John Lennon was shot and killed outside the apartment block where he lived on December 8th People all around the world felt a terrible loss.

They had grown up with this man's music, and everything he had done had affected their lives. Now it was all over.

The group he had formed, The Beatles, had changed pop music forever.

From their first single, 'Love Me Do', in 1962, people heard something different to the usual pop music of the time

Their songs seemed more musical than others, and more exciting than the kind of thing most artists were then recording.

The Beatles also looked nicer than anyone else. Many more people began to listen to pop music than before. A hysteria that the newspapers called 'Beatlemania' swept Britain and soon America.

John Lennon was born in Liverpool on October 9th 1940, and formed his first group when he was still at school. He certainly took more interest in music than he did in schoolwork. His report books can still be read and are full of angry comments by his teachers

In 1956 he met Paul McCartney, and McCartney joined Lennon's group, The Quarry Men. The two began to compose songs together, and it was these songs that drew people's attention to them.

But their first professional concerts were in Hamburg, Germany, and it was here that they perfected their sound.

They had to play night after night, and by the end of their two years there, they had become an exciting band to watch.

Lennon was always the rebel (бунтарь) and made an impressive figure on stage.

When they moved back to Liverpool, they began to play at the Cavern Club, where all the new bands were playing.

But their songs and their professionalism set them apart. They acquired a manager, Brian Epstein, who gave them a new 'clean' image.

He tried to get them a record company deal, but at first no one would take them on.

Finally it was a small label, Parlophone, who released 'Love Me Do', a Lennon- McCartney composition.

Their next single, 'Please Please Me' reached number one in March When the media focused on the new group, it soon became obvious that Lennon was not like other pop stars.

His answers to reporters' questions showed an unusual intelligence and wit.

His character soon shone out: he always kept his rebellious streak (бунтарский дух), and hated pretension притворство). He was never quite comfortable with the Beatles' 'nice' image.

In fact it was Lennon who began to break away from this image, and change the public perception of the Beatles. His remarks began to offend (обижать) some people. His and McCartney's music changed and became more 'psychedelic' under the effect of drugs.

The Beatles grew beards (бороды) and long hair. They were no longer those four clean-cut young men that even parents liked.

In 1966, Lennon met Japanese artist Yoko Ono. She was not beautiful in the glamorous way many of the Beatles' followers were, but he fell in love with her. To his surprise he found he loved listening to her views on art, and admired her independence.

She brought something new to his life, and soon he found there was more he wanted to do on his own, or with Yoko, than he wanted to do with the Beatles.

In 1968 he told the other Beatles of his decision to leave, although the real split (разрыв) did not come until 1971, when Paul McCartney also decided their partnership should end.

Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969.

Of all the former Beatles, Lennon made the most promising start as a solo artist. In 1971 he recorded the song by which most people remember him, 'Imagine'. But in 1975 he stopped making records.

For a while he and Yoko separated, partly, because of the problems he was having with drugs and alcohol, but eventually he settled down with her again in New York.

He devoted himself to looking after their son, Sean - becoming a 'house husband' while Yoko was the 'power wife', going out to work.

But John and Yoko were together for good now, even looking forward to old age together.

He also spent time trying to become an American citizen, something which was difficult because of his drugs convictions (зависимость) and unpopularity with the government.

In 1980 he released a new album that celebrated their lives, Double Fantasy and it, and the single 'Just Like Starting Over' seemed to signal a new, positive phase in both his private life and in his musical career.

But that came to its end too soon on the street outside his home in December 1980.

Автор презентации Мусатова Надежда Альбертовна, МОУ «Лицей 2» г. Камень-на-Оби