Latest Release
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- 9 OCT 2023
- 10 Songs
- Imagine · 1971
- Rock 'N' Roll · 1975
- Double Fantasy: Stripped Down · 1980
- Imagine · 1971
- Imagine · 1971
- Double Fantasy: Stripped Down · 1980
- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band · 1970
- John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band · 1970
- Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes (Deluxe Edition) · 1970
- Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes (Deluxe Edition) · 1970
Essential Albums
- Imagine features more lavish production than Lennon's minimalistic solo debut, but its emotions are just as hard-hitting. The title track's canny blend of iconoclasm and utopianism is set to one of his most heartrending melodies, but its neighbours are equally impressive. Lennon's rejection of political tricksters on the stomping, growling "Gimme Some Truth" is invigorated by George Harrison's signature slide licks. The notorious "How Do You Sleep?"—set to ominous strings and jagged guitars—remains one of the most scathing excoriations ever waxed.
- 1984
- 1975
- 1974
- 1973
- 2014
- 2014
- 2014
Artist Playlists
- Artist. Activist. Icon.
- The honest Beatle's passion is delivered with warm intensity.
- His expressive gifts make these love songs timeless.
- Lean back and relax with some of their mellowest cuts.
- Urgent rock, romantic anthems and ear-bending psychedelia.
- Old-school rock ‘n' roll shaped this celebrated songwriter.
Singles & EPs
- 1971
Live Albums
Compilations
More To Hear
- John Lennon can rest knowing Yoko Ono finally got her credit.
- A dip into the songbooks of Annie Clark and former Beatle.
- Sean Ono Lennon shares stories of his dad's music and legacy.
- Dipping into the songbooks of Annie Clark and former Beatle.
- The British breakout artist talks her debut album, Empress.
- Jay Watson [GUM] picks the 5 Best Songs on Apple Music.
About John Lennon
Disregard any hyperbole about John Lennon and The Beatles being the most important thing to ever happen to popular music and ask yourself: How many artists can you name whose work has left people so energized and divided more than 40 years after their death? “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” most people probably agree on. But what about the agony of “Mother”, or the trio of borderline-amusical experiments he released with Yoko Ono in 1968 and 1969? Lennon revolutionised pop, yes—especially when it came to the scope, depth, and range of subject and feeling we could expect in it. But he also demonstrated that revolution takes risk, and that real risk is, by nature, messy. In an interview a couple of months before he was murdered in 1980, he said that people who were still hung up on the idea that The Beatles had answers in the '80s was like being hung up on swing bands or World War II. The only way to stay ahead of the game was to accept that everything—everything—is unknown. He was born in Liverpool, in October 1940. His childhood was unsettled. His teenage skiffle band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles, where he played the tough, questioning poet to Paul McCartney’s dreamy romantic. His solo songs were skeptical of religion (“God”, “Imagine”) and no more inspired by the politics on Earth (“Instant Karma,” “Working Class Hero”). They could be nasty (“Cold Turkey”), petty (“Whatever Gets You Through the Night”) and at times comically self-interested (“How?”). But they could also summon an innocence so direct and unpretentious it felt less like he was performing than confiding you in (“Love”). And yet even as he drew you into his soft, private world, he projected on a global, rock-star scale. Either he was very different from everyone else, or pretty much the same—only, of course, with the gift and tenacity to express what that means.
- HOMETOWN
- Liverpool, England
- BORN
- 9 October 1940
- GENRE
- Rock