Biography of John Lennon

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. The early Lennon-Ono records (and films and performance events) were experimental in nature, but as Lennon turned to recording as a solo performer, his work was more accessible to pop audiences, though his lyrical concerns were frequently political or scathingly personal. His first formal solo album was John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band in 1970, and he followed this with Imagine (1971), Sometime in New York City (1972), Mind Games (1973), Walls & Bridges (1974), and Rock & Roll (1975). Most of his recordings sold well, with Walls & Bridges topping the charts along with its single, "Whatever Gets You through the Night."Lennon, who had separated from Ono in 1973, was reconciled with her in 1975 and thereafter retired from music to raise their son Sean. He and Ono re-emerged with the album Double Fantasy in 1980, and had plans for further recordings and performances at the time he was assassinated. ~ William Ruhlmann