John Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings.
121 Facts About John Lennon
2.
John Lennon had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John and David Bowie.
3.
John Lennon was murdered by a Beatles fan, Mark David Chapman, three weeks after the album's release.
4.
In 1982, John Lennon won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
5.
In 2002, John Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
6.
John Lennon was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
7.
John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital to Julia and Alfred John Lennon.
8.
John Lennon's parents named him John Winston Lennon after his paternal grandfather, John "Jack" Lennon, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
9.
John Lennon's father was often away from home but sent regular pay cheques to 9Newcastle Road, Liverpool, where Lennon lived with his mother; the cheques stopped when he went absent without leave in February 1944.
10.
In July 1946, John Lennon's father visited her and took his son to Blackpool, secretly intending to emigrate to New Zealand with him.
11.
In one account of this incident, John Lennon twice chose his father, but as his mother walked away, he began to cry and followed her.
12.
Billy Hall, who witnessed the incident, has said that the dramatic portrayal of a young John Lennon being forced to make a decision between his parents is inaccurate.
13.
John Lennon had no further contact with Alf for close to 20 years.
14.
John Lennon's aunt purchased volumes of short stories for him, and his uncle, a dairyman at his family's farm, bought him a mouth organ and engaged him in solving crossword puzzles.
15.
In September 1980, John Lennon commented about his family and his rebellious nature:.
16.
John Lennon was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn't cope with me, and I ended up living with her elder sister.
17.
John Lennon regularly visited his cousin Stanley Parkes, who lived in Fleetwood and took him on trips to local cinemas.
18.
From Edinburgh we would drive up to the family croft at Durness, which was from about the time John Lennon was nine years old until he was about 16.
19.
John Lennon was raised as an Anglican and attended Dovedale Primary School.
20.
On 15 July 1958, Julia John Lennon was struck and killed by a car while she was walking home after visiting the Smiths' house.
21.
Julia's memory would later serve as a major creative inspiration for John Lennon, inspiring songs such as the 1968 Beatles song "Julia".
22.
John Lennon is content to 'drift' instead of using his abilities.
23.
John Lennon failed his O-level examinations, and was accepted into the Liverpool College of Art after his aunt and headmaster intervened.
24.
At the age of 15, John Lennon formed a skiffle group, the Quarrymen.
25.
John Lennon thought that Harrison, then 14 years old, was too young.
26.
McCartney engineered an audition on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, where Harrison played "Raunchy" for John Lennon and was asked to join.
27.
John Lennon's aunt, horrified when he told her about the trip, pleaded with John Lennon to continue his art studies instead.
28.
John Lennon had no previous experience managing artists, but he had a strong influence on the group's dress code and attitude on stage.
29.
John Lennon was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest.
30.
John Lennon grew concerned that fans who attended Beatles concerts were unable to hear the music above the screaming of fans, and that the band's musicianship was beginning to suffer as a result.
31.
John Lennon had put on weight, and felt he was subconsciously seeking change.
32.
The furore that followed, which included the burning of Beatles records, Ku Klux Klan activity and threats against John Lennon, contributed to the band's decision to stop touring.
33.
John Lennon had increased his use of LSD and, according to author Ian MacDonald, his continuous use of the drug in 1967 brought him "close to erasing his identity".
34.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which revealed lyrics by John Lennon that contrasted strongly with the simple love songs of the group's early years.
35.
John Lennon described the venture as an attempt to achieve "artistic freedom within a business structure".
36.
John Lennon was especially pleased with his songwriting contributions to the double album and identified it as a superior work to Sgt.
37.
John Lennon performed with the Dirty Mac, a supergroup composed of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell.
38.
John Lennon asked Lord Beeching to take on the role but he declined, advising John Lennon to go back to making records.
39.
John Lennon was approached by Allen Klein, who had managed the Rolling Stones and other bands during the British Invasion.
40.
John Lennon's creative focus continued to move beyond the Beatles, and between 1968 and 1969 he and Ono recorded three albums of experimental music together: Unfinished Music No 1: Two Virgins, Unfinished Music No 2: Life with the Lions and Wedding Album.
41.
In protest at Britain's involvement in "the Nigeria-Biafra thing", its support of America in the Vietnam War and against "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts, John Lennon returned his MBE medal to the Queen.
42.
The medal, together with John Lennon's letter, is held at the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.
43.
John Lennon left the Beatles in September 1969, but agreed not to inform the media while the group renegotiated their recording contract.
44.
John Lennon was outraged that McCartney publicised his own departure on releasing his debut solo album in April 1970.
45.
