John Lennon, The Dakota, NYC, 1975 by Brian Hamill

via

 

John Lennon's death remembered 40 years later

Forty years ago, on 8 December 1980, the former Beatle John Lennon was shot dead as he returned to his home at the Dakota apartment building in New York.

 The BBC's Tom Brook was the first British journalist to report live from the scene. Here he recounts how Lennon's death has haunted him ever since. 

 

So this is Christmas

[new lyrics for old songs]

 

Give bed a chance

[new lyrics for old songs]

 

John Lennon

via

 

John Lennon: what would he be like at 75?

It is impossible to know what Lennon, born on this day in 1940, might be doing had he lived because he was such a singular character, who always went his own unpredictable way. One of his greatest achievements was surely to break the mould of pop stardom and leave something in its place that was more malleable and individualised, encouraging those in his wake to create their own templates for showbusiness careers. His supreme talent, extreme fame and tragic end have led to him being lionised, deified and mythologised but his music and personality still resonate so strongly because of his art of honesty, his instinct for cutting through the veil and revealing the real complexities and contradictions of the human condition. Lennon was the first truly modern pop star, where there was no distinction between his art and his life. By Neil McCormick