John Lennon

John was born near Liverpool, England, in 1940 to Alfred Lennon - who was raised in an orphanage - and Julia Stanley, but raised by his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. His mother, Julia, was killed while crossing the road outside Mimi's house when John was 17, and he channeled his adolescent frustrations into music, forming The Quarrymen - the band that evolved into The Beatles.

On June 24, 1965, Lennon's second book of poetry and drawings, entitled A Spaniard In The Works, was published in Britain by Johnathan Cape. The story that gave the book its title featured a Spaniard with the unlikely name of Jesus El Pifco, who went to work in Scotland where he had a romantic tryst with the equally oddly named girl, Spastic Sporran. There was talk of a third book in the series (the first had been In His Own Write), but Lennon lost interest in the idea, probably due to pressure of work in The Beatles.

"We're more popular than Jesus right now", John Lennon said in 1966 at the height of The Beatles' success. His irreverent remark caused a storm of controversy in America, where the Fab Four reigned supreme in the pop charts.

In January 1968, authorities at Newark Airport, New Jersey, seized the entire shipment of Two Virgins, an experimental album by Lennon and his Japanese-born wife, Yoko Ono, which featured a full frontal photograph of the naked couple on its cover. Copies of the album were only allowed into the US when Tetragammaton Records promised to protect American sensibilities by wrapping them in plain brown paper before putting them on sale!

Although under contract to Capitol Records in the US, Lennon had been forced to negotiate a deal with Tetragammaton when Capitol refused to accept the album or its controversial artwork. Few people doubt that the furor over the cover helped boost sales of what would otherwise have been a complete flop. As it was, Two Virgins sold very badly worldwide and reinforced the belief that the Lennon/Ono artistic relationship was too weird for most.

Nonetheless, after The Beatles split up in 1969, Lennon collaborated further with Yoko, on various ventures. He also created some powerful solo albums, including Imagine (1971). A self-styled 'working class hero' and anti-Vietnam war protester, Lennon symbolized the aspirations and dreams of a generation.

Shot dead outside his New York home at the Dakota apartments off Central Park  West on December 8 1980, John Lennon was  mourned by millions. His killer, Mark David Chapman (pictured at right), had recently flown in from Hawaii, where he bough the revolver with which he shot Lennon four times in the back at point-blank range. He had been stalking Lennon for several days and was photographed earlier in the day while getting the star's autograph. John Lennon was 40 years old.

While mourners held candle-lit vigils outside the Dakota Building for nights on end, Double Fantasy shot to Number 1 in both Britain and the US. On December 14, 100,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park to pay homage. As the PA system boomed out Give Peace A Chance Yoko Ono requested that mourners across the world hold a vigil of ten minutes silence for peace. The following June, Chapman ignored his lawyer's advice and pleaded guilty to murder. He was given 20 years to life.