John Winston Lennon

John Lennon MBE
Lennon at the Montreal bed-in, 1969
Born	John Winston Lennon (1940-10-09)9 October 1940 Liverpool, England, UK
Died	8 December 1980(1980-12-08) (aged 40) Manhattan, New York, US
Cause of death	Murder by shooting
Resting place	Cremated (Ashes scattered at Central Park)
Occupation	Musician singer songwriter activist
Years active	1957–1980
Spouse(s)	Cynthia Powell (m. 1962; div. 1968) Yoko Ono (m. 1969; his death 1980)
Children	Julian Lennon Sean Lennon
Parent(s)	Alfred Lennon Julia Stanley
Website	JohnLennon.com
Musical career
Genres	Rock pop experimental
Instruments	Vocals guitar piano keyboards harmonica
Labels	Apple Capitol Geffen Parlophone Polydor
Associated acts	The Quarrymen The Beatles Plastic Ono Band Harry Nilsson The Dirty Mac Yoko Ono David Bowie Elton John
Notable instruments
Rickenbacker 325 Epiphone Casino Gibson J-160E Mellotron
Signature

John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beatles, the most commercially successful and musically influential band in the history of popular music. He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a much-celebrated songwriting partnership.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager; his first band, the Quarrymen, first became the Silver Beatles, and finally, evolved into the Beatles in 1960. When the group disbanded in 1970, Lennon embarked on a sporadic solo career that produced albums including John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and songs such as "Give Peace a Chance", "Working Class Hero", and "Imagine". After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he added "Ono" as one of his middle names. 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. He was murdered three weeks after its release.

Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. 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.