John Lennon is his killer. "I just shot John Lennon"

John Lennon was born in the English port city of 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 had a fairly high IQ, but he did very poorly at school, 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.

Graduating from a comprehensive school, John Lennon managed to fail all the final exams and the only educational institution that agreed to accept an unusual teenager was 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. The group's name was soon changed to "Long Johnny and Silver Beetles", and later shortened to the last word, changed one letter to include a pun in 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 of famous hits, but also began to write their 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 for the Beatles was invented by the German photographer Astrid Kircher, for which Stuart Sutcliffe stayed in Germany to live.

The change in image contributed to the popularity of the team. The Beatles' performance at the Royal Concert Hall drew even more attention to the group, where John Lennon said the famous phrase:

“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 of the last albums of The Beatles. The title song became the singer's calling card and is still considered one of the anti-political and anti-religious anthems.

In the list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", which was compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, this composition took 3rd place.

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

Creation

John Lennon is famous not only as the author of many popular songs. He is also known as an actor. Along with other Beatles, Lennon starred in the musical films A Hard Day's Evening, Help!, Magical Mystery Journey, and So Be It. He also played Gunflyweed in the military comedy How I Won the War, the satirical comedy Dynamite Chicken and the drama Fire in the 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 a Japanese avant-garde artist. 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 of his 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 named after a few minutes, but due to a large loss of blood, the doctors could not save the life of the famous musician, and he died on 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

Content

The year 1980, which struck the fans with sad news, was to be a new runway in the career of a musician. After a 5-year break (John wanted to devote time to his newborn son Sean), he released a new album, Double Fantasy. His success amazed everyone. Critics and fans alike raved about the album. But it didn’t take long to congratulate the musician ...

The path to resounding success and glory

When John was born, his parents did not get along with each other, and after 4 years they divorced. The aunt and uncle on the mother's side undertook to raise the little boy. From a young age, the boy assured: he would study music. Among his peers, he stood out for his perseverance. The aunt resisted the guy's hobby, and the uncle supported him in every possible way.

At school, John did not pay attention to acquiring new knowledge. Actively engaged in creative activities at school. Went to journalism, sang, drew illustrations for comic stories. The teachers noticed the student's talent and sent him to another school, from where the boy moved to the Liverpool College of Art.

The legendary team "The Beatles" John created together with close friends. The band members, like everyone at that time, showed a rebellious spirit, dressed like rock stars. But their manager persuaded them to change the image to classic suits and remove swearing from speech. With the advent of new songs, the popularity and demand for the band increased.

Over time, disagreements began to appear in the group members. And in 1970, the legendary team broke up.

With the beginning of his solo career, John hit the theme of peace and love. At the same time, his behavior towards his wife worsened. John began to abuse drugs. He gave up music lessons. But in 1972 he released the album "Walls And Bridges", which immediately won fans. Critics also appreciated the collection.

In 1975, his wife returned to John, gave birth to a son. Since then, John has gone into the shadows and disappeared from the eyes of the cameras. Even if it was shown to the public, it was only at some event with friends or to receive awards.

After the release of the last album, the musician planned to release another one in a few months, but it was not destined ...

Cause of death of John Lennon

How the death of John Lennon happened, all the newspapers and news spoke. Long before his death, the musician felt a threat to life. Suspicions and fears began to appear as early as 1964 in France, where John received a terrible secret note with death threats. In terrible excitement, the artist spent the whole night, but nothing happened. Such notes came many times. John regarded them as an unfortunate and stupid joke of some strange admirer.

So how did John Lennon die?

On December 8 at midnight, John and his wife were returning home from work. They were preparing a new album, so there was plenty of work in the recording studio. When the couple approached the entrance, John was suddenly called from behind from the darkness. As soon as the artist turned around, shots immediately followed him. One, then the second, the third... In total, 5 shots were fired: two bullets hit the shoulder, and two more shots hit the back. Youko couldn't help it and screamed piercingly.

Lennon, bleeding, slowly began to crawl towards the entrance. The musician reached the guard and barely croaked loudly: “I was shot at ...” At that moment, the cassette with the song on which they worked so hard in the studio with Yoko fell out of the hands of the dying man.

A couple of minutes later, the police rushed in and, taking the wounded man, took him to the nearest medical center. No matter how they tried to save the musician on the operating table, nothing came of it. Blood loss was 80%. There was no chance for salvation.

