By the age of five the future musician was abandoned by his mother, Julia, and was raised by his aunt and uncle, who became substitute parents and a new family for Lennon. Although he would later have a good relationship with his mother, until her untimely death when John Lennon was just 17, her absence would forever scar him and would serve as a source of inspiration for his songs. He was surely the class clown growing up, and his dry, sarcastic, often cruel sense of humour would be remembered by his former classmates. He liked to joke, but often took things too far and ended up hurting even his closest friends, as was the case with the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein.
In the beginning he was a great Elvis Presley fan and used to cut his hair in the same manner as his idol, and even try to copy his clothing. Only later he would discover artists such as Buddy Holly, a huge later influence, and the one who convinced Lennnon, who was near-sighted, to finally start wearing his glasses in public. Although he would never wear them on stage with The Beatles.
Althought he is nowadays considered one of the most respected and original rock composers and musicians of all times, Lennon severely lacked trust in himself and often confessed that he was unhappy mainly with the way his voice sounded. Even if his recordings with The Beatles, as well as his solo work, were successful, it was almost a nightmare working in the studio with Lennon. At one time, after several takes on the same song, still unsatisfied, he was reported asking his producer "Couldn't you cover my voice with ketchup or something?"
He was a great Monopoly fan and often played it during recording breaks, on tours, on the bus or airplane, as long as he could find worthy opponents, or even any opponent. Lennon usually won, for he was really passionate about the game, but it wasn't such a problem when he lost. He simply anounced he was the real winner, as he had managed to buy at least one of his favourite properties.
John Lennon loved art and one of his favourite painters was Henri Matisse.
The musician loved animals and was especially fond of cats, and even had one he called The King, during his Elvis fan-boy years.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married on March 20th 1969 in Gibraltar, and a little while later Lennon also adopted the surname Ono. So he would officially be John Winston Ono Lennon.
He was a fan of classical rock'n'roll and in 1975 released an album with '50s and '60s covers, such as Stand By Me by Ben E. King, Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry or Peggy Sue by Buddy Holly.
Photo: usatoday.com, legends1027.com
May 2016
