John Winston Lennon Biography

Birth of John Lennon in Liverpool

Birth of John Lennon during wartime Liverpool.

John Lennon starts at Doverdale Primary School

John Lennon starts at Quarry Bank High School. John Lennon starts at Liverpool College of Art where he meets Cynthia Powell, his future wife, and Stuart Sutcliffe

John Lennon starts at Liverpool College of Art where he meets Cynthia Powell, his future wife, and Stuart Sutcliffe

Julia, John Lennons mother, buys him his first guitar through a mail order ad, his incessant playing prompts Johns Aunt Mimi to say, "The guitars all very well as a hobby, John, but youll never make a living out of it."

John Lennon forms his first group, The Quarrymen

John Lennon forms the Quarrymen skiffle group

1st public performance of the Quarrymen skiffle group, in Rosebery St carnival

John Lennon meets Paul McCartney at the Woolton Parish Church in Liverpool during a performance by John's group the Quarrymen, impressed by Pauls ability to tune a guitar and by his knowledge of song lyrics, John asks him to join.

John Lennon meets Paul McCartney at the Woolton Parish Church in Liverpool during a performance by John's group the Quarrymen, impressed by Pauls ability to tune a guitar and by his knowledge of song lyrics, John asks him to join.

Performs with the Quarrymen at Woolton, where he meets Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney introduces George Harrison to the Quarrymen at a basement teen club called the Morgue, George joins the group

Paul McCartney introduces George Harrison to the Quarrymen at a basement teen club called the Morgue, George joins the group

The Silver Beetles fail an audition to back Billy Fury & are chosen to back Johny Gentle on a Scottish tour

The Quarrymen are renamed Johnny and the Moondogs and fail an audition for "talent-show" Carroll Levis at Manchester Hippodrome

Becomes a founding member as the group develops into the Beatles.

The Silver Beatles are renamed The Beatles for their 1st professional engagement at Neston Institute

The Silver Beatles are renamed The Beatles for their 1st professional engagement at Neston Institute

John Lennon leaves Liverpool College of Art

The Beatles make their debut in Hamburg, West Germany, with Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums

The Beatles open at the Indra night-club

The Beatles make their debut at the Indra Club

The Beatles make their Cavern Club debut in Liverpool.

Performs when the Beatles make their Cavern Club debut.

A single "My Bonnie" by Tony Sheridan & backing by The Beatles is released in Germany

Local record store manager Brian Epstein is introduced to the Beatles, he signs a contract to manage them

The Beatles fail an audition at Decca. The Beatles are turned down by DECCA

The Beatles fail an audition at Decca

The Beatles return to Hamburg to play at the Star-Club, but they learn that Stuart Sutcliffe had died a few hours before they arrived, this was another shock for Lennon, after losing Uncle George and Julia

The Beatles finally sign a record contract with Parlophone Records after having been turned down by many labels

The Beatles finally sign a record contract with Parlophone Records after having been turned down by many labels

The Beatles audition for George Martin at Parlophone/EMI Records, he agrees to sign the group, but insists that Pete Best be replaced, within months, Richard "Ringo" Starkey joins the group

The Beatles meet George Martin for 1st time, they record "Besame Mucho"

The Beatles record their first sessions at EMI Studios in London, with George Martin as producer

John Lennon marries Cynthia Powell

The Beatles 1st recording session leads to their 1st single "Love Me Do"

"Love Me Do" is released featuring Lennon on harmonica and McCartney singing solo on the chorus line

The Beatles "Please Please Me" tops the UK charts

John Charles Julian Lennon is born to John and Cynthia Lennon at Sefton General Hospital in Liverpool.

John Lennon marries Cynthia Lennon at Mount Pleasant

The Beatles appear on the Royal Command Performance

The Beatles begin their first US tour at the Coliseum in Washington, D.C

John Lennons first book, In His Own Write, is published and becomes an instant best-seller

The Beatles release "A Hard Days Night" album

The world premiere of The Beatles A Hard Days Night takes place in London

Returns to Liverpool with the Beatles for a civic reception.

