was he who soon brought the student who studied with him.

ending general education school, John Lennon managed to fail all the final exams and the only educational institution, which agreed to accept an unusual teenager, turned out to be the Liverpool College of Art.

But even art education did not attract John. He spent more and more time with Paul, George and Stuart Sutcliffe, whom he met in college and invited him to The Quarrymen to play bass. Soon the band's name was changed to "Long Johnny and Silver Beetles", and later shortened to last word, changed one letter to include a pun on the name, and became known as "The Beatles".

The Beatles

Since the beginning of the 60s, the guys have completely focused on music. They not only made their own cover versions famous hits but started writing own songs. Gradually, the group became popular in their native Liverpool, after which the Beatles traveled to Hamburg several times, where they played in nightclubs.

At that time, the style of music and the image of the group was standard for a rock band: leather jackets, cowboy boots, hairstyles like those, and so on. But in 1961, Brian Epstein became the manager of the Beatles, who completely changed their appearance. The guys change into formal suits without lapels, begin to behave professionally on stage. The world-famous hairstyle of the Beatles was invented by the German photographer Astrid Kircher, for which he stayed in Germany to live Stuart Sutcliffe.

The change in image contributed to the popularity of the team. Even more attention was drawn to the group by the performance of the Beatles at the Royal concert hall where John Lennon famously said:

“Those who sit in cheap seats, applaud. The rest can jingle their jewels."

"Now we are more popular than Jesus."

After the release of the first single "Love Me Do" and the full-length disc "Please Please Me" that followed, Beatlemania began in the UK. And after the release of the new single “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, a wave of popularity swept over America, and then the whole world.

The next few years, the Beatles lived almost on their suitcases, touring non-stop and releasing one album after another.

In 1967, as John, Paul, George, and Ringo stopped touring and focused on recording and writing new songs, Lennon began to lose interest in the band. First he turned down the role of leader of the Beatles, then for the first time in many years he began to compose separately from McCartney.

Previously, they created all the songs only together. After releasing several more very successful records, the group ceased to exist. Officially, this happened in 1970, but there were problems in the team over the past 2 years.

Solo career

John Lennon recorded his first solo album in 1968 and called it Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins. Yoko Ono also took part in the work on this disc. It was a musical psychedelic experiment that was recorded in one night. There are no songs on this disc, it consists of a fragmentary set of sounds, screams and groans. The following works "Wedding Album" and "Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions" are sustained in a similar vein.

The first "song" album was " John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band", released in 1970. And the next record "Imagine", released a year later, almost repeated the success latest albums"The Beatles". The title song has become calling card singer and is still considered one of the anti-political and anti-religious hymns.

In the list of "500 greatest songs of all time", which compiled the magazine " Rolling stone" in 2004, this composition took 3rd place.

Subsequently, John Lennon released 5 more studio albums, several compilations and live recordings.

Creation

John Lennon is famous not only as the author of many popular songs. He is also known as an actor. Together with other Beatles, Lennon starred in musical films"A Hard Day's Evening", "Help!", "Magical Mystery Journey" and "So Be It". He also played the Gripweed gunner in the military comedy How I Won the War. satirical comedy"Dynamite Chicken" and the drama "Fire in Water". In addition, together with Yoko Ono, Lennon made several films as a director. These were mostly political social films.

As a writer, John Lennon realized himself back in the 60s. He published 3 books: in 1964 “I write as it is written” was published, a year later “Spaniard in the wheel” appeared, and in 1986 the book “Oral non-writing” was published posthumously. Each edition presents a collection of stories in the style of black humor, with a large number of planned errors, puns and wordplay, which is reflected in the titles of the works.

Personal life

The first time John Lennon married in 1962 was his classmate Cynthia Powell. In April 1963, their son Julian Lennon was born. But the marriage was not strong due to John's constant absences associated with the tour of the Beatles, and also because of the collapse in popularity. Cynthia, who wanted a quieter life more, left her husband in 1967, and they officially divorced a year later.

In 1966, John met Japanese artist-avant-garde. In 1968, they began an affair, and a year later, John and Yoko got married and became inseparable.

The couple dedicated the song "The Ballad of John and Yoko" to their wedding. In October 1975, their son Sean Lennon was born. After this event, John officially announced the end musical career, stopped touring, almost did not appear in public and focused on raising his son.

