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Essay / The Life and Legacy of John Lennon
John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940. His full name was John Winston Lennon, but when he was a teenager he was called "Teddy Boy." His parents' names were Alfred Lennon and Julia. Stanley. His parents divorced because Julia was having affairs with another man and became pregnant while her husband was at work, leading John to live with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. While he lived with his Aunt Mimi, his mother visited him regularly and encouraged John's musical interests, even though Aunt Mimi was against them. John wasn't very confident with his nose because he thought it was too big growing up. The first instrument he learned to play was the harmonica. He went to Dovedale Primary School and then attended Quarry Bank Secondary School from 1952 to 1957. John was very inspired musically by Elvis Presley and at the age of 16 he formed a band called The Quarrymen, whom he named after his high school, but his aunt Mimi doubted John would become anything just by playing guitar. He met Paul McCartney at a church festival in 1957 and asked him to join the Quarrymen. Paul introduced George Harrison to John Lennon the following year and George eventually joined The Quarrymen with indispensable drummer Pete Best. The Quarrymen often practiced in the bathroom and John stood shoeless in the bathtub. John's mother, Julia, was killed after being punched by an off-duty police officer in 1958, when John was just 17 years old. The death of his mother traumatized him for a long time. John later develops a fear of being abandoned. He was a troublemaker at high school and failed all his GCE O level exams. He possessed astonishing artistic ability, applied at several art schools and he was accepted into Liverpool College of Arts. He failed his exam and was expelled from the university. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Beatles are the main reason for Lennon's popularity and fame. They were “greater than Jesus”. The band was formed in 1963, although JOhn, George and Paul had been together and played concerts with Pete. But later he was introduced to Richard Starkey “Ringo”. JOhn and Paul wrote songs like "Come Together", "You've got to hide your love away", "Happiness is a warm gun", "I am the Walrus", "Help", etc. The Beatles were a big part of John's life, he spent 8 years performing and writing songs for his band 'The Beatles'. The Beatles were becoming very difficult to work with each other, so they eventually broke up but started their own musical careers. John met a woman named Cynthia Powell at a college party and asked her to "go out" with him. Cynthia was engaged but ended the engagement to be with John. They began a relationship, but later John's jealousy caused him to react violently and abusively towards her. One incident, John was jealous and Cynthia danced with another guy which resulted in him slapping her in the face which resulted in her hitting her head against the wall. They ended the relationship for 3 months but resumed the relationship after John apologized. People suggested that she should stay out of the relationship due to abusive behavior. They were married on August 23, 1962, John was 21 and Cynthia was 22. The marriage remained discreet. Cynthia became pregnant with John and had their son Julian (named after John's mother) on April 8, 1963. John was not good at being a parent with Julian and wasn't really there for him. John and Cynthia eventually divorced,because John had become very drunk and admitted to having an affair with another woman. He claimed to have seen thousands of women all over the world. She found him and Yoko Ono sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking into each other's eyes. She also found Yoko's slippers outside JOhn's bedroom door. Cynthia filed for divorce on August 22, 1968. Her divorce petition was granted almost 3 months later. Yoko and John had met at an art show.Gallery in 1966, later they started an affair as John was still married to Cynthia Lennon. After John and Cynthia divorced, Yoko and John immediately became a public relationship. They married on March 20, 1970, and had a son together named Sean Lennon. They were both anti-war activists. They even spent two weeks in bed to protest the Vietnam War. It was a belief that John beat Ono, like in Domestic Violence. John believed Yoko brought out the best in him, the old and younger John he used to be. John had started bringing Yoko to the studio where they were practicing, the band members and staff were rude and cold towards Yoko, which made John bitter, as he was obsessed with her. Yoko and John released 360 white helium balloons to announce their engagement, even though they weren't completely divorced at the time. Each balloon contained a message encouraging people to write to John at an art gallery. John and Yoko ended up releasing an album called "Unfinished Music NO.1: Two Virgins". The album caused a lot of controversy as the two were photographed completely naked. They photographed nude from the front for the album cover and a photo from behind for the end of the album. Some thought the album was pornographic. Police knocked on the windows showing the warrant and entered through the window looking for illegal drugs, which they found and fined Lennon for possession of illegal substances. Yoko had a miscarriage and John stayed with her 24/7 while she was in the hospital. When everything calmed down after the arrest and miscarriage, John had become an anti-war activist. They were married on March 20, 1969, on an island called Gibraltar, then flew to Paris for their honeymoon. They organized several anti-war and other trips. After three miscarriages, John and Yoko were rewarded with a child on October 9, 1972, Sean Taro Ono Lennon. The date was John's 32nd birthday. They separated in October 1973. They became upset after having a relationship with a woman he called "the lost weekend that lasted eighteen months." John and Yoko eventually got back together until John Lennon was murdered. John Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980. Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon, was mentally disturbed and was tormented for years by voices he believed to be God and the Devil. He had read an article in a magazine about John Lennon which described him as an imposter. Chapman was reading the book Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger at the time, the book is obsessed with protecting children and eliminating deception. He dreamed of shooting people he didn't like. Chapman armed himself with a handgun and flew to New York. He rents a hotel room near the Dakota and goes looking for John Lennon. A photographer showed Lennon to Chapman. Chapman asked Lennon to sign the album and he did so. Chapman hung out at the entrance to the Dakota and chatted with the doormen for hours. Lennon and Ono got out of their car and Chapman followed them towards the door, he pulled out his five-shot gun and fired several shots but only two were successful..