Trivia

During the 1960s he had attempted to instigate a live action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" books (of which he was a fan), starring himself and his Beatle bandmates. Lennon had expressed interest in the role of Gollum, with Paul McCartney playing Frodo, Ringo Starr playing Sam and George Harrison playing Gandalf.

In a 2007 interview on the BBC Radio program Desert Island Discs, his wife, Yoko Ono, revealed what his last words were. She said that he wanted to go home and see son Sean before he went to sleep rather than go out for dinner after leaving the recording studio. According to Ono: "I said 'Shall we go and have dinner before we go home?' and John said, 'No, let's go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.'" Moments later, he was gunned down in front of the historic Dakota building where the family lived in New York City.

Elton John is the godfather of his son Sean Lennon

It was after hearing Paul McCartney's new single "Coming Up" that Lennon decided to return to music in early 1980. His reported response was, "Oh shit, I've got to get back." Lennon loved the song.

His mother Julia Lennon (44) was killed by a drunk driver when John was seventeen; his stepfather broke down at the news, and John had to go with the police to identify her body (he later named his first son [Julian Lennon] for her, and remembered his mother in the song "Julia", ten years after her death). His best friend and former band mate Stuart Sutcliffe died from a brain hemorrhage in 1962, when they were both 21; John asked Stuart's mother for the old scarf he'd worn to art school, and kept it as a memento.

He was the only member of The Beatles to eat meat regularly. Ringo Starr was a vegetarian for life, due to health problems. George Harrison converted in 1968, and Paul McCartney became one in 1975. Lennon mostly followed a macrobiotic diet (with brown rice as a staple), but not strictly.

His song with The Beatles, "In My Life", was played at the funeral of Kurt Cobain.

He felt very guilty about leaving his son Julian and worked hard to bridge their relationship towards the end of his life.

In 1989, the Republic of Abkhazia (in the former Soviet Georgia) proclaimed independence. To show the world they were rejecting their Communist past, they issued two postage stamps of Groucho Marx and Lennon (as opposed to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin).

He was cremated privately the day after his death. Yoko Ono has never revealed the whereabouts of the ashes, or what happened to them. In lieu of a funeral for John, Yoko asked the public for ten minutes of silence and prayer at 2pm ET on the following Sunday, December 14th, and to contribute to charities in his memory.

He felt that both "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Across the Universe" were poorly recorded.

Dr. Stephan Lynn was the emergency room physician who received Lennon in the ER at Roosevelt Hospital after Lennon was shot a few minutes before 11:00 pm that night. When Lennon arrived after being brought in by the police, he had no pulse and was not breathing. Dr. Lynn, two other doctors and a nurse worked on Lennon for 15 to 20 minutes in attempting to revive him. As a last resort, Dr. Lynn cut open Lennon's chest and attempted manual heart massage to restore circulation, but he quickly discovered that the damage to the blood vessels above and around Lennon's heart from the through-and-through gunshot wounds was too great. Dr. Lynn soon gave up and pronounced Lennon dead on arrival at 11:15 pm, but the time of 11:07 pm has also been reported by unknown sources. In response to Lennon's wounds and medical treatment, Dr. Lynn later stated to reporters that: "If Lennon had been shot this way in the middle of this hospital's operating room with myself and a whole team of surgeons and doctors ready to work on him... he still wouldn't have survived his injuries".

He didn't spend every day of his five years' retirement at the Dakota. Yoko Ono or one of their consultants would occasionally send him (or the family) to different spots around the globe, for vacations or good-luck trips, beginning with a flight around the world from west to east to "clear their karma". Lennon had to visit Hong Kong alone, book his own room, and see to his own meals, which he'd never done in his life; after a nervous first day (spent mostly in the bath), he finally tried going out for a walk - and was surprised to find that nobody took him for more than a tourist, let alone one of the world-famous Beatles. Not getting the celebrity treatment for the first time since his early twenties, he felt like he'd rediscovered himself.

He wrote the song "Beautiful Boy" for his son Sean Lennon, who was born on John's 35th birthday.

The cover of Rolling Stone issue featuring a nude Lennon hugging and kissing a fully clothed Yoko Ono taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz was voted the top magazine cover of the last 40 years by a panel of magazine editors, artists and designers chosen by the American Society of Magazine Editors. The photo was the cover of Rolling Stone's tribute to Lennon after his death. Ironically, the picture was taken on the last day of Lennon's life.