Murder

In late 1980, John Lennon released the studio album Double Fantasy after a long break. On December 8, 1980, he gave an interview to reporters at the Hit Factory recording studio in New York. Leaving the studio, the singer signed a lot of autographs, including signing on the cover of his own record, which he was asked to do by a man named Mark Chapman.

When John and Yoko returned home and were already entering the arch of the Dakota building where they lived, Chapman fired 5 shots in the back of Lennon. The singer was taken to the hospital a few minutes later, but due to a large loss of blood, the doctors could not save his life. famous musician and he passed away the same day.

John Lennon was cremated and his ashes scattered by Yoko Ono in New York's Central Park, Strawberry Fields.

Mark Chapman was convicted for his crime and is serving a life sentence. He called the motive for the murder the desire to become as famous as John Lennon himself.

Solo discography

• 1968 - Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins
• 1969 - Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions
• 1969 - Wedding Album
• 1970 - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
• 1971 - Imagine
• 1972 - Some Time In New York City
• 1973 - Mind Games
• 1974 - Walls And Bridges
• 1975 - Rock'n'Roll
• 1980 - Double Fantasy

In 2002, the BBC conducted a poll to determine the 100 Greatest Britons of all time. John Lennon ranked eighth on this list.

British rock musician, singer, poet, composer, artist, writer. Founder and member of The Beatles, one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century.

Except for your musical activity Lennon was a political activist. He expressed his views both in songs and in public speeches. IN famous song"Imagine" expresses Lennon's thoughts about how the world should work. Lennon preached the ideas of equality and brotherhood of people, peace and freedom. This made him a hippie idol and one of the most significant public figures 1960s - 1970s.

Childhood and youth

John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 at 6:30 am, during a German air raid on Liverpool. His parents are Julia and Alfred Lennon. John was their first and last child - soon after his birth, Julia and Alfred separated.

Mark Chapman is serving a life sentence in a New York prison for his crime. Already five times he filed a petition for early release, but each time these petitions were rejected. Yoko Ono sent a letter to the New York State Department of Liberation in 2000 urging Chapman not to be released early.

John Lennon's posthumous album Milk & Honey was released in 1984. The songs were recorded in recent months Lennon's life. It mainly consists of sessions for Double Fantasy.

Facts and achievements

Lennon considered "Run for Your Life" and "It's Only Love" his worst songs.

Lennon purchased an island off the coast of Ireland in 1967.

The song "Imagine" was banned from religious Anglican schools because of the words "And no religion too" ("And no religion")

In 2005, the manuscript for "All You Need Is Love" was sold at auction for £600,000.

Lennon was being followed by the CIA (declassified June 2007)

In many polls, "Imagine" is considered best song of all times. In 2004, Rolling Stone published 500 best songs world in which "Imagine" took 3rd place

The Plastic Ono Band album was ranked #22 among the best of the best by Rolling Stone magazine.

The song "A Day In The Life" is recognized as the best british song of all times. This decision of the expert council of Q magazine arrived in time at a surprisingly opportune moment - the collection HELP: A Day In The Life, which quotes the titles of two "Beatle" tracks at once, just began to storm the top of the charts.

John Lennon's classic "Imagine" was named "the best composition of all time" by US professional publication Performing Songwriter. According to a survey conducted by the magazine, this anthem to the world around the world even surpassed the standard "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael - the author of such hits as "Georgia On My Mind", "New Orleans" and others - as well as "What's Going On" Marvin Gay. These compositions took second and third place, respectively.

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Memory of Lennon

The Strawberry Fields Memorial (named after the song Strawberry Fields Forever, in turn named after the orphanage in Liverpool) is located in New York's Central Park, near the Dakota building (at the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West Avenue where Lennon lived

In October 2000, the Lennon Museum was opened in Saitama, Japan.

Liverpool Airport bears the name of John Lennon, the motto of the airport: "Above us only sky" ("Only sky above us") - a line from the song "Imagine"

John Lennon Park in Cuba

Prague has a John Lennon Wall

After Lennon's death, George Harrison dedicated the song "All Those Years Ago" to him, and Paul McCartney - "Here, Today"

Freddie Mercury wrote the song "Life is real (song for John Lennon)", dedicating it to Lennon.

In Lviv, there is a street named after John Lennon.

In Mogilev-Podolsky, opposite the entrance to the city park, a monument to John Lennon was erected.