The Beatles film "A Hard Days Night"

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I neednt argue with that; Im right and I will be proved right. Were more popular than Jesus now. I dont know which will go first, rock n roll or Christianity"

John Lennon composes "Help!" the title song for the Beatles second film. He later confides that the lyrics are a cry for help and a clue to the confusion and despondency he feels

The Beatles are awarded Englands prestigious MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire). John comments, "I thought you had to drive tanks and win wars to get the MBE"

John Lennons second book, A Spaniard in the Works, is published

The Beatles play in front of almost 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City

Londons Evening Standard publishes an interview with John Lennon in which he states that the Beatles are "more popular than Jesus now", the comment provokes several protests, including the burning of Beatles records

John Lennons comments on the state of Christianity - made in March, but only lately picked up in the US spark protests and record burnings on the eve of the Beatles 1966 American tour

John Lennon makes his first appearance away from the Beatles in the role of Private Gripweed in Richard Lesters film How I Won the War, he writes "Strawberry Fields Forever" during the filming

Yoko Ono and John Lennon meet at a preview of her art show, Exhibition #2, at Indica Gallery in London

The Beatles release the album "Sargeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"

John Lennon writes "I Am the Walrus" while under the influence of LSD. John Lennon anonymously sponsors Yoko Onos Half a Wind Show (subtitled Yoko Plus Me) at London's Lisson Gallery

George Harrison & John Lennon direct a scene in the, "Magical Mystery Tour" film

John Lennon begins his personal and artistic relationship with Yoko Ono by collaborating on the experimental album Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins

The Rolling Stones film the Rock and Roll Circus, with guests Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Jethro Tulll and the Who

Lennons solo career begins with Unfinished Music No 1 - Two Virgins, the sleeve depicts him and Ono standing naked. Lennon releases "Unfinished Music No 2 - Life With The Lions", one side consists of John Lennon and Yoko Ono calling out to each other during her stay in a London hospital while pregnant

John Lennon and Yoko Ono exhibit their first official joint venture at the Arts Lab in London. Soon after, they plant acorns outside Coventry Cathedral as a conceptual "living arts sculpture"

Apple Corps, Ltd. begins operating in London. It is the Beatles attempt to take control of their own creative and economic destiny

Apple Corps, Ltd. begins operating in London. It is the Beatles attempt to take control of their own creative and economic destiny

John Lennon moves out of his house in Weybridge, he and Yoko Ono move into Ringo Starrs apartment in Montague Square

Beatles animated film "Yellow Submarine" premieres in London

John Lennons first solo album of popular music is "Live Peace", recorded prior to the breakup of the Beatles, at the Rock n Roll Festival in Toronto with The Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon marries Yoko Ono

Its credo, "YOU are the Plastic Ono Band", implied that everyone was part of the group. A second volume, Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions appears in the spring of 1969. A conceptual supergroup formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 before the dissolution of The Beatles

The only album solely credited to the Plastic Ono Band, Live Peace in Toronto 1969, was recorded during the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival

Lennon & Yoko Ono stage their "Beds in Peace" at the Amsterdam Hilton on honeymoon

The single release of "Give Peace a Chance" recorded in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec with many participants, is the first release to bear the credit the Plastic Ono Band

The Beatles release the album "Abbey Road"

John Lennon is the 1st member of The Beatles to quit the band

John Lennon returns his MBE, he says it is to protest the British Governments involvement in Biafra, its support of the US in Vietnam and the poor chart performance of his latest single, "Cold Turkey"

John Lennon appears at the Toronto Rock n Roll Revival concert, accompanied by Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Alan White and Yoko

The Plastic Ono Band - Live Peace in Toronto is released

The Plastic Ono Band - Live Peace in Toronto is released

"War Is Over! If You Want It!" billboards go up in 11 cities around the world, as a Christmas message from John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Release of, "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band". Following the Beatles split in 1970, Lennon releases the Plastic Ono Band album, a raw, honest record, heavily influenced by Arthur Janovs Primal therapy, which Lennon had undergone previously

"Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," credited to John Ono Lennon and produced by Phil Spector is released and becomes a huge hit

Yoko Ono and John Lennon celebrate their honeymoon by staging a "bed-in" for peace in Amsterdam

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Lennons debut album as a solo artist, enters the album charts

Paul McCartney files a suit to dissolve the Beatles

Releases the single & album, "Imagine"

John Lennon & Yoko Ono jam with Frank Zappa at the Fillmore East in New York City, recorded for subsequent release on the Plastic Ono Band album "Sometime in New York City"

John Lennon cuts Imagine at his home studio, the anthemic title track is inspired by a message in Yoko Onos book "Grapefruit"

Lennon releases "Woman Is the Nigger of the World", which drew parallels between exploitation of women and discrimination against blacks

The staff of the US Senate Internal Security Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee prepares a memo about John Lennons involvement with such radicals as Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and Rennie Davis

With the expiration of John Lennons US non-immigrant visa, deportation proceedings begin. Lennon will wage a four-year Battle with the federal Government to remain in the US