He was assassinated as he returned from the recording studio at around 10:49 pm on Monday, December 8, 1980, outside the Dakota, his apartment building in New York, by Mark David Chapman, a crazed fan who shot Lennon four times in his back at close range (at least one gunshot wound was fatal which was to the aorta just above Lennon's heart). Lennon was declared D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival; either already dead or near death) at 11:07 pm when he was brought by the police to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room.

Shortly after his death and before his cremation, John Lennon's body was autopsied at the New York City morgue on 1st Avenue where the cause of death was reported as: "hypovolemic shock caused by the loss of more than 80% of blood volume due to multiple through-and-through gunshot wounds to the left chest and aortic arch". The report also stated that as Lennon had been shot four times at close range with .38 caliber hollow-point bullets (which expand upon entering the target and severely disrupt more tissue as they travel through the target), Lennon's affected organs (particularly his left lung) and major blood vessels above his heart were virtually destroyed/torn apart upon impact. At that close range, three of the bullets that hit Lennon passed completely through his body and exited out of his chest while the fourth (the fatal shot) logged in his aorta; a total of seven gunshot wounds. The pathologist who performed the autopsy on Lennon also stated in his report that even with prompt medical treatment, no person could have lived for more than a few minutes with such multiple bullet injuries.

An actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman lost the part of John Lennon in John and Yoko: A Love Story (1985), because he had a similar name (Mark Chapman) as Lennon's killer. Chapman later portrayed Lennon in Chapter 27 (2007).

After moving to New York city, Lennon's natural Liverpool accent slowly started to become less prominent. Paul McCartney once recalled getting a phone call from him and not recognizing his voice since he sounded much more American. However Lennon's Liverpudlian accent was still very prominent in his final radio interview.

He was given his U.S. Resident Alien registration (his "green card") on the bicentennial of the American revolution: July 4, 1976. He was also informed that he would be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship in 1981.

Lennon declared his favorite album to be "Safe as Milk", by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, buying two copies for the included sticker. Shortly before his death, he also said he enjoyed The Pretenders' hit single "Brass in Pocket" as well as the debut album of The B-52's because it reminded him of Yoko Ono's music.

Yoko Ono signed over the royalties of his song "Imagine", in perpetuity, to Amnesty International, a world-wide organization devoted to political prisoners.

Like songwriting partner Paul McCartney, he never learned to read sheet music.

He was the best man at Peter Boyle's wedding on October 21, 1977 to Loraine Alterman Boyle. Boyle's wife was friends with Yoko Ono.

The Beatles experimented with names throughout 1959. At one point they were called "Johnny and the Moondogs." Another time they turned up to a show in different coloured shirts, and called themselves "The Rainbows".

The first instrument he learned to play was the harmonica.

He isolated himself from the members of The Beatles after 1974. He had slammed Paul McCartney in the press (to which McCartney vehemently responded), he and George Harrison had stopped talking after an argument over The Concert For Bangladesh (Lennon wanted Yoko Ono to be an integral part of the show, and Harrison didn't want her to even perform). Lennon was also deeply hurt that Harrison largely left him out of his autobiography "I, Me, Mine". They never spoke again after the release of the book. He stayed away from Ringo Starr because he wanted to stay sober (and Starr was always drinking). He and McCartney were together for the last time on April 24th, 1976 (the night of the first Saturday Night Live (1975) offer of $3200 for the Beatles to reunite). Harrison maintained in later years that their disagreement was petty and that there was no real animosity between them.

Amateur photographer Paul Goresh was the last person to photograph Lennon alive, autographing his "Double Fantasy" album for Mark David Chapman, just hours before Chapman fatally shot Lennon. Goresh used his Minolta XG1 camera to take the picture, one of many he'd taken of Lennon after developing a casual friendship with him. Goresh took the picture of John and Yoko that Lennon used for the sleeve of his "Watching the Wheels" single that was released posthumously in 1981.

He was the father, with Yoko Ono, of Sean Lennon and father, with Cynthia Lennon, of Julian Lennon.

In 1974, he and singer Harry Nilsson were ejected from the Troubadour Club in Hollywood by bouncers, after they both heckled Tom Smothers and Dick Smothers onstage. Lennon and Nilsson both sent flowers and an apology to the Smothers Brothers the next day, and Lennon replied to a columnist's speculation that he might have been using drugs, with the confirmation that they'd simply had too many Brandy Alexanders.

It was said that the birth of his son and his new fatherhood in 1975 made him much more sweet and mellow, even watching The Beatles' films and cartoons and listening to their records with Sean Lennon. Although he gave a rather biting interview to Playboy magazine in 1980, he was said by most of his associates to be much easier to work with in that part of his life.