Who was the killer of the great musician

John Lennon died because of Mark Chapman. On the day of the artist's death, Mark met John on the way to the recording studio and asked for an autograph. Surprisingly: the two of them were captured in a picture that eventually became fatal. It was made by dedicated Beatles fan Paul Goresh. Later it turned out that Mark himself approached Paul and asked for $ 50 to capture them with Lennon in a joint photo. Chapman was questioned about this act. The guy argued that in Hawaii they would not believe him that he was talking to John Lennon.

After Chapman shot Lennon, he did not even try to hide, although there was a subway nearby. The guy calmly sat down in front of the musician's house, opened Salinger's book "The Catcher in the Rye" and plunged into reading. I grabbed this book not by chance, as I equated myself with the main character - Holden Caulfield.

The porter at home, seeing the killer calmly reading, jumped out to him and shouted in a voice that was not his own: “Do you even understand what you have done ?!” To which, with imperturbable calmness, the guy replied: “Yes, he killed John Lennon.”

In order to remember her husband, Yoko invited fans to come to New York's Central Park. More than 225 thousand people remembered the great artist with a minute of silence.

What prompted Mark Chapman to commit a cruel crime

The cause of John Lennon's death and the behavior of his killer have become a mystery to the press and fans. During the investigation, it turned out that Mark has a split personality. The killer himself confessed the next day. He said that two personalities live in it: dark and light. Dark - the devil, who for several months incited the guy to commit a crime. The guy also admitted: he dreamed of being like John, having his fame, luxury and recognition. He even signed as "John Lennon".

Other sources say that Chapman was not just jealous of the musician. The killer thought he was John Lennon and the real musician was a fake.

Yet, despite the touched mind, Chapman was put behind bars. The killer has spent more than 36 years in prison. Mark applied for release more than once, but they were not approved. In particular, Yoko influenced this: she did not want the killer to go free. Otherwise, her peace would be disturbed again.

The creativity and personality of the great musician will forever remain in the memory of the fans. The music of John Lennon finds loyal fans at any time. The creativity of the musician will live forever.

Death of John Lennon

John Lennon, the famous rock musician, one of the founders of the legendary Beatles, on whose songs more than one generation of people of the 20th century grew up, probably did not even suspect that his music would cause someone's death, especially his own. John called peace, love and music his sacred things. He devoted his life to serving these three things. Lennon's shrines were also worshiped by millions of admirers of his talent.

For a long time these people could not believe that their idol was no longer alive, that some crazy person dared to raise his hand against the sacred.

The news of the fatal wound of the famous rock musician instantly spread around the world. In the early morning of December 9, 1980, a crowd of thousands of admirers of John Lennon's talent gathered in front of his New York home. People sang the famous rock musician's song "All you need is love", which became a kind of requiem for an idol. So the mourners mourned the famous singer, poet, active participant in the movement for peace, John Lennon.

Late in the evening of December 8, after a hard day at work, John and his wife Yoko Ono were returning home from the recording studio. The couple were already entering the entrance when a man suddenly called out to the musician. Lennon barely had time to turn around when a shot rang out, followed by a second, third, fourth ...

Youko, shocked by what had happened, screamed piercingly, and the bleeding John crawled to the entrance. He miraculously managed to get to the guard's desk. Choking on blood, the musician croaked: “They shot at me ...”

Soon the police arrived at the scene. There was no time to wait for the ambulance. Having attached the wounded man to the back seat of the car, the policeman rushed at high speed to the nearest hospital.

John Lennon

A few minutes later, Lennon was already on the operating table, but the injuries were so serious (blood loss was about 80%) that it was not possible to save the victim.

The killer, 25-year-old Mark Chapman, made no attempt to escape. The police caught him at the crime scene reading his favorite book, The Catcher in the Rye.

The murder of John Lennon caused a wave of indignation around the world. The next day, all radio stations played the musician's songs, including those performed by him.

A powerful stream of condolences poured into the Lennon family, in a short time Yoko received about 250 thousand letters of condolence, and how many more were in telegrams and phone calls! Records of the Beatles were in incredible demand, in England alone, over the next two months, 2 million were sold.

But not only indignation and grief over the death of the great singer and musician dominated those days in the world. Many Americans shamefacedly acknowledged the inability of their security services to secure celebrities.

After all, for the umpteenth time in the "invincible" United States, the killer easily cracked down on a world-famous person.

The assassination of Lennon is comparable only to the death of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. The fact is that both Johns, a talented rock musician and the most popular American president, have become a kind of icons for contemporaries, spokesmen for the hopes and aspirations of progressive-minded representatives of new generations.

The American press, paying tribute to the memory of John Lennon, has repeatedly written that the Beatles are an integral part of the life of a whole generation that grew up in the 60s of the XX century.

