John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police. For a week, hundreds of bereaved fans kept a vigil outside the Dakota–Lennon’s apartment building–and demonstrations of mourning were held around the world.
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John Lennon was one half of the singing-songwriting team that made the Beatles the most popular musical group of the 20th century. The other band leader was Paul McCartney, but the rest of the quartet–George Harrison and Ringo Starr–sometimes penned and sang their own songs as well. Hailing from Liverpool, England, and influenced by early American rock and roll, the Beatles took Britain by storm in 1963 with the single “Please Please Me.” “Beatlemania” spread to the United States in 1964 with the release of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” followed by a sensational U.S. tour. With youth poised to break away from the culturally rigid landscape of the 1950s, the “Fab Four,” with their exuberant music and good-natured rebellion, were the perfect catalyst for the shift.
The Beatles sold millions of records and starred in hit movies such as A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Their live performances were near riots, with teenage girls screaming and fainting as their boyfriends nodded along to the catchy pop songs. In 1966, the Beatles gave up touring to concentrate on their innovative studio recordings, such as 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, a psychedelic concept album that is regarded as a masterpiece of popular music. The Beatles’ music remained relevant to youth throughout the great cultural shifts of the 1960s, and critics of all ages acknowledged the songwriting genius of the Lennon-McCartney team.
Lennon was considered the intellectual Beatle and certainly was the most outspoken of the four. He caused a major controversy in 1966 when he declared that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” prompting mass burnings of Beatles’ records in the American Bible Belt. He later became an anti-war activist and flirted with communism in the lyrics of solo hits like “Imagine,” recorded after the Beatles disbanded in 1970. In 1975, Lennon dropped out of the music business to spend more time with his Japanese-born wife, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean. In 1980, he made a comeback with Double-Fantasy, a critically acclaimed album that celebrated his love for Yoko and featured songs written by her.
On December 8, 1980, their peaceful domestic life on New York’s Upper West Side was shattered by 25-year-old Mark David Chapman. Psychiatrists deemed Chapman a borderline psychotic. He was instructed to plead insanity, but instead he pleaded guilty to murder. He was sentenced to 20 years to life. In 2000, New York State prison officials denied Chapman a parole hearing, telling him that his “vicious and violent act was apparently fueled by your need to be acknowledged.” He remains behind bars at Attica Prison in New York State.
John Lennon is memorialized in “Strawberry Fields,” a section of Central Park across the street from the Dakota that Yoko Ono landscaped in honor of her husband.
I think I was watching an evening NFL football game when Howard Cosell broke in and said Lennon had been killed. Floored me.
“We’re more popular than Jesus” was a remark made by the Beatles’ John Lennon during a 1966 interview, in which he argued that Christianity would end before rock music.
How did that work out for you, Mr. Lennon?
Looks like it’s working just fine for him by this account:
http://mileswmathis.com/lennon.pdf
like it says in one of the pictures: The pattern of the veins matches…
or maybe someone has thousands of hours to stir the pot with this research.
The PDF won’t open on my tablet. So, I don’t know what point you’re making. May I point out …
1. Lennon is DEAD
2. Christianity has not ended
3. The Beatles were NEVER more popular than Jesus
In other words, things didn’t work out so well for him.
The pretty long PDF points out that Lennon is not dead. He is making a living from selling his own memorabilia. Just like the book I read last year about Faul McCartney:
The Life and Death of Paul McCartney 1942 – 1966: A very English Mystery Paperback – September 11, 2015
by Nicholas Kollerstrom
It points out that Paul really died and the false Paul took his place. It is readily observable by looking at photos of Paul and Faul with his then wife.
Just another story that people bought hook, line and sinker. But of course Christianity is alive. Even without historical evidence in the most documented time in the Roman empire. I am still waiting for my lifelong friend, a catholic deacon to show me proof outside of the NT.
” Then, the worm has certainly turned for you, man.”
A lucky man who made the grade?
Interesting take ….
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During his lifetime, he became one of the most controversial figures in popular culture, effecting not just how people listen to music, but how many view religion and faith. But a recently discovered interview with the late Beatles frontman John Lennon indicates the singer’s real views about Jesus and Christianity. The interview, which was unearthed two weeks ago, took place in 1969 for a segment on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation show before getting lost in studio obscuirty for nearly 40 years.
Lennon’s views on Christianity first came into focus when he made his infamous 1966 proclamation that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” The statement drew scorn and boycotts like nothing rock ‘n roll had seen before. Christians decried Lennon and his band, blasting the audacity of such an irreverent statement. But, according to the interview, irreverence wasn’t the singer’s intention. And, as it turns out, he was actually really interested in Jesus.
