John Winston Lennon

December 8, 1980 John and Yoko return to the Dakota in their limousine, after a recording session. As John walks toward the entryway of the building, a deranged assailant, Mark David Chapman, fires five shots, hitting John in the back. By the time Yoko and police rush him to Roosevelt Hospital's emergency room, John Lennon is dead.

John Lennon was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, author, actor, filmmaker, artist, and political spokesman, and one of the greatest figures in postwar popular music. Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, and became involved in music in the 50s. The group he founded as the Quarrymen eventually evolved into the Beatles, and from 1963 to 1970 they were the most successful rock group in history. Lennon, the group's leader, played an important part in that success, writing and singing many of its biggest hits and best songs. ,Lennon began to record and perform outside the group in 1969, usually in the company of his wife, avant-garde artist Yoko Ono. John, who had separated from Ono in 1973, was reconciled with her in 1975 an thereafter retired from music to raise their son Sean. He and Ono reemerged with the album DOUBLE FANTASY in 1980, and had plans for further recordings and performances at the time he was assassinated.