In St. Petersburg, next to the squat on Pushkinskaya, 10 - non-commercial cultural center there is "John Lennon Street" - part of the art project "Temple of Love, Peace and Music under the name of John Lennon", a subdivision of the Pushkinskaya 10 Art Center. The founder and project manager is Kolya Vasin.

In Chelyabinsk, in 2000, an attempt was made to rename a city street in honor of John Lennon. An official application to the mayor's office of the city of Chelyabinsk was submitted by Valery Yarushin, the founder of the Ariel group. It was expected that this decision would be made by the City Duma of Chelyabinsk before October 9, 2001, but this did not happen.

In Novosibirsk, next to the Circus, there is a wall of John Lennon. It has existed since 2004, according to the graffiti. It is updated with wall newspapers and new inscriptions of devoted Beatles fans.

British rock singer, songwriter, contributor legendary band The Beatles John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool (UK). His father was a merchant seaman. John Lennon's parents separated when the boy was four years old, and until he came of age he lived in the house of his maternal aunt Mimi Smith. Mother taught her son how to play the banjo and piano, bought him his first guitar. Her tragic death in 1958 was one of the hardest events in John's life.

In his youth, John Lennon was a cadet at an aviation school that trained personnel for the RAF.

From 1957-1960 he studied at the Liverpool Art Institute.

In March 1957, Lennon, along with his school friends organized The group QuarryMen, named after the school they all attended, Quarry Bank Grammar School. On July 6, 1957, a month after his first audition, Lennon met guitarist Paul McCartney at a celebration in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. It was on this evening, according to Lennon, that the idea of creating the Beatles. In March 1958 McCartney persuaded John to accept George Harrison into the band.

The Beatles were known only in Liverpool and played mainly arrangements of popular American songs. In the summer of 1960, the first foreign performances of the group took place in Hamburg. In April 1961, during the second tour in Hamburg, their first professional recording took place - as an accompanying ensemble of singer Tony Sheridan, the group recorded the single My Bonnie. While in the studio, Lennon recorded one of his first songs, Aint She Sweet. At the same time, the group first appeared before the public with new hairstyles - hair combed over the forehead and ears, and in jackets without collars and lapels.

In Germany there was a group consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best, who was the band's drummer at the time.

In October 1962, with new drummer Ringo Starr and producer George Martin, the band released their first single, Love Me Do, which reached No. 17 in the UK charts.

Inspired American singer Roy Orbison Lennon wrote the next single, Please Please Me, which topped the charts in the UK.

In August 1963, The Beatles released their single She Loves You. This event was the beginning of a national and worldwide boom in popularity that went beyond the musical and cultural phenomenon into the social and political sphere.

From 1963 to 1971 years The Beatles have released 13 studio albums, which include 211 songs.

Grammy Group. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles are the most financially successful musical group in the United States. In the UK, the group's albums more often than other artists occupied the first line of the music charts. The American magazine Rolling Stone put The Beatles in first place in the list the greatest performers of all times. The Beatles also topped the list of the most successful groups All Time Billboard magazine.

Lennon and McCartney no longer wrote songs together, although under the terms of the contract (and by mutual agreement) the song of each of them was considered a joint work.

In June 1965, "for outstanding contribution to the prosperity of Great Britain," Queen Elizabeth II awarded The Beatles musicians with the Order of the British Empire (in 1969, Lennon returned his order, citing British support for the Vietnam War).

In 1966, John Lennon was at the center of a scandal, saying in an interview: "We are already more popular than Jesus Christ." The phrase led to massive outrage in the American public, accompanied by the burning of the group's records throughout the country, and after a while Lennon was forced to apologize to everyone whose feelings he offended.

In 1967, the composition A Day in the Life, which later became famous, was written, the only thing of the group, composed of two absolutely different songs- one was written by Lennon, the other by McCartney.

In August 1967, The Beatles producer Brian Epstein died and McCartney took over the leadership of the group. This change hurt Lennon, disagreements began.

In 1966, Lennon met Japanese artist and musician Yoko Ono, whom he married in 1969 after his divorce from Cynthia.

This event largely predetermined further fate musician, changing his worldview. The newlyweds immediately began a campaign for peace, trying to attract public attention, Lennon composed the song Give Peace a Chance, which later became the anthem of the pacifists.

