songwriter, singer, and guitarist for the influential 1960's british rock group The Beatles.

John Winston Lennon was also a solo musician, political activist, and author. He was married first to Cynthia Lennon but left her for the Japanese artist Yoko Ono; he had always disliked his middle name and at his second marriage changed it to "Ono." (His mother had named him after Winston Churchill.)in the late 1950s, Lennon formed his own skiffle group called The Quarry Men, which later became The Beatles. Of the four former Beatles, Lennon had perhaps the most varied recording career, often reflecting the vicissitudes of his personality. Whilst still a Beatle, Lennon and Ono recorded two albums of experimental and frequently unlistenable electronic music, Unfinished Music volumes 1 & 2 and Wedding Album. His first 'solo' album of popular music was Live Peace In Toronto, recorded in 1969 (prior to the breakup of the Beatles) at the Rock 'n' Roll Festival in Toronto with a Plastic Ono Band.

Following the Beatles' split in 1970, he released the Plastic Ono Band album, heavily influenced by Arthur Yanoff's primal scream therapy, which Lennon had undergone previously. This was followed by Imagine, his most successful solo album.in 1980 lennon and Ono produced Double Fantasy, practically a concept album dealing with their relationship. Less than a month after its release, however, Lennon was shot dead on the night of December the 8th, 1980, by Mark David Chapman, in front of his apartment block in New York City. The Strawberry Fields Memorial was constructed across the street from the Dakota building in memory of Lennon.

Lennon's son with Cynthia, Julian Lennon, enjoys a notable recording career of his own, as does his son with Yoko, Sean Lennon.the manics were fascinated by john lennon's death; one of their favourite books was albert goldman's 1988 'the lives of john lennon'. this books tries to show the 'real lennon', the man behind the myth and goldman attempts to create the same furor with this book as he did with his Elvis Presley biography. The result of six years of research and some 1,200 interviews, this book takes fans deep into Lennon's secretive world, from his traumatic childhood to his Beatles days to his hidden life with Yoko Ono. While the Lennon of legend enjoyed a gifted and inspired life, the private Lennon lived in torment, poisoning himself with drugs and self-hatred. 'The Lives of John Lennon' exposed for the first time all of his various lives, from idealist to cynic, from ascetic to junkie. The book exposes the Ballad Of John and Yoko for the lie it really was. according to goldman, The loveless Yoko only got involved with Lennon to exploit his fame and spend his money.