Top 100 John Lennon Facts You Might Not Know

1- The best lyric Lennon ever wrote: A friend once asked John the best lyric he ever wrote.  “That’s easy”, replied Lennon, “All you need is love”.

2- John was expelled from school for misbehaviour at age 5.

3- By age fifteen, John was a big fan of Elvis Presley.

4-  In his teenage years, Lennon’s aunt and parental guardian, Mimi Smith, would express doubts of his success, saying “The guitar’s all very well, John, but you’ll never make a living at it.”

5- As a teen, Lennon considered himself a Teddy Boy.

6 – Without glasses, John was legally blind.

7- John’s favourite colour was green.

8- When Lennon lived in America, the FBI studied all of his lyrics and analyzed all television appearances in an effort to find a legal reason to deport him.

9 John’s favourite foods were corn flakes, bread, and vegetarian dishes.

10 After suffering a gastric flu, Lennon went on a liquid-diet for 40 days, reading cookbooks the entire time to curb his hunger.

11- Lennon tried to get in touch with his father, Alfred, a week after Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, passed away from an overdose.

12- Lennon said the song “Help!” was a true cry for help.

13- John had a strong affection for cats, at one time owning as many as six of them.

14- John formed his first band, The Quarrymen in 1956.

15- Early in the Beatles’ career, Lennon would sing half the set with a humorous French, German or Mexican accent.

16- 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 was crazy about the properties “Boardwalk” and “Park Place”.  He reportedly didn’t generally care too much if he lost the game, as long as he had “Boardwalk” and “Park Place” in his possession.

16- John was 15 when he met Paul McCartney, who was 14.

17- In the late ’60’s, John purchased his own island of the coast of Ireland.

18- Lennon and Yoko made their first art performance together at London’s Royal Albert Hall in an opaque white sack, contorting their bodies in silence on stage.

19- The Beatles producer, George Martin, once said Lennon was a “completely impractical man.”

20- While on a yacht in the Bermuda Triangle, Lennon survived a storm with 65 mph winds and 20 foot high waves.

image source : http://nightflight.com/night-flights-1988-john-lennon-video-profile-sailing-into-the-bermuda-triangle-on-borrowed-time/

21-  After a reporter called him “the fat Beatle” in 1965, he ate very little.

22- Though many critics believed Lennon could have been a successful film star, Lennon wasn’t interested in acting as he considered it an even more confiding lifestyle than that of a Beatle.

23- In 1965, John wrote the biographical songs, “I’m a Loser,” “Help,” and “Nowhere Man.”

24- He wanted his first wife, Cynthia Pwell, to resemble Brigitte Bardot; when she cut her hair short, he refused to speak to her for two days.

25- Lennon later became a cooking enthusiast and often made lunches for his entire staff.

26- He read Timothy Leary et al’s ‘The Psychedelic Experience’ from beginning to end in the middle of a bookstore.

27- He drank 20-30 cups of tea or coffee daily

28- John saw his father for the first time in seventeen years in 1964.

29- As a child, Lennon preferred receiving paint boxes, pencils and paper than toys.

30- The most time Lennon spent with Cynthia after marrying her was on a weekend called “Operation Cynthia,” where he planned to turn her on to LSD.

31- John frequently chose to wear no clothing, even when he had visitors in his home.

32- Lennon demanded Yoko to write him a list of everyone she had slept with.

33- Harmonica was the first instrument Lennon learned to play.

34- In 1967, Lennon bought Dorinish Island, off the coast of Ireland. He soon invited a group of hippies to establish a commune there, which thrived for two years, at which point a fire destroyed many of their supplies. After Lennon’s death, Yoko Ono sold the island.

35- The Beatles were the first to feature the “devil horns” rock hand on an album cover.

36- Lennon was extremely self-conscious of his big nose growing up.

37- John Lennon was a big fan of ‘Please Please Me’ by Bing Crosby and in fact the Beatles song, ‘Please lend a little ear to my pleas’ was an inspiration from the same Crosby song. In 1978, Yoko Ono, his second wife had gifted Lennon a vintage Bubbletop, and according to media reports Lennon had loaded his new ride with as many Bing 78 rpm records as he could.

38- Henri Matisse was one of his favourite painters.

39- Lennon called McCartney’s songs “granny music” after the Beatles split and bickering began

40- Lennon was a terrible driver, only getting his license at age 25, then crashing his infamous psychedelic Rolls Royce (above) just two years later, injuring himself, Yoko Ono and each of their children. After that, he gave up driving for good.

41- Although Paul McCartney was the first to announce his departure from the band, it was Lennon who came with the first Solo Performance, after the breakup of the Fab Four. It was in December 1968 when he made his first non-Beatle appearance with the Rolling Stones, which was followed by another performance in September the following year at the Live Peace Toronto Show.

42 When George Harrison lost his virginity, Lennon, McCartney and former Beatles’ drummer, Pete Best, were in the same room as him.

43 After spending the five years between 1975 and 1980 retired from music, Lennon was compelled to make music again after hearing Paul McCartney’s 1980 single “Coming Up” and realizing that he actually liked it and had better get recording again himself.

44 His father, Alfred, was the mascot for his school’s soccer team.

45 When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi asked Lennon why he was leaving early, he responded “Well, if you’re so cosmic, you should know why.”

46  Lennon spoke of his relationship with Yoko as “different from anything before. This is more than a hit record. It’s more than gold. It’s more than anything.”

47 Later in life, Lennon discovered he has dyslexia.

48 He refereed to ‘Rubber Soul’ as “the pot album” and ‘Revolver’ as “the acid album.”

49 Lennon’s former primary schoolmate said “If ever there was a scrap in the school yard, John was likely to be involved.”

50 When asked about the uproar in America over his “more popular than Jesus” comment, Lennon responded, “There are more people in America, so there are more bigots also.”

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