THIS DAY IN HISTORY – John Lennon shot – 1980

Via History.com

John Lennon: I was there the day he died - BBC News

Newspapers.com - These shocking newspaper headlines report the murder of John Lennon. On December 8, 1980, the former Beatles member was shot outside his New York apartment by an obsessed fan. Lennon

John Lennon is Shot - HISTORY

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.

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.

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.

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27 Comments
The Central Scrutinizer
The Central Scrutinizer
December 8, 2022 6:20 am

Imagine there’s no Lennon. It’s easy if you try!

No Pinkos or Commies. Above us only chem trails.

We’re all gonna die!

august
august
  The Central Scrutinizer
December 9, 2022 11:58 pm

>>>We’re all gonna die!

Last Saturday one of my neighbors shot and killed another neighbor, for about as good a reason as Chapman had for shooting Lennon.

Life goes on, much as it ever has, until it doesn’t.

Anonymous
Anonymous
December 8, 2022 7:20 am

“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.” ― John Lennon

Let us recall that John was a rough and tumble street fighting “Teddy boy” at first.

Why Lemmy Preferred the Beatles to the Rolling Stones
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/emmy-beatles-rolling-stones/#:~:text=They%20went%20to%20starve%20in,for%20songs%2C%20not%20for%20presentation.

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 7:46 am
Anonymous
Anonymous
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 10:13 am

Lemmy was awesome

The night before he died, i had this dream, satan was sitting with lemmy and said “thanks for doing my song”
I woke that morning to hear lemmy was dead

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 10:56 am
AKJOHN
AKJOHN
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 3:30 pm

Great story. Someone called John a queer. He came off the stage and kicked there ass. Nowadays, they would be canceled and probably thrown in jail.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran
December 8, 2022 8:50 am

I gained some respect for Lennon after this clip came out where he took Jagger to task. “I think Mick’s a joke with all that fag dancing.”

Boogie
Boogie
  Iska Waran
December 8, 2022 9:37 am

Sour grapes. The Stones became a new genre of music that took a lot of Beatles fans in a new direction. The fabs couldn’t keep their shit together and work like a group of musicians first. The Stones make one type of Rock and Roll and the Beatles another and yes, Micks a fag.

Synonymous
Synonymous
December 8, 2022 9:53 am

Paul McCartney’s music after the breakup was superior in every way, not sure how one can say that Lennon was half the talent.

Cedartown Mark
Cedartown Mark
  Synonymous
December 8, 2022 10:28 am

Paul is dead.

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Cedartown Mark
December 8, 2022 10:53 am

Billy Shears is alive. Goo goo gajoob.

Hollowpoint
Hollowpoint
  Cedartown Mark
December 8, 2022 4:54 pm

Paul died in the fall of 1966. His replacement was already being groomed to be a double and his name is William Shepard who was a fine musician that turned out to be better than Paul by far. BTW, the Beatles were just singers, like the Monkees who came later. Someone else wrote most if not all the songs, and studio musicians played for the albums.

august
august
  Hollowpoint
December 10, 2022 12:01 am

Next thing you’re going to say is that ‘Murcans never went to the Moon.

DS
DS
  Cedartown Mark
December 8, 2022 10:00 pm
Captain_Obviuos
Captain_Obviuos
  Synonymous
December 8, 2022 2:46 pm

Amazing how George Harrison still gets marginalized after all these years.

All Things Must Pass was the best of all the post-Beatles solo albums by far. He had other solo albums just as good as the others. He was every bit as competent as John and Paul, just not his style to be flashy (tell me that “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” were not the best songs on Abbey Road).

John and Paul were the brains, but George and Ringo were the heart and soul.

Anonymous
Anonymous
December 8, 2022 10:11 am

Good riddance

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 10:54 am

Fuck you.

Boogie
Boogie
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 11:14 am

Me, myself and Irene

Iggy
Iggy
December 8, 2022 10:55 am

The day he was shot a girl I knew Rachael Romano was crying ,I asked her what was wrong she said John Lennon was shot. I said “who the hell is John Lennon ?”lol .

Anonymous
Anonymous
  Iggy
December 8, 2022 10:58 am

Fuck you.

Iggy
Iggy
  Anonymous
December 8, 2022 12:30 pm

You’re a little hostile what did I say I really didn’t know who he was.

Boogie
Boogie
  Iggy
December 8, 2022 11:13 am

Music was okay, musician communist as fuck. The pioneers of the fag world we live in today.

WilliamtheResolute
WilliamtheResolute
December 8, 2022 12:18 pm

I wasn’t a fan…but, I’m sure the IC sent one of their MKUltra windup toys to do the hit. The Intelligence agencies, are really a small, evil and fearful group…with extraordinary power.

Pablo
Pablo
December 8, 2022 12:48 pm

Me in school the next day “One down, three to go!!!”

Anonymous
Anonymous
December 8, 2022 7:12 pm

He gave us Yoko Onoooooo! Enough said.

Anonymous
Anonymous
December 8, 2022 7:15 pm

Of all the women in the world and he chooses Yoko? What the hell?