dec 8
1966
Working at Abbey Road in London, Paul McCartney overdubbed his lead vocal for ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’. Then The Beatles set about remaking a new John Lennon song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’
1967
The Beatles released the album Magical Mystery Tour in the United States.
1980
John Lennon autographed an album for a man in the morning. At 10:50 that night, as John and wife Yoko returned to their apartment in The Dakota, New York City, the man came back and shot Lennon four times in the back. Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 at Roosevelt Hospital in New York. A sobbing Yoko cried “Oh no, no, no, no… tell me it’s not true,” and was led away in shock.
Just two months after his 40th birthday, John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman, who remained at the scene, reading his copy of The Catcher in the Rye and read it until the police arrived to arrest him. He confessed it was for the fame. he remains in jail in 2017 – Yoko Ono attending every parole hearing.
Much of America learned of the tragedy from ABC-TV, which was in the midst of airing an NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. Announcer Howard Cosell, who had interviewed Lennon years earlier, announced the news of the murder: “This, we have to say it, is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival.”
When asked why he decided to target Lennon, Chapman said he couldn’t resist the fame that would come with the crime. “That bright light of fame, of infamy, notoriety was there,” he said. “I couldn’t resist it.”
2000
Although he had denounced The Beatles’ music as “decadent” in the 1960s, Cuban President Fidel Castro attends the unveiling of a statue of John Lennon in Havana’s El Vedado Park on the 20th anniversary of singer’s murder.
2010
Several hundred people with candles and glow sticks braved cold temperatures to sing John Lennon songs next to a peace monument in Liverpool, England. In New York, hundreds of fans gathered in Central Park, near the spot where Lennon was shot. Flowers were laid in the Strawberry Fields area of Central Park, which was converted to a memorial garden after his death.
2016
On the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, Yoko Ono continued her plea for gun control in the United States with a Facebook posting that said, “Dear Friends, every day, 91 Americans are killed with guns. We are turning this beautiful country into a War Zone. Together, let’s bring back America, the green land of Peace. The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 36 years, our son Sean and I still miss him.”
2025
https://nypost.com/2025/12/07/us-news/g ... niversary/
Wife of John Lennon killer Mark David Chapman spotted with wedding ring before 45th anniversary of assassination
https://people.com/inside-john-lennon-death-11863420
Revisiting John Lennon's Death, 45 Years Later: What to Know About His Shocking Murder
John Lennon was 40 years old when he was fatally shot 45 years ago on Dec. 8, 1980
By Nicole Briese
People Editorial Guidelines
and Caroline Blair Published on December 8, 2025 10:50AM EST
John Lennon was 40 years old when he was killed in New York City on Dec. 8, 1980
The musician was shot by Mark David Chapman, who confessed to killing Lennon at the crime scene
Lennon was survived by his wife, Yoko Ono, and two children
John Lennon was fatally shot 45 years ago, but his legacy continues to live on.
The former Beatles musician was shot and killed outside of his New York City apartment, the Dakota, on Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40 years old.
Shortly after Lennon was shot, his killer, Mark David Chapman, confessed at the scene of the crime. He later told a parole board that he was a Beatles fan “seeking fame.” "I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil,” he said in September 2022. “I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life."
Lennon was survived by his wife, Yoko Ono, and two sons, Julian and Sean Lennon, who have worked hard to keep the late musician's legacy alive.
"I remembered him as a kid — goofy, funny, sarcastic, charming," Julian told PEOPLE after watching the 2021 documentary series The Beatles: Get Back. "I fell in love with him again because that was the guy I remember before it all went pear-shaped."
Here’s everything to know about John Lennon’s death.
How did John Lennon die?
On Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon was shot twice in the back and twice in the shoulder with a .38-caliber pistol. The Washington Post reported that N.Y.C.’s medical examiner, Dr. Elliot Gross, attributed Lennon’s death to “massive hemorrhaging and shock” caused by the wounds.
According to the autopsy, two bullets struck Lennon's left lung before exiting his chest. One bullet that entered through his shoulder hit his left arm bone, while the other punctured his left lung before becoming lodged in his neck.
When did John Lennon die?
Lennon is believed to have died moments after being shot. According to the Associated Press, the singer was shot at 10:50 p.m. He was brought to nearby Roosevelt Hospital less than 10 minutes later and was pronounced dead upon arrival.
"Death occurred within a very short time," Gross said two days later, noting that Lennon was "essentially pulseless" when he arrived at the hospital.
Where did John Lennon die?
Lennon was shot outside of his apartment building, the Dakota, on Central Park West in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He was pronounced dead at the nearby Roosevelt Hospital.
Who killed John Lennon?
Longtime Beatles fan Mark David Chapman, an out-of-work security guard living in Hawaii, pleaded guilty to shooting Lennon in June 1981. He reportedly confessed just moments after the incident, telling the panicked doorman, “I just shot John Lennon,” according to The Washington Post.
