I remember it very well, on the morning of the 9th it was all over the news in the UK, I was at college and we spent most of the day talking about it, then... night fell and I was off to my first Queen concert at Wembley.
They played Imagine as you will all know, very moving, very loud, very bright, I was blown away it was the first time I had managed to see them live, and I was still caught up with the fact that one of my heros was dead, almost too much on one day!
I remember it. The feeling of total disbelief that John Lennon had been killed by a so called "fan" A man who was the icon of the peace movement. He had no body guard because he believed that if someone wanted to kill him, he would first kill the body guard.
He had always received death threats since Beatles records had been burnt in public spectacles in the US after his unfortunate statement that the Beatles were more popular that Jesus. He had to fight for his green card because of his involvement in the peace movement and many people did not approve of his - sometimes very naive but heartfelt - political statements.
But all arguments stopped when he was killed by Mark Chapman, one of the most hated people on the planet. A loser who sought fame by killing a famous person. The fact that he gets death threats himself now every day for the last 25 years shows that he did not kill just a celebrity, he killed a man who meant so much to so many people with all his self doubts, his mistakes and errors of judgement and his wasted years on drugs and alcohol. John Lennon wrote the music that gave young people a voice all over the world and made Rock'n Roll acceptable to an unprecedented extent. John Lennon wrote the sound track for a generation who was searching for a way out of hatred and war for a better future.
Like so many in the states, I heard it from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football.
Then went to one of the local watering holes with my college roommates. By this time, the student radio station was alternating his solo/Beatles tracks, which the bar was playing at a moderate level.
One of the good first 'memories' of my generation was seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. We grew up with them, stuck with them in the 70s, and in one instant lost so much.
YourValentine wrote: I remember it. The feeling of total disbelief that John Lennon had been killed by a so called "fan" A man who was the icon of the peace movement. He had no body guard because he believed that if someone wanted to kill him, he would first kill the body guard.
He had always received death threats since Beatles records had been burnt in public spectacles in the US after his unfortunate statement that the Beatles were more popular that Jesus. He had to fight for his green card because of his involvement in the peace movement and many people did not approve of his - sometimes very naive but heartfelt - political statements.
But all arguments stopped when he was killed by Mark Chapman, one of the most hated people on the planet. A loser who sought fame by killing a famous person. The fact that he gets death threats himself now every day for the last 25 years shows that he did not kill just a celebrity, he killed a man who meant so much to so many people with all his self doubts, his mistakes and errors of judgement and his wasted years on drugs and alcohol. John Lennon wrote the music that gave young people a voice all over the world and made Rock'n Roll acceptable to an unprecedented extent. John Lennon wrote the sound track for a generation who was searching for a way out of hatred and war for a better future.
I hadn't been born yet and wouldn't be for another decade, but over the last year I have come to appreciate The Beatles and John Lennon. Lennon was an excellent singer and an excellent songwriter. Mark Chapman is a bam (sorry, can't spell the word I want which sounds like cycle-path and will not embarass myself by attempting to do so) who should burn in hell.
R.I.P. John Lennon