http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos-dDxpJlQ
John Lennon was born on 9th October 1940 in Liverpool, England, and was murdered on 8th December 1980 in New York, USA.
He was a British composer-songwriter, singer, guitarist, artist and writer, actor, film maker, and a civil-rights and peace activist. He was a member of the famous 60s group the Beatles. Lennon wrote most of the songs of the group with Paul McCartney; they became the most influential songwriters of the history of Rock, writing over 200 songs.
As a teenager growing up in Liverpool he was influenced by Skiffle and Rock 'n' Roll. In 1956 he set up the Quarrymen, which evolved to become, with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles. The Beatles became the biggest phenomenon of sound recording history, introducing numerous musical innovations and mixing genres and influences. Lennon was central to this popular success, composing a good many of the group’s hit songs.
The members of the group parted in the early 70's. John Lennon started a solo career, inspired by his wife Yoko Ono, a cutting edge Japanese artist. Ono and Lennon were always in the media.
In 1971, John Lennon composed one of his most powerful songs: Imagine. The album of the same name was his biggest solo commercial success. Lennon withdrew from public activity in 1975 to take care of his family. He resumed his career in 1980, a few weeks before being murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of his home.
Besides his music, Lennon is also famous for his pacifist activities, from the end of the 1960s. His opposition to the Vietnam War got him into trouble with the government of the United States, who tried to expel him.
He was one of the most popular artists of the twentieth century and remains popular today, thirty years after its death. Every 8th December, there is a John Lennon commemoration in New York; several memorials have been set up in his honor worldwide.
John Lennon is, for me, a great European because he embodies what Europe is about: peace and creative genius.
Article by Hélène Rombaut
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