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries in 2006, The Beatles are the biggest popular music act of all time, with 400 million albums sold (50 million more albums than their runner-up, Michael Jackson).

His murder was first announced to the world by U.S. sportscaster Howard Cosell during NFL Monday Night Football (1970). According to Frank Gifford, Lennon met Ronald Reagan when both were guests on "Monday Night Football" in the mid-1970s. After appearing on the show, he gave Gifford and Cosell each a complete collection of The Beatles albums, which he autographed.

He was known for being a very heavy sleeper and treated his bedroom as a very sacred space. Journalist Maureen Cleave wrote of John, "He can sleep almost indefinitely, is probably the laziest person in England.".

In the days leading up to Lennon's murder, his killer Mark David Chapman "lived the life" (in his words) of J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" narrator Holden Caulfield, and was browsing a copy of that book when he was arrested.

He was born in an air-raid shelter during the Blitz.

When "Rolling Stone" magazine was launched November 9, 1967, Lennon made the first cover, in a black & white photo from How I Won the War (1967). The issue cost 25 cents when released as an 11" x 17" magazine printed on newsprint and folded in half.

He was a bright child, but not much of a student from secondary school (akin to middle and high school) on; he found little to engage him, and failed his last round of final exams by just a few points. He was able to enter Art school on a headmaster's recommendation, but found it no more engaging, and slacked off, giving most of his energies to the Beatles, friends and girlfriends.

He used a number of pseudonyms in his musical work. These include Dr. Winston O'Boogie, Booker Table, Dwarf McDougal, Rev. Fred Ghurkin, Mel Torment, Dr. Dream, The Honorable John St. John Johnson, John O'Cean, Joel Nohnn, Kaptain Kundalini, Dad and Winston Leg-Thigh.

He was voted as a solo artist as the 38th Greatest Rock and Roll Artist by "Rolling Stone". The Beatles were voted the Greatest Rock and Roll Artists of all time on the same list in the magazine.

Lennon's first wife, Cynthia, says that when they were dating, John was smitten by French actress Brigitte Bardot. Cynthia says that in order to please John, she dyed her hair blond and began wearing outfits in the same style as Bardot. This included wearing berets, short skirts, and black thigh-high stockings, like the actress. There are many photos of Cynthia from the 1963-1965 time period that show her dressed and styled in this manner.

He kept his old bow-tie from Quarry Bank School, and wore it for special occasions as an adult. He also had a favorite necktie that he wore every day to court in the mid-1970s, during his immigration hearings, and later during a lawsuit brought against him by publisher Morris Levy.

He was a huge fan of Bing Crosby late in his life, reintroduced to Crosby's music by a restauranteur friend.

He was taught banjo chords by his mother, Julia, and played his guitar at first in banjo style. Paul McCartney later taught him proper guitar chords.

Several of his personal assistants (and also his and Yoko Ono's tarot reader) later wrote memoirs of their time with Lennon, and each successive one picks up the approximate storyline where the last left off. These in order are: "The Beatles, Lennon and Me" by Peter Shotton (Lennon's boyhood friend, later on the board of Apple Corps; worked briefly as their personal assistant), "John Lennon: One Day At a Time" by Anthony Fawcett (personal assistant from 1968-1971), "Loving John" by May Pang (personal assistant from 1972-1975, and also Lennon's lover with Ono's sanction), "Dakota Days" by John Green (Lennon and Ono's tarot reader from 1975-1980), and "The Last Days of John Lennon" by Frederic Seaman (personal assistant from 1979-1982).

A therapist described him with the statement "Howled like a dog, swore like a Merseyside Docker".

His neighbors at the Dakota included singer Roberta Flack, and actors Peter Boyle, Gloria Swanson, and Lauren Bacall.

Only performed three songs of The Beatles in concert after the group broke up, "Come Together" in Madison Square Garden in 1972, and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There" with Elton John, back at Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving, 1974.

In 2002 Paul McCartney changed the credits to many of the songs he wrote with Lennon to "McCartney & Lennon" (from "Lennon & McCartney") to a large public uproar. However, this was not the first time McCartney's name appeared first; many of their early songs were so credited, and the same had been done with songs on the 1976 live album "Wings Over America". In the credits to Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), McCartney's name appeared prominently - and alone - as composer of the songs performed, which included The Beatles tunes "Yesterday" and "Here, There and Everywhere".

He was inducted with Paul McCartney into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.