In September 1980, Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature:
Julia visited Mendips on a regular basis, and when John was 11 years old he often visited her at 1 Blomfield Road, Liverpool, where she played him Elvis Presley records, taught him the banjo, and showed him how to play " Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino.
His aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, and his uncle, a dairyman at his family's farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own, at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Woolton. Ģ51 Menlove Avenue, where Lennon lived for most of his childhood It would be 20 years before he had contact with his father again. Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her. Julia followed them-with her partner at the time, 'Bobby' Dykins-and after a heated argument his father forced the five-year-old to choose between them. In July 1946 Lennon's father visited Smith and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him. After her sister, Mimi Smith, twice complained to Liverpool's Social Services, Julia handed the care of Lennon over to her. When he eventually came home six months later, he offered to look after the family, but Julia-by then pregnant with another man's child-rejected the idea. His father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9 Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944. His parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, and then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent, who was away at the time of his son's birth.
1.2.1 1957–66: Formation, commercial break-out and touring years.1.2 1957–70: The Quarrymen to the Beatles.He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994. In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all time. Controversial through his political and peace activism, he moved to Manhattan in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon's administration to deport him, while some of his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture.Īs of 2012, Lennon's solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. He was murdered three weeks after its release. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to raise his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. When the group disbanded in 1970, 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", " Working Class Hero", and " Imagine". With fellow member Paul McCartney, he formed a celebrated songwriting partnership.īorn and raised in Liverpool, as a teenager Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze his first band, the Quarrymen, evolved into the Beatles in 1960. John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a co-founder of the band the Beatles, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "children" is not recognized HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "parents" is not recognized HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "death_cause" is not recognized HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "resting_place" is not recognized HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "signature" is not recognized HIDDEN ERROR: Usage of "spouse" is not recognized