On December 8,1980: John Lennon dies at the age of
40
listen
Real Audio 215 K.
December 8, 1980 John and Yoko return
to the Dakota in their limousine, after a recording session. As
John walks toward the entryway of the building, a deranged assailant,
Mark David Chapman, fires five shots, hitting John in the back.
By the time Yoko and police rush him to Roosevelt Hospital's emergency
room, John Lennon is dead.
John Lennon was a singer, songwriter,
guitarist, record producer, author, actor, filmmaker, artist,
and political spokesman, and one of the greatest figures in postwar
popular music. Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, and became
involved in music in the 50s. The group he founded as the Quarrymen
eventually evolved into the Beatles, and from 1963 to 1970 they
were the most successful rock group in history. Lennon, the group's
leader, played an important part in that success, writing and
singing many of its biggest hits and best songs.
Lennon began
to record and perform outside the group in 1969, usually in the
company of his wife, avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. John, who had
separated from Ono in 1973, was reconciled with her in 1975 an
thereafter retired from music to raise their son Sean. He and
Ono reemerged with the album DOUBLE FANTASY in 1980, and had plans
for further recordings and performances at the time he was assassinated.
|