Chapman and Lennon had crossed paths earlier in the day when the Beatles fan obtained the artist's autograph on a copy of the album Double Fantasy. The Hawaii native had bought the gun three months prior and traveled to N.Y.C. to commit the crime.
In 2020, Chapman told a parole board that he was motivated by jealousy. “My thinking was he has all of this money, lives in this beautiful apartment and he is into music representing a more cautious lifestyle, a more giving lifestyle," he told the board, according to ABC News. "It made me angry and jealous compared to the way I was living at the time. There was jealousy in there."
He added, “I assassinated him ... because he was very, very, very famous and that's the only reason.”
What did John Lennon do on the day of his death?
On the day of his death, Lennon and Ono shot a cover for Rolling Stone with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, who took photos of the couple in their N.Y.C. home. (Three days earlier, Rolling Stone’s Jonathan Cott interviewed Lennon for more than nine hours; their conversation was not published in full until 2010.)
In the photo, the “Imagine” singer is fully nude and wrapping his body around Ono, who is fully clothed. “We were feeling comfortable because it was Annie, whom we respected and trusted, so John seemed not to have any problem taking off his clothes,” Ono told the publication in 2004. The image was later named one of the best magazine covers of the previous 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors.
That day, Lennon also sat down for an interview with RKO Radio before leaving for the Record Plant, a recording studio in N.Y.C.
Prior to his departure, he signed a copy of his album Double Fantasy for Chapman outside of the Dakota. Another fan, photographer Paul Goresh, captured a photo of Lennon next to Chapman. These would be the last photos taken of the musician, and Ono later asked Goresh for the photos, he recalled to NJ.com in 2015.
"Somehow that photo was harder for me to look at than the death photo," Ono later wrote to fans in The New York Times and The Washington Post. "John was in a hurry that afternoon. He did not have to give his autograph but he did, while the man watched him, the man who was to betray John later."
Who was with John Lennon when he died?
Ono was with Lennon at the time of his death. According to The Washington Post, the couple pulled up to the Dakota in a limousine and exited together before walking toward the doorway of their building. Lennon turned back when he heard someone calling his name, at which point he was shot.
"When John fell right beside me, I felt like we were in a guerilla war, not knowing who or where the enemy was," Ono later wrote.
What were John Lennon’s last words?
Witnesses have claimed that Lennon’s last words were “I’m shot,” said just moments before the former Beatle collapsed.
His last words to his widow were more tender, however. Ono told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that on the way home from the studio, she had suggested grabbing dinner before returning home, but Lennon replied, “No, let’s go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.”
How did the public react to John Lennon’s death?
After Lennon’s death, fans congregated outside of his residence. As one man who showed up to the Dakota told NPR: “I took it ... as a personal loss. The man changed my life, you know, and I just had to come here to make sure it's true. I don't even know why I'm standing here. It's amazing. I just can't believe it.”
A silent vigil was also held in Lennon’s honor on Dec. 15, 1980; Ono invited the public to participate “from wherever” they were at the time. Around 100,000 people turned up to honor the Beatle together in N.Y.C.’s Central Park, according to The Washington Post. Another 2,000 gathered in Chicago, and a memorial concert for 30,000 was held in Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool, England.
A memorial titled “Strawberry Fields” was later placed in Central Park.
What legacy did John Lennon leave behind?
In addition to his many musical accolades — Lennon himself has seven Grammys, including a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Beatles remain the best-selling group of all time — he made a lasting impression on his loved ones.
"When John died, it was so difficult," bandmate Paul McCartney said in December 2022. "It was difficult for everyone in the world because he was such a loved character and such a crazy guy. He was so special."
In addition to the copious tributes and memorials established in his name, in 1997, Ono created the John Lennon Award with the BMI Foundation, which offers scholarships to aspiring songwriters and composers.
Lennon’s legacy also lives on through his two sons, Julian and Sean, who continue to honor his memory in their own music; his wife Ono; and his remaining bandmates, McCartney and Ringo Starr. (George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.)
Where is John Lennon’s killer now?
Chapman has been in prison since he was arrested after the shooting. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in June 1981 and was sentenced to 20 years to life two months later.
During his time behind bars, Chapman has applied for parole more than a dozen times. He was most recently denied parole in March 2024 and August 2025. His next scheduled parole board hearing is slated for February 2027, per The Times.
Ono has opposed Chapman's release over the years. In 2015, she told The Daily Beast, “He did it once, he could do it again, to somebody else. It could be me, it could be Sean, it could be anybody, so there is that concern."
In 2022, Chapman was transferred from the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, N.Y., to Green Haven Correctional Facility in Beekman, N.Y., per court records.