【明報專訊】Shock, disbelief, denial and anger ... these must have been reactions to the news that one of the greatest musicians ever born was murdered in cold blood 34 years ago today. To many of his fans, the assassination of John Lennon (約翰連儂) was so appalling that it was for ever imprinted on the mind.
1. Early life and the Beatles
John Lennon was born in Liverpool (利物浦), England. Having decided to become a musician after hearing Elvis Presley's (貓王皮禮士利的) recordings, he formed in 1957 the band that became the Beatles (披頭四), the most popular rock band in history.
John Lennon collaborated closely with his band-mate Paul McCartney (保羅麥卡尼), and together they wrote most of the Beatles' songs. The rock band enjoyed enormous success and huge popularity.
But Lennon's disagreements with his band-mates and his relationship with Yoko Ono (小野洋子), an avant-garde (前衛) artist who would become his wife, led to the band's break-up in 1970.
2. Solo career
John Lennon pursued a solo career after the separation of the Beatles. He also became increasingly involved in political activism. He continued to write and sing songs, especially those about peace and love, including Give Peace a Chance (which was widely adopted as an anti-Vietnam-War anthem) and Imagine.
Lennon and Ono moved to New York in 1971. His involvement in political activism as well as his opposition to the Nixon (尼克遜) administration drew the attention of the US government, which started a four-year attempt to deport him. Lennon finally got his green card (綠卡) in June 1976.
3. The assassination
On 8 December 1980 John Lennon was killed by a deranged (精神失常的) fan called Mark David Chapman in New York near the building he had lived in. He had then just ended a 5-year break from music (to take care of his son Sean Lennon) and released the album Double Fantasy, which he had made in collaboration with Ono.
Earlier that day Lennon gave an interview at home to a photographer, who did a photo shoot for the magazine Rolling Stone (《滾石雜誌》). At 5:50 pm he and Ono left his apartment for a studio for the mixing of a song. Before he got on his limousine (豪華轎車), he was approached by several fans asking for his autograph (簽名). One of them was Chapman. He silently handed Lennon a copy of Double Fantasy. After signing the album, Lennon asked, "Is this all you want?" Chapman smiled and nodded.
Lennon spent a few hours with Ono at the studio, and returned home at around 10:50 pm. Chapman had been lurking nearby. As soon as Lennon got off his limousine, Chapman took aim directly at the centre of his back and fired at him five hollow-point bullets. Two of them struck him in the left side of his back, and another two penetrated his left shoulder. Lennon was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chapman was arrested subsequently. A deeply religious man, he confessed that, though he was once a fan of Lennon, he became disillusioned when Lennon proclaimed the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Chapman's resentment towards Lennon also originated from the fact that, despite his egalitarian ideas, he was a millionaire.
Chapman was sentenced to 20-year-to-life imprisonment, and is still incarcerated at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in New York.
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