John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon, (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), was best known as a singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist for The Beatles. His creative career also included the roles of solo musician, political activist, artist, actor and author. As half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting team, he heavily influenced the development of rock music, leading it towards more serious and political messages.

Early years

Lennon was born in Liverpool on the evening of October 9, 1940 during a period of much turmoil as the UK was heavily engaged in World War II. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and experience, though neither pursued them seriously. Lennon lived with his parents in Liverpool until his father Alfred (nicknamed Alf, and later "Freddy"), a merchant seaman, walked out on the family when John was five years old. His mother, Julia, then decided that she was unable to care for her son, and so gave him to her sister Mimi. Lennon lived with Aunt Mimi and her husband George at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence. Like much of the population of Liverpool, Lennon had some Irish heritage; his grandfather, James Lennon, having been born in Dublin in 1858.

Related Topics:
Liverpool - October 9 - 1940 - UK - World War II - Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue - Irish - Dublin - 1858

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Lennon developed severe myopia as he grew up, and was obliged to wear glasses in order to see clearly. During his early Beatle career, Lennon wore contacts or prescription sunglasses (or simply "toughed it out" without them). In 1966, on the set of How I Won The War, Lennon was issued a pair of National Health spectacles. He continued to wear these round, wire-rimmed glasses which became part of his iconic public image. Although John lived apart from his mother he still kept in contact with her through regular visits, and during this time Julia was responsible for introducing her son to a lifelong interest in music by teaching him how to play the banjo. On July 15, 1958 - when Lennon was 17 - his mother was killed after she was struck by a car driven by a drunken off-duty police officer, and he had to go to the morgue to identify her body. Julia's death was one of the factors that cemented his friendship with Paul McCartney, who had lost his own mother to breast cancer in 1956, when Paul was 14. Years later, Lennon wrote the songs "Julia", "Mother" and "My Mummy's Dead" regarding his mother, as well as naming his firstborn son, Julian, after her.

Related Topics:
Myopia - 1966 - How I Won The War - National Health - Banjo - July 15 - 1958 - Paul McCartney - Breast cancer - 1956 - Julia - Julian

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Though failing in grammar school, Lennon was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art with help from his school's headmaster and Aunt Mimi, and it was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia Powell. However, Lennon steadily grew to hate the conformity of art school, which proved to be little different from his earlier school experience, and ultimately dropped out. He instead devoted himself to music, inspired by American Rock 'n' Roll and singers like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. He'd started a skiffle band in grammar school called the Quarry Men (after his alma mater, Quarry Bank). With the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, the band changed to playing rock 'n' roll, taking the name "Johnny and the Moondogs", followed by "The Silver Beetles" (a tribute to Buddy Holly's Crickets), which was later shortened to The Beatles. He married Powell in 1962, after she became pregnant with Julian.

Related Topics:
Grammar school - Liverpool College of Art - Cynthia Powell - Conformity - Rock 'n' Roll - Elvis Presley - Chuck Berry - Buddy Holly - Skiffle - Quarry Men - Quarry Bank - George Harrison - Crickets - 1962 - Pregnant

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