John Lennon became involved in a protest against the prosecution of Oz magazine for alleged obscenity.
46.
Eager for a major commercial success, John Lennon adopted a more accessible sound for his next album, Imagine.
47.
In "Jealous Guy", John Lennon addressed his demeaning treatment of women, acknowledging that his past behaviour was the result of long-held insecurity.
48.
In gratitude for his guitar contributions to Imagine, John Lennon initially agreed to perform at Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh benefit shows in New York.
49.
Harrison refused to allow Ono to participate at the concerts which resulted in the couple having a heated argument and John Lennon pulling out of the event.
50.
John Lennon was embroiled in a continuing legal battle with the immigration authorities, and he was denied permanent residency in the US; the issue would not be resolved until 1976.
51.
John Lennon contributed "I'm the Greatest" to Starr's album Ringo, released the same month.
52.
In early 1974, John Lennon was drinking heavily and his alcohol-fuelled antics with Harry Nilsson made headlines.
53.
John Lennon decided to produce Nilsson's album Pussy Cats, and Pang rented a Los Angeles beach house for all the musicians.
54.
John Lennon had settled back in New York when he recorded the album Walls and Bridges.
55.
Starr's Goodnight Vienna again saw assistance from John Lennon, who wrote the title track and played piano.
56.
Sean was born on 9 October 1975, and John took on the role of househusband.
57.
John Lennon began what would be a five-year hiatus from the music industry, during which time, he later said, he "baked bread" and "looked after the baby".
58.
John Lennon devoted himself to Sean, rising at 6am daily to plan and prepare his meals and to spend time with him.
59.
John Lennon wrote "Cookin' " for Starr's Ringo's Rotogravure, performing on the track in June in what would be his last recording session until 1980.
60.
John Lennon emerged from his hiatus in October 1980, when he released the single " Starting Over".
61.
En route, he and the crew encountered a storm, rendering everyone on board seasick, except John Lennon, who took control and sailed the boat through the storm.
62.
John Lennon spent three weeks in Bermuda in a home called Fairylands writing and refining the tracks for the upcoming album.
63.
John Lennon was rushed in a police cruiser to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:15pm.
64.
Later that year, Roxy Music's cover version of "Jealous Guy", recorded as a tribute to John Lennon, was a UK number-one.
65.
John Lennon met Cynthia Powell in 1957, when they were fellow students at the Liverpool College of Art.
66.
John Lennon was jealous by nature and eventually grew possessive, often terrifying Powell with his anger.
67.
John Lennon ended their relationship as a result, until three months later, when Lennon apologised and asked to reunite.
68.
John Lennon took him back and later noted that he was never again physically abusive towards her, although he could still be "verbally cutting and unkind".
69.
John Lennon later said that until he met Ono, he had never questioned his chauvinistic attitude towards women.
70.
John Lennon's marriage began just as Beatlemania was taking off across the UK.
71.
John Lennon performed on the evening of his wedding day and would continue to do so almost daily from then on.
72.
Julian was born on 8 April 1963; John Lennon was on tour at the time and did not see his infant son until three days later.
73.
John Lennon later recalled how the incident seemed to symbolise the end of their marriage.
74.
John Lennon received a letter stating that Lennon was doing so on the grounds of her adultery with Italian hotelier Roberto Bassanini, an accusation which Powell denied.
75.
Almost as soon as Julian was born, John Lennon went on holiday to Spain with Epstein, which led to speculation about their relationship.
76.
John Lennon delighted in mocking Epstein for his homosexuality and for the fact that he was Jewish.
77.
When Epstein invited suggestions for the title of his autobiography, John Lennon offered Queer Jew; on learning of the eventual title, A Cellarful of Noise, he parodied, "More like A Cellarful of Boys".
78.
John Lennon was touring with the Beatles when Julian was born on 8 April 1963.
79.
Julian's birth, like his mother Cynthia's marriage to John Lennon, was kept secret because Epstein was convinced that public knowledge of such things would threaten the Beatles' commercial success.
80.
Julian started to see his father regularly, and John Lennon gave him a drumming part on a Walls and Bridges track.
81.
John Lennon bought Julian a Gibson Les Paul guitar and other instruments, and encouraged his interest in music by demonstrating guitar chord techniques.
82.
John Lennon first met Yoko Ono on 9 November 1966 at the Indica Gallery in London, where Ono was preparing her conceptual art exhibit.
83.
John Lennon was intrigued by Ono's "Hammer A Nail": patrons hammered a nail into a wooden board, creating the art piece.
84.
When Cynthia asked him for an explanation, John Lennon explained that Ono was only trying to obtain money for her "avant-garde bullshit".
