John Lennon. The info from our video.

John Lennon was an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the band The Beatles. He became involved in his first band, The Quarrymen, when he was a teenager which eventually evolved into The Beatles in 1960. After The Beatles, Lennon took off on his own and began a solo career that produced the albums "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine", with songs such as "Give Peace a Change" and "Imagine". After he got married to Yoko Ono (1969), he officially changed his name to John Ono Lennon; and in 1975 he left the music business to devote his time to his newborn son Sean. In 1980 he came back with his new album "Double Fantasy", and was murdered three weeks later by a former Beatles fan who was upset about the band's break up. He used his music to reveal his rebellious nature, clever wit, creative writing, and his political and peace activism.
His mother, Julia, was constantly drifting in and out of his life throughout his childhood, and so he was raised by his mothers sister, Mimi, and Mimi's husband, George. Mimi and George died in a car accident when Lennon was 17 which left him very lonely. His father too, was not around because he walked out of the family when Lennon was just a small infant. When Lennon became famous by The Beatles, his father returned. Lennon struggled with abandonment throughout his life which could be why he turned it around to be a positive event and spread peace, love, and happiness. A lot of his songs are clearly about his feeling he has about his parents, for example, the song "Mother".

"It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. You'd wake up in a concert and think, Wow, how did I get here?" - John Lennon

His song "Give Peace a Chance" remains the anthem for the anti-war movement because of the message the song has. Lennon was a very passionate peace activist and he did everything in his power to spread the word of peace and love. He encouraged people to see each other as equal and to dissolve all differences between everybody.

"It was just a gradual development over the years. Last year was "All You Need Is Love." This year it's "Give Peace a Chance." Remember love. The only hope for any of us is peace. Violence begets violence. If you want to get peace, you can get it as soon as you like if we all pull together. You're all geniuses and you're all beautiful. You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace. Think peace, live peace, and breathe peace and you'll get it as soon as you like. Okay?" - John Lennon

Why is he popular?
Lennon was a founding member of The Beatles and was also one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of music.He, and Paul McCartney, formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. Not only did he form the greatest band of all time, The Beatles, but he also carried on after that to have a very successful solo career. His way of thinking was that his life was a work of art, and every action he makes should have some sort of meaning for the world. Everybody knew him as the "gentle prince of peace".

"I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding."  -John Lennon

Imagine Song- John Lennon 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwUGSYDKUxU

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people sharing all the world

You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Song Analysis:

Imagine was issued as a single a month after John Lennon’s album was released. The album, titled Imagine was released in America in 1971 and in the UK in 1975. It is one of the most influential songs of all time. In its time of release it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top 100 hits, and reached number 1 in Canada staying there for 2 weeks. In ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ Rolling Stone ranked Imagine the 3rd. Following Lennon’s murder in 1980 the song re-entered the charts and was number 1 for four weeks in January of 1981. This song has been covered several times by several different singers, from a short time after its release and is even still being covered to this day. This song was known for being very inspirational and John Lennon was quoted in an interview saying “It’s not a new message; ‘Give Peace a Chance’- we’re not being unreasonable. Just saying ‘give it a chance.’ With ‘Imagine’ we’re asking ‘can you imagine a world without countries or religions?’ It’s the same message over and over. And it’s positive”. We think that this is a very inspirational song for the ages and it does send a very positive message. This is portrayed in the lyrics “You, you may say. I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us. And the world will live as one” This, or something to this affect is repeated twice throughout the song, when he wrote this he really wanted to reinforce the idea of peace and we think that, that is the main message he wanted people to get from the song. This song was proven to be one of the greatest songs of all times, simply for the fact that it has lasted through all the years and has been covered by several of the greatest artists of our times and has been covered on the popular TV show Glee. The song was recently covered by Cee Lo Green, at the 2011-12 new years ceremony in Times Square. Immediately following people were outraged when he changed the famous words from “Nothing to kill or die for, and no religions too” to “Nothing to kill or die for, and all religions true”. Saying that he changed the meaning of the song when he changed the lyrics.      

Who was his influence?

John Lennon was influenced by several people of his time. Even though his songs were all very original and he was a creative person in his own right he did take a lot of his ideas from other people. There were eight main people who were said to have influenced him tremendously. 

The first was none other than “King of Rock and Roll” himself, Elvis Presley. “Nothing really affected me untill Elvis,” John said. The first song that John heard of Elvis’s was “Heartbreak Hotel”, this song was said to have been the first to open his eyes to the true power of rock and roll. He was just 16 years old when he heard it. John even started modeling himself after Presley, stepping out in an Elvis inspired hairstyle, sideburns, extra tight jeans and crepe-soled shoes. He even copied the long Edwardian-style drape coats that were famous to the rock and roll era. Lennon was inspired by Elvis Presley from the very beginning and this influence lasted until the very end. 

Another influence on John was Chuck Berry. Chuck Berry is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the ‘pioneers’ of rock and roll. Lennon was influenced greatly by him and once was famously quoted as saying “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’.” Lennon covered many of Chuck Berry’s songs including, “Rock and Roll Music” and “You Can’t Catch Me”. 

An influence on John Lennon was Paul McCartney. Famously these two were known for being in the band “The Beatles” together. They were also really good friends. Paul McCartney’s melodic skills posed a big challenge for Lennon as a writer, this, in turn, made him a better songwriter. 

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." - John Lennon