John Lennon Timeline
1940
•John Winston Lennon is born in Liverpool, England on October 9th to Julia and Alfred Lennon.
1945
•Lennon goes to live with his mother's sister, Mary Smith and her husband George Smith after his parents separate in 1943.
1956
•Forms a skiffle band called The Black Jacks with friends. They soon change the band name to The Quarrymen.
1957
•Meets Paul McCartney at a church function, who soon joins The Quarrymen.
1958
•Accepted into the Liverpool College of Art.
•Meets George Harrison and allows him to join The Quarrymen at the insistence of Paul McCartney.
•The Quarrymen make their first recording at Percy Phillips' studio in Liverpool in July.
•Lennon's mother, Julia, is hit and killed by a car on July 15th.
1959
•Forms a trio band with Harrison and McCartney -they call themselves Johnny and the Moondogs.
1960
•Stuart Sutcliffe, Lennon's friend from art school, joins the new band, and they change their name numerous times over the year to The Beatals, the Silver Beetles, then the Silver Beatles and finally The Beatles.
•The Beatles debut in Hamburg, where they also meet Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey Jr.
1962
• Marries girlfriend Cynthia Powell on August 23rd.
•The Beatles make their first recording at EMI studios with producer George Martin in September.
•The Beatles replace Pete Best with Ringo Starr.
1963
•The Beatles first album "Please Please Me" is released.
•Lennon and Cynthia's son, John Charles "Julian" Lennon, is born on April 8th in England.
1964
•The Beatles make their American debut.
•Publishes "In his Own Write" in March, which becomes a best-seller.
•Makes his film debut in "Hard Day's Night".
1965
•Publishes "A Spaniard in the Works" in June.
1966
•Stars in the film "How I Won the War" (during the film shoot in Spain, he writes the song "Strawberry Fields Forever").
•Meets Yoko Ono at a preview of her art exhibition in London.
1967
•Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released on June 1 and is widely considered to be one of the most influential albums of all time.
1968
•The Beatles start Apple Corporation in order to maintain their own creative and financial affairs on May 1st.
•John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold an art exhibit together at London's Arts Lab in May.
•Holds his first art exhibition titled "You Are Here - To Yoko From John, With Love" in July.
•Divorce from Cynthia Powell is finalized on November 8th.
•Releases the avant-garde album "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins" with Yoko in November. The album cover's naked full-frontal picture of them causes controversy.
1969
•Performs with the Beatles for the last time on the roof of the Apple Corporation building in London during the filming of "Let It Be" on January 30th.
•Marries Yoko Ono on the island of Gibraltar on March 20th.
•They celebrate their marriage with a "bed-in" at the Amsterdam Hilton for a week in March -to protest war and promote peace.
•Lennon officially changes his name to John Ono Lennon in April.
•May 26 - June 2, 1969: John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct a bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. They record "Give Peace a Chance," with Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary and other notables of the era.
•Forms the Plastic Ono Band with Yoko Ono and they release the album "Live Peace in Toronto".
1970
•The Beatles, one of the most popular music groups in history, announces the band is breaking up.
•Lennon and Yoko simultaneously release solo albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Band in December.
•After initially denied re-entry into the United States, Lennon and Yoko are allowed entry on a medical visa, to visit psychiatrist and "primal" therapist Dr. Arthur Janov.
1971
•Lennon records and releases the album Imagine. The title track was named Rolling Stone magazine's 3rd greatest rock song of all time.
1972
•Attempts to deport Lennon are made by the Nixon administration.
•Releases the double album "Some Time in New York City" in June.
1975
• Lennon and Yoko's son, Sean Ono Taro Lennon, is born in New York on October 9th, Lennon's 35th birthday. Lennon retires from music to care for his new son.
•The High Court of Justice in London officially dissolves The Beatles partnership.
1976
• Lennon's application to remain in the U.S. as a permanent resident is approved.
1980
•Begins working on the concept album "Double Fantasy" with Yoko Ono.
•Lennon is shot and killed by disturbed fan, Mark David Chapman, outside of his apartment building, The Dakota, in New York City on December 8th.
WATCH video about John Lennon's life and death.
John Lennon achieved worldwide fame in the 1960s as a singer, songwriter and guitarist in one of the most successful bands of all time -The Beatles. He is credited as being the original and founding member of the band and was often referred to as "the smart one" of the group. He came from a working-class neighborhood in Liverpool England but was influenced by American Rock n Roll music and often named Elvis Presley as the artist who inspired him the most.
As Lennon and The Beatles experimented with psychedelic drugs and embraced eastern philosophies they developed a new sound and greatly influenced the cultural movements of the 1960s with their style and social awareness. After the "Fab Four" disbanded in 1970, Lennon immersed himself in the counterculture scene, becoming an outspoken peace activist and producing avant-garde albums with his second wife, Japanese born, conceptual artist, Yoko Ono.
John Lennon impacted society with his profound songwriting, innovative artistry and social views and continues to live on as an icon of musical genius.
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