John Lennon, an eternal icon of music and pop culture, continues to fascinate and inspire fans around the world. Born in Liverpool in 1940, Lennon became one of the co-founders of The Beatles, one of the most influential bands of all time. His undeniable talent for songwriting and his charismatic personality distinguished him not only in music but also in the fight for peace and social justice.
In addition to his musical career, Lennon was involved in revolutionary projects and activism that shaped the thinking of a generation. His life, marked by artistic innovations and a constant search for a better world, is full of curiosities ranging from his contributions to pop psychology to his personal eccentricities.
In this text, we will explore surprising facts about John Lennon that reveal the lasting impact of his life and work.
1 – JOHN WAS ABANDONED BY HIS PARENTS
John Lennon had a childhood marked by emotional challenges. Born in Liverpool in 1940, Lennon was abandoned by his father, Alfred Lennon, when he was still very young. His father, a merchant sailor, left the family when John was only five years old, which had a profound impact on the future Beatle’s life.
After his father’s departure, John was raised by his mother. Some time later, John’s father returned, wanting to take his son away, but John chose to stay with his mother, Julia Lennon. However, when she entered into a relationship with a man who did not accept John, she left him with her sister, Aunt Mimi, a very strict woman, but one whom John loved and respected greatly.
In other words, John was not raised by either his father or his mother during his life.
Later, in 1971, he composed a song about this trauma: “Mother”, which went:
“Mother, you had me
But I never had you
I, I wanted you
You didn’t want me
Father, you left me
But I never left you
I needed you
You didn’t need me
So, I
I just got to tell you
Goodbye”
2 – THE EARLY DEATH OF HIS MOTHER
John Lennon was not raised by his mother, but she would visit him to teach him how to play guitar. On one of these visits, while she was leaving, she was struck by a car and died in 1958, when John was 18 years old.
In other words, she never saw her son become famous, as The Beatles released their first album only in 1963.
3 – ICONIC AND BANNED MUSIC
John Lennon’s most iconic solo song, “Imagine”, is often not allowed at funerals in Great Britain. There, priests and ministers have the authority to ban songs they consider “inappropriate”.
The part of the lyrics leading to the rejection of “Imagine” is the line where Lennon sings “imagine there’s no Heaven”.
4 – THE BEST COVER
The iconic Rolling Stone magazine cover showing John Lennon naked in a fetal position, embracing Yoko Ono, was chosen as the best magazine cover of all time.
The vote was conducted by the American Society of Magazine Editors, which reviewed 450 covers from renowned publications like Time, Newsweek, Esquire, and National Geographic. Published in 1981, the famous photograph was taken by the renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
5 – THE FIRST WIFE
Before marrying Yoko Ono, John Lennon was married to Cynthia Powell, with whom he had a son, Julian. In 2005, Powell released a biography in which she described the artist as violent and revealed that he had episodes of extreme jealousy. Their relationship lasted seven years.
6 – “MORE FAMOUS THAN JESUS CHRIST”?
In 1966, John Lennon faced intense criticism after stating in an interview that The Beatles were “more famous than Jesus Christ”.
Later, he explained that the press had distorted his words, saying that his intention was to convey that young people talked more about The Beatles than about Jesus Christ.
In 2008, four decades after the statement, the Catholic Church granted official forgiveness to Lennon for the accusation of blasphemy.
7 – PROTESTS
In 1970, during the Vietnam War, John Lennon and Yoko Ono gained notoriety for their protests for peace. In response, the U.S. government attempted to deport Lennon to England, even monitoring his communications and conducting an FBI investigation. MI5, the British counter-intelligence service, was also mobilized, but no evidence linking Lennon to terrorist organizations or communist regimes was found.
8 – JOHN DISLIKED HIS OWN VOICE
It is believed that John Lennon hated his own voice and, on one occasion during a dinner with George Martin, The Beatles’ producer, he expressed a desire to re-record all of the band’s songs, mentioning “Strawberry Fields” as one of the ones he would most like to redo.
However, he appreciated his lyrics, with “All You Need Is Love” being his favorite.
9 – LENNON HAD DYSLEXIA
John Lennon was a very intelligent student and had a passion for letters, but his school grades were quite low. According to biographers, he had difficulties with simple tasks like spelling words and writing correctly.