“It’s just an expression meaning the Beatles seem to me to have more influence over youth than Christ,” he said in the interview. “Now I wasn’t saying that was a good idea, ‘cos I’m one of Christ’s biggest fans. And if I can turn the focus on the Beatles on to Christ’s message, then that’s what we’re here to do.”
He went on to express how he felt many Christians seemed to be very “uptight” and even hypocritical for not allowing him to marry Yoko Ono in church because he had been divorced. He said that his original distaste for church first came at a young age, when he was kicked out for giggling. But, in the interview, Lennon said that his feelings only extended to the organized church, not Jesus Himself.
“If the Beatles get on the side of Christ, which they always were, and let people know that, then maybe the churches won’t be full, but there’ll be a lot of Christians dancing in the dance halls. Whatever they celebrate, God and Christ, I don’t think it matters as long as they’re aware of Him and His message,” his voice says on the unearthed recording.
And though this is the first time many Beatles fans have heard this particular conversation, Lennon’s interest in Christ was no secret in the early ‘70s. In his book, The Gospel According to the Beatles, writer Steve Turner said that there was a period in his life when the world’s most famous songwriter deeply wanted to know who Jesus was.According to the book, in an effort to escape the chaos of public life, Lennon would often retreat to television and became a regular viewer of the era’s most influential evangelists including Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and even Pat Robertson.
In 1972, Lennon even took part in a written correspondence with Roberts, in which he apologized and further explained his statement about being “bigger” than God. The Beatles frontman, who had experimented with a variety of drugs and spiritual ideas wrote this to Roberts:
“The point is this, I want happiness. I don’t want to keep on with drugs. Paul told me once, ‘You made fun of me for taking drugs, but you will regret it in the end.’ Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of hell.”
Oral Roberts sent him a long response, giving him a copy of his book Miracle of Seed Faith and a detailed explanation of God’s love for him.
Five years later, in 1977, Lennon became deeply moved by NBC’s broadcast of the movie Jesus of Nazareth and told his friends that he had become a born-again Christian. A week after seeing the film, Lennon returned to church on Easter Sunday with his wife Yoko and son Sean in tow.
It was during this time that Lennon even penned several Christian songs (“Talking with Jesus” and “Amen”), and according to Turner’s book, even called The 700 Club prayer line.
The change in his life disturbed his wife Yoko Ono, who pulled her husband away from his new religion, and eventually, after months of isolation in Tokyo, Lennon found his life going in a dark direction, and ended up abandoning his faith and retreating into New Age practice and further searching. Before he was murdered in 1980, Lennon embraced a universalistic belief of religion and no longer seemed interested in his born-again lifestyle.
Although the new interview doesn’t change what we know about John Lennon at the end of his life, it does shed some light on what help developed his view of Christianity in the first place. It wasn’t confusion about theology or the nature of God. It wasn’t the pull of a conflicting lifestyle. According to Lennon, it was Christians who made him not want to be a part of the church.
Many unbelievers (and believers for that matter) could say that some Christians can be “hypocrites” and “uptight” and may even be responsible for turning people away from church. But that shouldn’t be a discouragement. Rather, it should be an encouragement to prove them wrong.
No one is perfect, and we can’t undo the actions of others (even when they are well-intentioned fellow believers), but we can change people’s perspectives by being the change. Reading between the lines of scripture shows that Jesus was pretty good at that. Even His own disciples couldn’t figure out what He was going to do next. Whether it was healing on the Sabbath (a major taboo in religious circles), dining with sinners or preaching messages of love and forgiveness, Christ didn’t always please the religious establishment of His day.
But He wasn’t out to ruffle feathers and just change people’s minds. He was out to change hearts.
Christ wanted people to see that God desired a personal relationship, and wanted His church to reflect His passion for loving others. Though God is perfect, we (Christians who make up the church) are often victims of our own imperfection. But, as the apostle John noted, a key to becoming effective in reaching the lost is this prayer: “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30, NIV).
So whether it’s an artist looking for answers like John Lennon in the early ‘70s, an “uptight” fellow Christian who is focused more on church rules than Christ’s love, or just an unbelieving neighbor who may have had their own bad experience with church, showing the real message of Christ (and a genuine picture of His Body, the church), a little bit of truth can go a long way.
Thank you Stucky for a very nice and humble comment.
Thanks.
I have no idea why I got 3 thumbs down. Even the nice article about Lennon’s faith got a down vote. SMH.
To Subwo — thanks for following up with a summary of the PDF. Lennon is still alive? Huh!! Helluva conspiracy!