Among the former Beatles, John Lennon pursued the most compelling yet turbulent path as a solo artist. His gift for raw, candid songwriting and memorable melodies was matched by a deep affinity for classic rock & roll, yet his career and personal life were defined by sharp contrasts that kept him compelling. While Paul McCartney embraced life as a rock star, Lennon immersed himself in revolutionary politics and television appearances throughout the early 1970s. Following the well-received John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine at the start of the decade, he entered a notorious period of excess marked by inconsistent recordings and public missteps. Midway through the decade he regained stability, stepped away from the spotlight, and devoted himself to raising his son at home. In 1980 he emerged once more alongside his wife Yoko Ono with the joint release Double Fantasy. Just as momentum returned, he was fatally shot outside his New York residence in December of that year, leaving behind an enduring body of work as a musician, author, performer, and advocate.
Despite the scale of his Beatles accomplishments, Lennon’s individual output often receives less attention. Even at the peak of the group’s fame he explored other outlets. In 1964 he issued the book In His Own Write, followed in 1965 by A Spaniard in the Works, and in 1966 he took a role in Dick Lester’s film How I Won the War. His first musical venture apart from the Beatles arrived in 1968 with the experimental Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins, created with avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, who had become his partner. The album stirred controversy over both its sounds and the nude cover photograph of the couple. They wed in Gibraltar on March 20, 1969. Their honeymoon became the occasion for the initial “Bed-In for Peace” demonstration at the Amsterdam Hilton. Later that year the couple issued the experimental albums Unfinished Music, No. 2: Life with the Lions and The Wedding Album, along with the single “Give Peace a Chance,” captured during the bed-in. In September 1969 Lennon resumed live performance at a Toronto rock festival backed by the Plastic Ono Band, whose lineup included Ono, guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The following month the same ensemble released “Cold Turkey,” which addressed Lennon’s struggle with heroin. When the track missed the Top Ten in Britain and America, he returned his MBE to the Queen in protest of British policy toward Biafra, American involvement in Vietnam, and the single’s modest chart showing.
Before “Cold Turkey” appeared, Lennon had privately informed the Beatles of his intention to depart, yet he withheld any public statement until Allen Klein concluded negotiations with EMI. Lennon and Ono sustained their peace campaign by placing “War Is Over! (If You Want It)” billboards in twelve cities. In February 1970 he wrote, recorded, and issued “Instant Karma” in a single week; the song reached the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic. Two months later Paul McCartney announced the Beatles’ breakup, prompting Lennon’s resentment, much of which surfaced on his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The record’s unflinching honesty drew from the couple’s primal scream therapy, and Lennon promoted it with a Rolling Stone interview that dispelled numerous Beatles myths. Early in 1971 he issued the protest single “Power to the People” before relocating to New York. That autumn he released Imagine, which contained the Top Ten title track. As the album succeeded, Lennon and Ono intensified political activity, endorsing radicals including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and John Sinclair. Their efforts produced the double album Sometime in New York City, recorded with Elephant’s Memory and devoted entirely to topical material that critics found simplistic. The set sold modestly and damaged Lennon’s standing.
Sometime in New York City marked the start of a three-year decline. Shortly before its release, Lennon began a prolonged immigration struggle after U.S. authorities cited his 1968 marijuana conviction to deny him a green card. In 1973 he received a deportation order and mounted a public campaign against the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Mind Games arrived late that year to mixed notices; its title track became a moderate hit. The following year he and Ono separated, and he moved to Los Angeles for an extended “lost weekend.” Throughout 1974 and 1975 he lived extravagantly, socializing with Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon, David Bowie, and Ringo Starr. Walls and Bridges appeared in November 1974 and succeeded largely because of “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” recorded with Elton John. At year’s end John persuaded Lennon to rejoin Ono and appear at one of his concerts, which proved to be Lennon’s final stage performance.
Rock 'n' Roll, a set of rock standards cut during the lost weekend, reached stores in spring 1975. Months earlier a bootleg version titled Roots had surfaced, leading Lennon to sue publisher Morris Levy successfully. His immigration case concluded on October 7, 1975, when a U.S. court of appeals overturned the deportation order; in summer 1976 he finally obtained his green card. After contributing to David Bowie’s Young Americans and co-writing the hit “Fame,” Lennon withdrew from music to raise his son Sean, born in October 1975; he already had an older son, Julian, from his marriage to Cynthia Lennon.
In summer 1980 Lennon resumed recording and signed with Geffen Records. The resulting Double Fantasy, split evenly between his songs and Ono’s, appeared in November and earned favorable reviews. While the album and its single “(Just Like) Starting Over” ascended the charts, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon on December 8. His death prompted worldwide mourning; on December 14 millions observed a ten-minute silence at 2 p.m. EST. Both Double Fantasy and “(Just Like) Starting Over” reached number one after his passing. Subsequent years brought archival releases, beginning with 1984’s Milk and Honey and continuing with the 1998 four-disc Anthology box set and its single-disc companion Wonsaponatime. Later projects included the 2006 documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon and a 2010 reissue campaign that restored original mixes while introducing a “Stripped Down” version of Double Fantasy. Imagine received an expansive box-set treatment in 2018.