85.
John Lennon changed his name by deed poll on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name.
86.
Ono and John Lennon moved to New York, to a flat on Bank Street, Greenwich Village.
87.
In 1973, after she had been working with the couple for three years, Ono confided that she and John Lennon were becoming estranged.
88.
In Los Angeles, Pang encouraged John Lennon to develop regular contact with Julian, whom he had not seen for two years.
89.
John Lennon rekindled friendships with Starr, McCartney, Beatles roadie Mal Evans, and Harry Nilsson.
90.
John Lennon, who had been inhibited by Ono in this regard, began to reestablish contact with other relatives and friends.
91.
When Pang telephoned the next day, Ono told her that John Lennon was unavailable because he was exhausted after a hypnotherapy session.
92.
Two days later, John Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment; he was stupefied and confused to such an extent that Pang believed he had been brainwashed.
93.
John Lennon told Pang that his separation from Ono was now over, although Ono would allow him to continue seeing her as his mistress.
94.
When Ono and John Lennon were reunited, she became pregnant again.
95.
John Lennon initially said that she wanted to have an abortion but changed her mind and agreed to allow the pregnancy to continue on the condition that Lennon adopt the role of househusband, which he agreed to do.
96.
John Lennon had a photographer take pictures of Sean every day of his first year and created numerous drawings for him, which were posthumously published as Real Love: The Drawings for Sean.
97.
John Lennon was initially close to Harrison, but the two drifted apart after Lennon moved to the US in 1971.
98.
When Harrison was in New York for his December 1974 Dark Horse tour, John Lennon agreed to join him on stage but failed to appear after an argument over John Lennon's refusal to sign an agreement that would finally dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership.
99.
John Lennon took notice when McCartney released "Coming Up" in 1980, which was the year John Lennon returned to the studio.
100.
That same year, John Lennon was asked whether the group were dreaded enemies or the best of friends, and he replied that they were neither, and that he had not seen any of them in a long time.
101.
In 2000, David Shayler, a former member of Britain's domestic security service MI5, suggested that John Lennon had given money to the IRA, though this was swiftly denied by Ono.
102.
However, the FBI considered John Lennon to have limited effectiveness as a revolutionary, as he was "constantly under the influence of narcotics".
103.
John Lennon's last act of political activism was a statement in support of the striking minority sanitation workers in San Francisco on 5 December 1980.
104.
John Lennon spent the next three-and-a-half years in and out of deportation hearings until 8 October 1975, when a court of appeals barred the deportation attempt, stating "the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds".
105.
On 23 March 1973, John Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days.
106.
The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on John Lennon, but refused to release most of them on the grounds that they contained national security information.
107.
Beatles biographer Bill Harry wrote that John Lennon began drawing and writing creatively at an early age with the encouragement of his uncle.
108.
John Lennon collected his stories, poetry, cartoons and caricatures in a Quarry Bank High School exercise book that he called the Daily Howl.
109.
In 1967, John Lennon, who had attended art school, funded and anonymously participated in Ono's art exhibition Half-A-Room that was held at Lisson Gallery.
110.
John Lennon's You Are Here show included sixty charity collection boxes, a pair of John Lennon's shoes with a sign that read "I take my shoes off to you", a ready made black bike, an overturned white hat labeled For The Artist, and a large glass jar full of free-to-take you are here white pin badges.
111.
John Lennon made whimsical drawings and fine art prints on occasion until the end of his life.
112.
For example, John Lennon exhibited at Eugene Schuster's London Arts Gallery his Bag One lithographs in an exhibition that included several depicting erotic imagery.
113.
In 1969, John Lennon appeared in the Yoko Ono Fluxus art film Self-Portrait that was premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
114.
In 1971, John Lennon made an experimental art film called Erection that was edited on 16 mm film by George Maciunas, founder of the Fluxus art movement and avant-garde contemporary of Ono.
115.
John Lennon played a mouth organ during a bus journey to visit his cousin in Scotland; the music caught the driver's ear.
116.
John Lennon would continue to play the harmonica, often using the instrument during the Beatles' Hamburg years, and it became a signature sound in the group's early recordings.
117.
John Lennon's mother taught him how to play the banjo, later buying him an acoustic guitar.
118.
Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas claimed that since his Beatle days John Lennon habitually tuned his D-string slightly flat, so his Aunt Mimi could tell which guitar was his on recordings.
119.
John Lennon continues to be mourned throughout the world and has been the subject of numerous memorials and tributes.
120.
John Lennon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire with the other Beatles in 1965, but returned his medal in 1969 because of "Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts".
121.
John Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.