From a young age, John Lennon showed a lot of promise as a talented musician. At the age of 21, Lennon and his bandmates from the Beatles made their first televised appearance in America, and kicked off their careers. The band took the world by storm in the 60s, winning countless Grammys and one Academy Award for their excellence as musicians. In their short time together, the Beatles managed to become the most successful band in the world, and continue to reign as the best selling artist of all time. They comfortably sit at the top of the list along with Elvis Presley and Eagles. Their most notable works include the songs “Hey Jude”, “Here Comes The Sun”, and “Yesterday.”
The Beatles parted ways in 1970, and similar to the rest of his bandmates, Lennon released his debut album as a solo artist later that year. Plastic Ono Band was produced by Lennon, his wife Yoko Ono, and Phil Spector. Spector is also responsible for producing record breaking albums for artists such as Cher, Tina Turner, and the Beatles themselves. The album was successful, however, his sophomore album, Imagine, sold more units, becoming one of his most famous works. According to Chartmasters, Lennon’s fifth studio album Double Fantasy was the second most successful album the artist released.
Alongside releasing music, Lennon and Ono, who he often collaborated with, were notable activists for peace. They were publically anti war and often protested peacefully against violence in America. The Vietnam War continued until the mid 70’s, and young men were drafted into the war despite the overwhelming majority of America’s youth resisting the war. In 1969, Yoko and Lennon held Bed-ins, in which they stayed in bed fully clothed for two weeks, and they hoped their peaceful way of protesting the war encouraged others to do so. This was met with some backlash because the public criticized the protest of being ineffective, however, it did not discourage the couple. Lennon also supported the Black Panther movement and wrote songs to show his support, including “Power to the People.”
In 1972, the couple released an album titled “Sometime In New York City” which included political songs advocating for the rights for many minorities, including Black Americans and Native Americans. The album also included their strong opinion against the persecution of the Irish and their anti war beliefs. This album was not successful, but it did not stop Lennon and Yoko from continuing their activism. Lennon wrote “Give Peace a Chance” for Plastic Ono Band to establish his stance as an anti violence artist.
Although his songs were political, Lennon didn’t affiliate with any particular political group. Listeners of Imagine and Sometime In New York City argued about his ties to Marxism and Socialism, however, Lennon was inspired by liberal views and then transitioned them into his own beliefs about human rights over any political party. He was also believed to be an atheist.
Lennon was famously a feminist and worked to destroy toxic masulinity that revolved around being too “manly” to advocate for women. He wrote “Woman” to acknowledge and to convey his kudos towards the women of the world, praising them abundantly for being strong. He talked about the song and the meaning he wanted to convey to the world in his final interview before his assassination, stating:
And the Woman song is to Yoko, but it’s to all women. And, because my role in society – or any artist or poet’s role – is to try to express what we all feel….And that’s what I’m tryin’ to express on behalf of all the men to all the women, through my own feelings about women – when it dawned on me, ‘God! It is the other half of the sky’ as the late-great Chairman MacDougal said, right? I mean, they are the other half of the sky, and without them there is nothing. And without us there’s nothing. There’s only the two together creating children, creating society…We’re all human. And, I am tryin’ to say it to Yoko, but to all women, you know? On behalf of all men, in a way. If that’s taken it too much on myself, I feel that artists are that – they’re reflections of society… Mirrors.
– John Lennon, December 8th, 1980
Lennon knew he had a platform, and he used it to his advantage. His fans followed in his footsteps in upholding his legacy as an activist and continue to look up to him. Lennon proved that he was not only a member of a boyband who wrote cliché love songs, but also a man with beliefs he held to be true. He paved the way for future rock artists and activists.
Yoko Ono continues to be an activist for peace. John Lennon would have turned 80 on October 9, 2020.
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