It was 40 years ago today when John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota building, his residence in New York City.
Lennon was 40 years old. This year he would have turned 80. His killer is still in jail and will most likely never be released.
John’s death came right as a resurgence in his recording career. In 1975 John “retired” to become a house-husband and raise his baby boy Sean. His wife Yoko Ono looked after the family business and turned those Beatle royalties into a very large fortune.
On 17 November 1980 John and Yoko released ‘Double Fantasy’. John’s previous album was the covers record ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ in 1975 and his last original album was ‘Walls and Bridges’ in 1974. ‘Double Fantasy’ was a comeback record but it was initially raised little interest. It received negative reviews upon release and two weeks after it came out looked like it was going to fall right out of the chart. Then tragedy struck. Lennon was murdered and the outpouring of fans returned the album to the charts, the songs became hits and ‘Double Fantasy’ is now considered one of John’s finest works.
The album was a deeply personal record, which was why it maybe didn’t initially connect with fans. The comeback announcement single ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ picked up some airplay but John’s death sent it soaring to number one around the world. It became his biggest selling single ever.
The second single was ‘Woman’ in January 1981. John had chosen the song to be the second single prior to his death. It was a song about “Yoko and all women”.
The third (and final) ‘Double Fantasy’ single was ‘Watching The Wheels’, released in Match 1981. The song was about his ‘house-husband’ years looking after Sean.
The ‘Double Fantasy’ sessions were so productive that they generated enough for two albums. Songs not used on ‘Double Fantasy’ became the final John Lennon album ‘Milk and Honey’, released in 1984.
The Lennon family acknowledge John’s life on October 8, his birthday. At 80 this year, the family celebrated with the release of the ‘Gimme Some Truth’ box set. A John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band book was also released. A box set of the ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ album has been delayed and is now expected in 2021.
