John Lennon consists of John Winston.
John Winston Lennon (later John Ono Lennon) ( October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) was best known as a singer, songwriter, poet and guitarist for the British rock band The Beatles. His creative career also included the roles of solo musician, political activist, artist, actor and author. As half of the legendary Lennon-McCartney songwriting team, he heavily influenced the development of rock music, leading it towards more advanced, multi-layered arrangements, mature lyrical sentiments, and musical eclecticism.
He is recognized as one of the greatest music icons of the 20th century and many of his songs, such as Imagine and Strawberry Fields Forever, are often ranked among the best songs in popular music history. In 2002, the BBC conducted a vote to discover the 100 Greatest Britons of all time, and the British public voted Lennon into 8th place.
Lennon was born in Liverpool 9 October 1940. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and experience, though neither pursued music seriously. Lennon lived with his parents in Liverpool until his father Alfred (nicknamed Alf, and later "Freddy"), a merchant seaman, walked out on the family when John was five years old (John later met with his father during his musical career). His mother Julia (under pressure from the local authorities) decided that she was unable to care for her son, and so gave him to her sister Mimi. Throughout the rest of his childhood and adolescence, Lennon lived with his aunt Mimi and her husband George at Mendips, 251 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool.
Like much of the population of Liverpool, Lennon had some Irish heritage. His grandfather, James Lennon, was born in Dublin in 1858; and his grandmother, Mary ( née Maguire), was Irish-born as well. John Lennon's mother, Julia (née Stanley), was of Welsh descent. Although she never knew in her lifetime, Julia was in fact lineally descended from Thomas, Lord Stanley (1435-1504), who commanded a wing of the army which overthrew Richard III at Bosworth Field in August 1485 [ citation needed]. While Lennon had little exposure to his Irish heritage growing up, he came to identify with it later in life. He lived in the working class section of Liverpool, from which the Beatles emerged.
