Give Peace a Chance: Exploring the Life and Musical Journey of John Lennon

John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, London. After he was separated from him parents at a young age, he was raised mostly by his aunt, Mimi Smith. He grew up in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. During his adolescence his uncle died, as did his biological mother. His mother was the person who had taught Lennon to play the banjo. John Lennon's childhood was fairly rough, but these circumstances were not uncommon in the wake of World War II. Growing up under these circumstances, anger was generated in Lennon, but he sublimated it with intelligence, difficulty, and intense need for human connection. At the age of sixteen, John Lennon founded the band that later evolved into the Beatles.

John Lennon was the leader of the Beatles. The Beatles are considered one the most influential bands of the rock era ("The Beatles"). There were six different members that were once part of the Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart (Stu) Sutcliffe, Pete Best, and Ringo Starr. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were both guitarists and singers. They became the songwriting team. George Harrison was also a guitarist and singer, and Stu Sutcliffe was a bassist. When the Beatles visited Hamburg for the second time, Sutcliffe remained there, and later died of a brain hemorrhage. In 1960, Pete Best became the first drummer for the Beatles; he was later replace by Ringo Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey. Originally, the name of the band was Johnny and the Moondogs. They later became the Silver Beatles, and finally, The Beatles.

The Beatles' start dates back to 1957. Guitarist and singer Paul McCartney joined The Quarrymen, John Lennon's band. They were the songwriters, thus becoming the leaders of the band. Then George Harrison and Stu Sutcliffe some of Lennon's fellow students at Liverpool Art College, joined. The songs that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote were some of the best in history. The week of April 4, 1964 the first five of the top 100 songs in the United States were by the Beatles. They also had eleven other songs within the top 100 that same week for a total of sixteen. No other artist has even come close to such domination of pop music.

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The most obvious way that John Lennon affected the people of the time period was the remarkable innovations to pop and rock music. He and the rest of the Beatles did this by synthesizing the musical influences of the late 1950's and 1960's. Another way that he influenced people at the time was his stand on the Vietnam War. John Lennon was strongly against it, and he made that clear in songs such as "Give Peace a Chance." He even accumulated a significant FBI file, which was a result of President Richard Nixon's plan to have him silenced and deported (Cote). John Lennon also supported liberalism. He portrayed a liberal dream in his song "Imagine". The Beatles are also charged with the radical change in male hairstyles and sometimes for the popularization of youthful experimentation with drugs.

After the Beatles broke up John Lennon continued his career, as did the rest of the members of the band. In 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono, a Japanese conceptual artist. Lennon's first solo album was John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which came out in 1970. Some other albums Lennon made were Imagine, Walls and Bridges, and Double Fantasy. In 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono settled in New York City. For the next five years, Lennon had to fight deportation because of prior drug arrest and his involvement with left-wing causes. In 1975, it was overturned on appeal and by 1976 Lennon had full residency. On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman. John Cock wrote, "Lennon was a creature of poetic political metaphor, and his spiritual consciousness was directed inward, as a way of nurturing and widening his creative force. That was what made the impact, and the difference- the shock of his imagination, the penetrating and pervasive traces of his genius and it was the loss of all that in so abrupt and awful way, that was mourned last week, all over the world."

This person should be admired for the good. John Lennon accomplished many things in his life. First, he overcame his rough childhood and still went far in life. It shows people that if you have a passion for something and you put your mind to it you can do anything you want to do. Also, he had his opinions and he stood his ground. This shows people to stand up for what they believe in no matter what others say. Lastly, John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles recorded some of the greatest music of all time. There are many people who consider them to be the most influential band of the rock era, which simply in itself is a great feat.

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