John Lennon

John is the only child of Alfred Lennon and Julia Stanley. John's father, Alfred, was often away at sea for months at a time. When Julia became pregnant in the summer of 1940, Alfred continued to send money for her support. But Alfred stopped doing so when John was almost two years old. Alfred had disappeared. Julia and Alfred divorced, and Julia's sisters helped her care for the baby. When John was four years old, his mother met a new man. John subsequently went to live with his childless aunt Mimi and uncle George Smith Lennon on a farm. It was here that Lennon received his first harmonica from his uncle.

Together with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they formed The Beatles. In the early stages of their career, they captured the hearts of thousands of teenage girls with their love songs. This eventually came to be known as Beatlemania. But later, the songwriters Lennon and McCartney wanted to speak out more about social issues such as the Vietnam War, money and nuclear weapons.

Lennon met Yoko Ono, an avant-garde artist. After this, Lennon became increasingly radical in his songwriting. Lennon left his then-wife and married Yoko in 1969.

The Beatles remain the best-selling band in history to date. They have sold more than 600 million records worldwide. The Beatles received 10 Grammy Awards, 1 Oscar for Best Original Music and 15 Ivor Novello Awards.

Among the most well-known songs of The Beatles are I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Yesterday, Michelle, Yellow Submarine, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, All You Need Is Love, Hey Jude, Let It Be, Help!, Penny Lane, In My Life, Here Comes the Sun, Strawberry Fields Forever and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A Hard Day's Night (1964), Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968) and Abbey Road (1969) were highlights of their career. The standout among these was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.