John Lennon: The Illustrated Biography by Gareth-Thomas

Born in Liverpool on October 9, 1949, and shot dead in New York on December 8, 1980, John Lennon's life was tragically short and yet remarkably full. By the time of his death, he had achieved an almost unprecedented level of fame, first as one of the Beatles and then as a successful solo artist. 

After an undistinguished beginning with a band that played at local gigs, he founded the Beatles, one of the most important, influential and exciting pop groups of all time, which played a major role in changing popular music and popular culture forever in the 1960s. John was never afraid to experiment; his writing evolved throughout the 1960s as he was exposed to new influences, both musical and otherwise.

As his first marriage broke down, he embarked on a relationship with the conceptual artist Yoko Ono. Both the press and the other Beatles found her unfathomable, but perhaps that was part of John's attraction. From the moment they first announced their relationship to the world, they were rarely apart. Increasingly, John focused on projects away from the Beatles, such as making experimental, music, art, and film, and he founded the free-floating Plastic Ono Band as he morphed into the bearded, long-haired, peace campaigner of the late 1960s.

When the band eventually split in 1970, John and Yoko retreated to New York, where Lennon continued to experience musical success and also enjoyed a greater degree of personal freedom than had been possible in Britain. Following the birth of his son Sean, John announced his retirement from music in order to devote himself to his family as a father and house-husband, but five years later, just after he had announced his return to recording, he was murdered, shot dead outside his New York apartment block.