In a secret memo, Senator Strom Thurmond suggests to Attorney General John Mitchell that John Lennon, whom the Government suspects of consorting with "known radicals," be deported

In a secret memo, Senator Strom Thurmond suggests to Attorney General John Mitchell that John Lennon, whom the Government suspects of consorting with "known radicals," be deported

"Some Time in New York City" is loud, raucous, and explicitly political, with songs about prison riots, racial and sexual relations, the British role in Northern Ireland, and his own problems in obtaining a US Green Card. Some Time in New York City, a double album by John Lennon backed by the New York rock group Elephants Memory is released

Lennon and his backing band, Elephants Memory, stage two benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York

John Lennon performs at Madison Square Garden, it will be his last concert as a headliner., the show will posthumously be released in 1986 as Live in New York City

John Lennon and Yoko Ono purchase an apartment at the Dakota on Central Park West and West 72nd Street in New York

John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin an 18-month separation, during which Lennon embarks on his infamous "lost weekend" in Los Angeles

Lennon releases "Mind Games", which is credited to "the Plastic U.F.Ono Band"

Lennon releases " John Lennon - Rock n Roll"

Lennon releases "Walls and Bridges", a duet with Elton John on the #1 hit "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", the album is released under the name "the Plastic Ono Band"

John Lennon is ordered to leave the US in 60 days

Lennon releases "Walls and Bridges", a duet with Elton John on the #1 hit "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", the album is released under the name "the Plastic Ono Band". John Lennon records his Walls and Bridges album, he claims to have written ten of the songs in a single week

Lennon releases "Walls and Bridges", a duet with Elton John on the #1 hit "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", the album is released under the name "the Plastic Ono Band". John Lennon records his Walls and Bridges album, he claims to have written ten of the songs in a single week

John Lennon makes his last ever concert appearance when he appears onstage at Madison Square Garden with Elton John, that night Lennon is reunited with Ono and, in his words, "the separation failed"

John Lennon performs three songs with Elton John at Madison Square Garden, it will turn out to be his last public performance

The last use of the Plastic Ono Band credit appears on Lennons 1975 retrospective release "Shaved Fish"

The Beatles final dissolution takes place

John and Yoko are reunited

"Fame," a song from David Bowies Young Americans album, tops the US singles charts, it is cowritten by Bowie, John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Aloma

The US Court of Appeal overturns the order to deport John and he is granted residency status, the authorities announce, "Lennons four year Battle to remain in our country is testimony to his faith in this American dream."

Sean Taro Ono Lennon is born at New York Hospital on father John Lennons 35th birthday

John Lennons application to remain in the US as a permanent resident is approved at a special hearing

The Strawberry Fields Memorial was constructed across the street from the Dakota building in memory of Lennon

John Lennon takes a cruise to Bermuda, where his songwriting muse is rekindled

John Lennons first new single in more than five years, "(Just Like) Starting Over," is released

John Lennon releases "Double Fantasy" with Yoko Ono

John Lennon is shot by deranged assailant, Mark Chapman as he and Yoko return to the Dakota after a recording session, he is pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital

Death of John Lennon, Lennon is shot dead by Mark David Chapman, in front of his apartment block in New York City

John Lennon and Yoko Onos Double Fantasy wins Album of the Year for 1981 at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards

John Lennon and Yoko Onos Double Fantasy wins Album of the Year for 1981 at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards

Yoko Ono recieves the "Album of the Year Award" for "Double Fantasy" at the 24th annual Grammys

An opening ceremony is held for Strawberry Fields, an area in New York Citys Central Park dedicated to John Lennon

An opening ceremony is held for Strawberry Fields, an area in New York Citys Central Park dedicated to John Lennon

On what would have been John Lennons 50th birthday, "Imagine" is broadcast simultaneously in 130 countries

John Lennon is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the ninth annual induction dinner, Paul McCartney is his presenter, and Yoko Ono accepts the award on behalf of her late husband

John Lennon is given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards

John Lennon is inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame by Paul McCartney

"Free as a Bird," the first new Beatles single in 25 years, is premiered on the televised Beatles Anthology, the song is a 1977 demo by John Lennon completed in 1995 by the three surviving Beatles

"Real Love," a 1979 John Lennon demo finished in 1995 by the other Beatles, becomes the second new Beatles single to chart in less than three months. It is released as part of The Beatles Anthology recordings and TV special

John Lennon Anthology, a four-CD box set of unreleased songs and performances, is released

Lennon is included in the top 10 of the 2002 "100 Greatest Britons" poll sponsored by the BBC and voted for by the public