John Winston Ono Lennon was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who rose to such glorious, worldwide fame as a founder of The Beatles, being the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music, generally received good reviews from critics.

But when the group disbanded in 1970, he took up his own solo career. After this, he produced the iconic songs “Give Peace a Chance” and “Imagine”. Soon enough, in 1975 he detached from the music business to raise his infant son Sean with his wife Yoko Ono.

Although, in 1980 he re-emerged with Ono and his new album Double Fantasy, sadly, the legend was murdered three weeks after its release.

Around 10:50 pm on December 8, 1980, just as Lennon and Ono returned to their New York apartment, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times as he was about to go into the apartment building. Lennon was taken to the emergency room and was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 pm. The icon only being 40 years old. Strangely enough, Lennon signed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman earlier in the day.

Yoko made a statement the next day that there would be no funeral for John. She ended with the words, “John loved and prayed for the human race. Please do the same for him.” The famous artist’s body was cremated and Ono scattered the ashes in New York’s Central Park, where the Strawberry Fields memorial was later created.

Chapman Pleaded guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life. Now, in 2013, he still sits in jail being denied parole for the seventh time.

To some, war is the answer. To others peace will prevail and John Lennon was one of those people. In the end, when anyone thinks about it, John Lennon was a peaceful man. As Yoko said the day after his death, he loved and prayed for the human race.

In the Summer of 1969, at the height of the Vietnam Protest Movement, John wrote and recorded “Give Peace a Chance”. It quickly became a hit and encouraged a large collection of anti-war protests in the late 60’s and early 70’s. At this time, he was an important peace activist.

During the 1970’s, the Vietnam war was still under occurrence, and John was the kind of man who demanded attention when he spoke. People wanted to know what he was feeling and and his stance on certain issues such as this one. The famous christmas tune “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” was written to protest the U.S involvement in the bloody war.

Protests were largely noticed by the government, Lennon even experienced harassment from the CIA. 1973, he was sent a notice informing him that his “temporary stay in the United States was now over.” But, it was later overruled when President Nixon left office. When you think of influential protest singers, John Lennon was one of the most important.

This being one of the many reasons why it was so sad that Lennon was murdered. No one was ever going to be able to hear the man’s wise words again.

He was a peaceful, simple man, who was brought down by the thing he opposed the most. Violence and war. Lennon reminds many that everyone is equal, and all we’re saying is give peace a chance. He taught many to dream on and never give up your ideas because with a little hard work and elbow grease, anything is possible.

Some admire this legend, including teenagers amongst the student body.

“John Lennon is the kind of artist where you just can’t stop listening to his lyrics. It feels like when I listen to him or The Beatles they can just change how I feel. “ -Spencer Papuga , Sophomore

“John Lennon had a whole different outlook on rock n’ roll, how he played his music, and inspired a lot of other artists.” -Lauren Monsour, Sophomore

“He is amazing. He helped shape a whole new generation in the 60’s. He helped bands make goals, but no other artist could come close to John’s work. He was a fantastic peace activist. John is one of my idols, for the good reasons and not the bad. He lived his life at such a fast pace and didn’t care what anyone thought of him.” – Grace Penzera , Junior

“John Lennon used his music for good. He tried to make a movement of peace through his music so everyone could connect to it and he succeeded. ” – Sam Cawood, Senior