In September 1969, Lennon left the Beatles just after completing the Abbey Road album. News of the breakup was kept secret until McCartney announced his departure in April 1970, a month before the band had released the single Let It Be, recorded just before Abbey Road.

John Lennon, together with his wife and a number of invited musicians (Klaus Wurman, Eric Clapton, Andy White, etc.), created the Plastic Ono Band. One of John's best solo albums was the album Imagine, recorded in the summer of 1971, which instantly took the top line in the charts in England and the USA.

In 1971, John Lennon left for the United States and settled in New York, where he was actively engaged in political activities, the presidential administration took a series of actions to deport the singer from the country.

In October 1974, his album Walls And Bridges appeared, and in 1975 Rock "n" Roll was released, which included songs that the Beatles sang even before fame came.

After the birth of his son Sean on October 9, 1975, Lennon announced his retirement from music. His next album, Double Fantasy, did not appear until 1980.

On December 8, 1980, not far from his home in New York, John Lennon was mortally wounded by his mentally ill admirer Mark David Chapman, who, just a few hours earlier, had left an autograph on the Double Fantasy record.

On December 14, 1980, tens of millions of people around the world honored the memory of John Lennon with ten minutes of silence. The urn with the ashes of John Lennon is buried in New York. Mark David Chapman was sentenced to life in prison. After 20 years in prison, he petitioned five times for early release, but each time was refused "for reasons of public safety and tranquility."

John Lennon was awarded the Oscars (1971) for Best Music and Original Screenplay for Let It Be, Grammys (1971, 1997).

In 2002, a monument to the musician was unveiled at Liverpool Airport, which bears the name of John Lennon.

On October 9, 2009, John Lennon's birthday, the lunar crater located in the Lake of Dreams was named John Lennon's World Crater.

One of the craters on Mercury is named after Lennon.

John Lennon was married twice. Married to Cynthia Powell, he had a son, Julian (born in 1963), who became a singer and musician. Married to Yoko Ono, son Sean was born (born in 1975), he also followed in his father's footsteps, became a singer, composer and musician.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

And fellow Beatles member Paul McCartney. Lennon is one of those artists in relation to whom it is meaningless to say "his popularity has grown" or "his popularity has fallen": he is always in the "top".

The members of The Beatles somehow contributed to the development of the relationship between Lennon and Ono. Introduced them, without knowing it, Paul McCartney, advising John to go to the exhibition of "amusing", as he called it, a Japanese artist.

The apartment where it started living together John and Yoko is Ringo Starr's apartment.

Having met Lennon at that very exhibition, Yoko wrote in her diary that evening: “Finally, I found someone I will love.” She began to conquer John - she sat at his house, showered with strange letters.

After marrying Yoko Ono, Lennon adopted Ono as his last name. And he became John Winston Ono Lennon.

For the sake of Yoko, John was even ready for a crime, in all seriousness offering his beloved to steal her daughter, whom Ono's ex-husband did not give.

Yoko was for Lennon, in his words, "Mother Superior, Mother Earth." At home, he called his wife mom, and categorically disagreed that their relationship was "strange."

Lennon's secretary, May Pang, to whom the musician left in 1973, recalls in her memoirs how Yoko insisted that John go to a hypnosis session - to quit smoking. Lennon was supposed to take with him the perfume that Ono gave him - "with a monstrous smell," as Pang writes. Some time after the hypnosis, John told May that he was returning to his wife. Pang is sure: during the session, Lennon was told that he should return to the family.

For the last five years of his life, Lennon almost did not study music - he spent all his time on Sean and leading household. It was Yoko's idea, which John obeyed without question. The ex-Beatle sat with his son and watched the servants, Ono did business, spending 18-20 hours in the office.

In the list of the 500 greatest songs in the history of rock music according to Rolling Stone magazine, Imagine Lennon takes the 3rd place. McCartney song times The The Beatles, Hey Jude, ranked 8th.

On December 8, photographer Anne Leibovitz came to Lennon and Ono's apartment to shoot the ex-Beatle for Rolling Stone magazine. It was assumed that John would be alone in the frame, but the musician insisted on the presence of his wife. A photo of a naked Lennon lying on the floor in a fetal position and hugging Yoko appeared a few months later on the cover of Rolling Stone. Lennon himself, whom Mark David Chapman would shoot five hours after filming ended, told Leibovitz at the time that this shot was “the formula for my relationship with Yoko.”