The shared grief made the teenagers take a fresh look at their lives.

One of the young admirers of Lennon's talent, who was present on January 9, 1980 on the square in front of the house of the deceased musician, said then: "I feel that I am growing up, becoming a completely adult person."

The merits of the famous musician of the Beatles to society were noted even by the 39th US President James Carter. In a speech addressed to Lennon's grieving family and fans, he said: "This man helped create the music and mood of our time. He left behind a compelling and timeless legacy. It is especially bitter that John Lennon fell victim to violence, although he himself always fought for peace.

The famous rock musician apparently felt some kind of threat to his life.

He retired from the world of commercial music and lived as a recluse for a long time in a house near New York's Central Park.

During this period of seclusion, Lennon did not even meet with close friends.

Fears for his life and the lives of loved ones appeared in John after an unpleasant incident that occurred in 1964 in France.

During a speech in one of the cities, Lennon received a note that spoke of the death prepared for him the next night. The musician spent the dark time of the day in anxious anticipation, but the "joker" did not fulfill his promise.

In subsequent years, letters with messages of Lennon's awaiting death continued to come, but the threats always remained only threats.

The musician regarded these messages as unsuccessful jokes of fans on a celebrity, he could not even imagine that there would be a person who would dare to commit such a daring crime as murder.

John Lennon died just at the moment when he began to appear in public again after a long period of seclusion. He made new plans, wrote songs. There was even talk about the revival of the Beatles, which had practically collapsed by that time.

A few hours before his death, John gave his first (and at the same time the last) interview in many years, dedicated to the new album called "Double Fantasy".

The musician addressed the disc to his peers, which is confirmed by his words: “To the people who grew up with me, I say:“ Here I am, but how are you? How is your family doing? Tell me, were the 70s boring years? Let's make the 80s great!“

However, he failed to fulfill his plan, the killer cut off the life of the "star" with his insidious shot. And who knows, maybe John Lennon's songs would have made it possible to achieve more?

The famous musician thought little about death, he still had a lot to do in this world before leaving for that one. In a recent interview published in Newsweek magazine, John said: “I don't feel like I'm in my forties. I feel like a child and I have so many good years ahead of me with Yoko and my son, at least we hope so.”

John Lennon's killer, Mark Chapman, was a megalomaniac. Imagining himself a legendary musician, he considered the real Lennon his double, which must be destroyed.

Chapman became an ardent admirer of the Beatles and John Lennon in particular from the very moment he heard their first song album, imbued with a deep philosophical meaning. Lennon appeared before the future killer as a preacher of eternal love, kindness and peace.

Chapman strove to be like his idol in everything, he even began to play the guitar. However, Mark was very far from the legendary musician. Awareness of his own mediocrity caused a fierce hatred for the star. It was this hatred that drove Chapman to the crime.

During the investigation of the death of John Lennon, it was possible to establish that his killer was a mentally unbalanced person. It was difficult for him to stay in one place, he could not study because of frequent depression, and once even attempted suicide.

At the same time, the hated Lennon continued to bask in glory and luxury. Chapman could no longer put up with such injustice, he soon decided on a crime. Having bought a gun, the killer went to New York.

It took him only a few days to reconnoiter the situation. In the crowd of fans who wandered around Lennon's house day and night with the sole purpose of looking at his idol, Chapman was invisible. The day before the murder, he even managed to get an autograph from a famous rock musician.

Chapman, who was arrested at the scene of the crime, did not deny his guilt. After passing a sanity test, which established mental abnormalities, the killer was sent to prison and placed under strict supervision in order to prevent a possible suicide attempt.

Soon Mark Chapman's megalomania reached its highest point. The killer confidently stated that he was the famous singer and musician John Lennon. In confirmation, the criminal provided his autograph, which imitated the painting of a real star.

10 years after the high-profile murder that shocked the whole world, in an interview with one of the American newspapers, Mark Chapman revealed the "true" reasons for his act.

The killer claimed that the demons and Satan were pushing him to the crime, they were the main initiators of the murder of John Lennon (naturally, this looked like the delirium of a mentally unbalanced person). In addition, the offender spoke in detail about the preparations for the murder.

What is most interesting, in the words of Mark Chapman there is a drop of common sense: he hopes to someday beg forgiveness from God and from people for the crime he committed. But, most likely, he will not be able to do this, since this is not forgiven ...

Long John "Shanghai" November squally winds rush over the Irish Sea - from Newport to the quay walls of Bristol. The storm howls in the rigging of anchored ships. In the narrow harbor alleys, the dampness penetrates to the bones, and the fog is even thicker than usual.