These issues were caused by his dyslexia, which was only diagnosed in the mid-1970s, after Lennon had left The Beatles and was established in his solo career.
10 – HE WAS A TERRIBLE DRIVER
Despite his love for cars, Lennon was a rather clumsy driver. In addition to being nearsighted, the Beatle also had difficulties behind the wheel. On one occasion, as reported by biographer Philip Norman, Lennon managed to crash his car into a completely empty wall.
The accident resulted in seventeen stitches on John’s face.
11 – HIS ICONIC GLASSES
John Lennon had been nearsighted since childhood, but despite his vision problem, he had difficulty wearing glasses. He tried various frames over the years, including a pair similar to Buddy Holly’s, but he never got used to them.
This situation changed during the filming of “How I Won the War”, where Lennon played a bumbling World War II commander.
The director made the Beatle wear round frames with thick lenses, and Lennon ended up loving this style.
From 1967 until his death in 1980, he almost always wore the iconic round glasses, an image that is still frequently associated with him in caricatures and illustrations.
12 – ELVIS PRESLEY
Elvis Presley was one of the major influences on John Lennon’s and The Beatles’ musical development. Songs like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock” had a significant impact on the young man from Liverpool. When The Beatles came to the U.S. in 1964, manager Brian Epstein used his connections to try to fulfill Lennon and the other band members’ dream of meeting Presley.
However, Lennon was not impressed with the idol. He found Elvis to be less captivating in person, and biographers from both sides suggest that Presley’s distant attitude might have been a reflection of his fear of being overshadowed by The Beatles.
13 – HE LOVED BAKING BREAD
John Lennon lived intensely, even outside of the musical world. Shortly after the birth of his child with Yoko in 1975, he took a break from performing and focused entirely on his family.
During this time, he discovered an unusual hobby: baking bread. In his last interview for Playboy magazine, Lennon revealed that caring for the baby and baking bread was an occupation that demanded all of his time!
14 – HOW JOHN MET YOKO
John Lennon met Yoko Ono in 1966 at an art gallery in London. Ono was promoting an exhibition of her conceptual art called “Unfinished Paintings and Objects” at the Indica Gallery. Lennon was attracted by Ono’s eccentricity and her innovative approach to art.
Their first interaction was brief but left a strong impression on both of them.
The most significant encounter happened in November 1968, when Lennon and Ono met again at the same gallery, where Ono was working on an installation called “Ceiling Painting” (a canvas where people were invited to look up).
From that moment on, they began meeting regularly and developed a deep personal and artistic connection. This relationship quickly evolved into a romance, and they married in March 1969 during a ceremony in Gibraltar.
15 – JOHN LENNON’S MURDER
John Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980, at the age of 40, in front of his apartment in the Dakota Building (where one of the greatest horror films ever made, “Rosemary’s Baby”, was filmed) in New York. That night, Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were returning from a recording session for an album.
Mark David Chapman, an obsessed fan who had been waiting outside the building for Lennon during the day, approached him and asked for an autograph on a copy of the album “Double Fantasy”.
What’s chilling is that Lennon was photographed signing an autograph for his killer in the morning, unaware of what would happen later that night.
Later, Chapman waited until Lennon and Ono returned home, and as Lennon was about to enter the building, he approached and fired five shots, hitting Lennon four times in the back and shoulder.
Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The murder shocked the world and caused a wave of sadness and mourning. Lennon’s death was widely covered by the media and marked a moment of global grief. Mark David Chapman was arrested at the scene and later convicted of second-degree murder.
John Lennon was a figure whose influence extended far beyond music. As a member of The Beatles, he helped redefine the musical and cultural landscape of the 1960s, but his impact did not stop there.
Lennon was also a passionate human rights activist, known for his involvement in pacifist movements and his campaigns for world peace. His personal life, marked by a constant search for meaning and truth, was reflected in his compositions and speeches, inspiring many to question and reflect on the world around them.
Even after his tragic death, Lennon’s legacy lives on, not only through his music but also through his messages of love and justice.
His contribution to pop culture and society is a lasting reminder of the power that creativity and vision can have in transforming the world.