John Lennon's Birthday

"You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are." John Lennon

John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England.

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?" John Lennon

Lennon attended Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool.

"If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it." John Lennon

In 1956, Lennon's first band included several schoolmates and was called The Quarrymen.

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." John Lennon

In 1960, the Quarrymen evolved into the Beatles, with John Lennon (rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (guitar), George Harrison (lead guitar), Stuart Sutcliffe (bass guitar), George Best (drums).

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." John Lennon

Beetles are a group of insects with the largest number of known species whereas The Beatles are a group of four mop-haired musicians who became the most commercially successful rock band in world history.

"You have to be a bastard to make it, and that's a fact. And the Beatles are the biggest bastards on earth." John Lennon

After a couple of personnel changes, the permanent members of the Beatles in 1962 were John Lennon (rhythm guitar), Paul McCartney (bass guitar), George Harrison (lead guitar) and Ringo Starr (drums) -- all four of them participated in vocals in various songs.

"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it." John Lennon

The Beatles created 45 Gold albums, 39 Platinum albums and 14 Multi-Platinum albums in the USA, and received 7 Grammy Awards

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." John Lennon

During the Vietnam war in the late 60s, Lennon became a peace activist.

"All we are saying is give peace a chance." John Lennon

Lennon met Yoko Ono in 1966 at an art gallery where Ono's works were being displayed.

"Everything is clearer when you're in love." John Lennon

On March 20, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married in Gibraltar and spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam..

"As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot." John Lennon

In September of 1969, Lennon left The Beatles and the band was disbanded.

"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people." John Lennon

Due to Lennon's opposition to the Vietnam War, the Nixon Administration initiated deportation against him and on March 23, 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the USA within 60 days.

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it." John Lennon

The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on Lennon but refused to release them on the grounds they contained national security information.

"The more I see the less I know for sure." John Lennon

In 1975, during the Ford Administration, the deportation order of John Lennon was overturned.

"The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?" John Lennon

Early in the evening of December 8, 1980, Lennon autographed his "Double Fantasy" album for a young man named Mark David Chapman as he was exiting the Dakota, his NYC apartment building.

"The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you." John Lennon

Later in the evening of December 8, 1980, Lennon was fatally shot four times in the back by Mark David Chapman, a paranoid schizophrenic, as he was entering his apartment building.

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon

Yoko Ono scattered Lennon's ashes in New York City's Central Park.

"All you need is love." John Lennon

Rest in Peace, John Winston Lennon -- no peace here on Planet Earth yet.

"Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground." John Lennon

As a song-writer (or co-writer) and performer, Lennon was responsible for 27 number one singles and sold over 14 million solo albums in the USA.

"Strawberry Fields Forever." John Lennon

In 1997, Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." John Lennon

In 2008, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Lennon the fifth greatest singer of all time.

"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all." John Lennon

On October, 9, 2010, John Lennon celebrated his 70th birthday in another dimension somewhere in the Great Beyond.

"We all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun." John Lennon
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Quote for the Day -- "Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." John Lennon
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Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where everything is what it is. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
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