John Lennon

O Lennon was born in war-time England, on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital, to Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman of Irish descent, who was away at the time of his son's birth John Winston Lennon, (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980)

O Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence he lived with his aunt and uncle, Mimi and George Smith, who had no children of their own

O Lennon was raised as an Anglican and attended Dovedale Primary School. From September 1952 to 1957, after passing his Eleven-Plus exam, he attended Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool, and was described by Harvey at the time as, "A happy-go-lucky, good-humoured, easy going, lively lad."

O His mother bought him his first guitar in She hoped he would grow bored with music, often telling him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it". O On 15 July 1958, when Lennon was 17 years old, his mother, walking home after visiting the Smiths' house, was struck by a car and killed.

O Lennon failed all his GCE O-level examinations, and was accepted into the Liverpool College of Artonly after his aunt and headmaster intervened. O He failed an annual exam, despite help from fellow student and future wife Cynthia Powell, and was "thrown out of the college before his final year".

O At age 15, Lennon formed the skiffle group, the Quarrymen. Named after Quarry Bank High School, the group was established by him in September By the summer of 1957, the Quarrymen played a "spirited set of songs" made up of half skiffle and half rock and roll. Lennon first met Paul McCartney at the Quarrymen's second performance, held in Woolton on 6 July, after which he asked McCartney to join the band.

O McCartney suggested his friend George Harrison as the lead guitarist. O Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend from art school, later joined as bassist. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Sutcliffe became "The Beatles" in early 1960.

O The Beatles achieved mainstream success in the UK during the beginning of Lennon was on tour when his first son, Julian, was born in April. O After a year of Beatlemania in the UK, the group's historic February 1964 US debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marked their breakthrough to international stardom.

O Deprived of the routine of live performances after their final commercial concert on 29 August 1966, Lennon felt lost and considered leaving the band. Since his involuntary introduction to LSD, he had made increasing use of the drug, and was almost constantly under its influence for much of 1967.

O Lennon left the Beatles in September 1969, [ and agreed not to inform the media while the group renegotiated their recording contract, but he was outraged that McCartney publicised his own departure on releasing his debut solo album in April Lennon's reaction was, "Jesus Christ! He gets all the credit for it!" He later wrote, "I started the band. I disbanded it. It's as simple as that."

O Until the summer of 1974 Lennon was almost inactive, and to start recording a new album in August he had ready only one song. In October 1974 a new album was released under the name «Walls And Bridges». A year later he was released «Rock'n'Roll», an album of songs that The Beatles were singing before the arrival of Fame.

O With the birth of his second son Sean on 9 October 1975, Lennon took on the role of househusband, beginning what would be a five-year hiatus from the music industry during which he gave all his attention to his family.

O t around 10:50 pm on 8 December 1980, as Lennon and Ono returned to their New York apartment in the Dakota, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance to the building. Lennon was taken to the emergency room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:00 pm. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman.

O As of 2012, Lennon's solo album sales in the United States exceeded 14 million and, as writer, co-writer, or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. O In 2002, a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth and, in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth- greatest singer of all time