1- The last time he saw Paul was April 24, 1976.
Paul was visiting him at John’s New York apartment. They were watching “Saturday Night Live” together when producer Lorne Michaels, as a gag, offered the Beatles $3,000 to come on the show. John and Paul almost took a cab to the show, but finally decided against it.
2- He wanted to write a book of children’s stories.
In numerous interviews, Lennon said he hoped to write a book of children’s stories when he was old and retired from music.
3- He was raised by his Aunt Mimi.
Lennon’s father Fred Lennon, a merchant seaman, left when John was just five years old. His mother, then pregnant with John’s half-sister Julia, handed John over to her sister. Mimi was intolerant of his aspirations as a rocker.
4- He was a big animal lover.
Lennon was a big-time animal lover, owning dogs and mostly cats his entire life. As a child, he had a cat named Elvis, and he’d go on to own a total of 17 during his life.
5- His last performance was with Elton John.
In what would be his final major concert appearance, Lennon joined John for a performance of their hit single, plus the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”
In 1974, John and Elton made a bet: If their collaboration single “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” hit No. 1 on the charts, then Lennon would join John onstage at Madison Square Garden. Lennon lost the bet. In what would be his final major concert appearance, Lennon joined John for a performance of their hit single, plus the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”
6- A friend once asked John the best lyric he ever wrote.
That’s easy”, replied Lennon, “All you need is love”.
He sometimes slept in a coffin.
According to Allan Williams, an early manager for the Beatles, John liked to sleep in an old coffin. Williams had the old coffin on the premises of his coffee bar “The Jacaranda”. As a gag, John would frequently nap in it.
He loved to play “Monopoly”.
During his Beatle days, John was a devout Monopoly player. He had his own Monopoly set he’d bring with him and often played in his hotel room or on planes.
He hated his own voice.
One of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, John Lennon, hated his own voice and loved to double-track his records. He would often ask the Beatles producer, George Martin, to cover the sound of his voice.
He was the last Beatle to learn how to drive.
John got his driver’s license at the age of 24 (Feb. 15, 1965). This late attempt at driving seems to be for good reason- he was a terrible driver. He finally gave up driving after he totaled his Aston-Martin in 1969 on a trip to Scotland with his wife, Yoko Ono, his son, Julian, and Kyoko, Ono’s daughter.
He was a choir boy and a boy scout.
John Lennon started his singing career as a choir boy at St. Peter’s church and was a member of the 3rd Allerton Boy Scout troop.
