Young Photos of John Lennon

British singer, songwriter, and activist John Lennon was born to be a star. His impact on culture and the music industry is one that still affects society today. Born in 1940, Lennon’s first few years of his adolescence weren’t the best. Very early in his life, Lennon had to experience the separation of his parents, a somewhat absent father, and the unforeseen death of his mother. But despite his tragic beginnings, his natural gifts and talent could not be hidden. 

From his adolescence, Lennon had an apparent interest in music and that attraction clearly grew into a passion as he got older. Before the passing of his mother, it was her that taught him how to play the banjo along with being the one to buy his first guitar. During his teenage years, Lennon got involved with a skiffle group called The Quarrymen which eventually evolved into the world-famous group The Beatles. 

While still playing as The Quarrymen, the band did small gigs at dances, parties, and skiffle contests. It was after they changed their name to The Beatles in early 1960 and gained their manager Brian Epstein that the group began their path to stardom. While every member made important contributions to the success of the band, Lennon was a clear-cut musical genius. As the co-lead vocalist of the band, many of The Beatles' most popular songs were written by his truly. Number one hits such as “Come Together," “Help!," “A Hard Day’s Night,” “All You Need Is Love," “I Feel Fine," and “Ticket To Ride” stemmed from the creative mind of Lennon. 

As time went on, Lennon eventually built a songwriting partnership with bass guitarist Paul McCartney. Together the pair wrote lyrics for over 200 songs and agreed to share credit for all the songs they wrote. The band as the world knew it eventually disbanded in 1970 with Lennon the first to depart. However, his post-Beatles era did not mean he stopped making music and was no longer successful. He went on to still make top hits such as one of his most well-known songs to date, “Imagine.” 

During this time Lennon also became more heavily involved with political activism. With the intensity of the Vietnam War at the forefront of the global stage, Lennon was very open about protesting and tended to implement anti-war themes into his music. His song “Give Peace A Chance” was adopted as the anthem of the anti-war movement and his face became well known worldwide solely because of his loud calls for peace. 

After a brief hiatus to focus on his family and personal struggles, Lennon recorded the album Double Fantasy which he released in November 1980. On December 8 of that year, Lennon recorded his last song “Walking On Thin Ice" before he was tragically assassinated later that night. 

More than 40 years after his untimely passing, Lennon’s legacy still lives on. His impact on music and culture is unquestionable, and he will forever be remembered as one of the music industry’s greatest. As we remember the late Lennon, L’OFFICIEL celebrates the release of the Beatles' final song "Now and Then" — and their first "new" song since 1995 — by looking back at Lennon's earlier years.