Do you remember hearing that John Lennon was murdered and what was your reaction?

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/0...non/index.html

I'm getting a sense of deja vu..

Yup.. It was announced in Assembly. I was in the 2nd year at Secondary school... I remember a few teachers crying. It was a very sad day.

I was 5 years old at the time. I have vague recollections of first seeing Lennon's death reported by John Craven on Newsround.

I sort of knew who he was, but it didn't really mean much to me at the time.

Yes, I remember it very clearly. I heard about his death on Radio 1 when I woke up, and went to tell my mother. She said something along the lines of "well, he led a degenerate life and took drugs so what do you expect?" and I didn't speak to her for a day or two! My boyfriend (at the time) and I were diehard fans of John Lennon and I still think about him (John Lennon, not the boyfriend!) on this day each year.

Edited to add: actually, the time I'm posting is JL's birthday - the anniversary of his death is in about two hours (British time).

I was 12 and knew that he had been a Beatle, but it didn't seem as big a deal as when Elvis died a few years earlier.

I remember our teacher being quite moved and asking the class if they could name all of the Beatles, we got John, Paul and Ringo but not George.

I was 11. I remember I was knitting or crocheting something in front of the TV, quite early in the morning, when I saw the news.
I knew he was a Beatle and that it was a big deal. And I remember so so vividly how the music charts were dominated by him that Christmas and well into the New Year.

I wasn't born when John died. I wasn't born until 12 years later, and thank God. I know it would have been one of the most awful days. I can't believe it happened and people had to endure it.

I read a while back the number of suicides that followed his death. It's terrible... something like 8 in one city!


<3 John Lennon.

I even remember when Buddy Holly died! It didn't mean much to me at the time but I remember people crying at school. I remember seeing the TV programmes interrupted while we all waited to see if President Kennedy would survive and the worldwide shock when he died. The biggie for me was Elvis - I just loved him, I cried for days.

I haven't felt that way since but I always have sympathy for people when their heroes die, such as Freddie Mercury or Michael Jackson. I know how their fans will be feeling.

I clearly remember the news of John Lennon's death. I can even remember lying in bed and the Radio 4 announcer saying "and we are waking up to the shock news that John Lennon has been shot dead in New York". After JFK, then Bobby Kennedy, then Martin Luther King, I thought "bloody hell, now they're even shooting ours!" What a very tragic way for him to go, such a waste of talent.

I remember it vividly. I was at boarding school at the time and the housemasters son told us at breakfast. For me my breakfast tasted like ash, I just didn't want to eat or drink. School was a daze. I was in total shock and just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.

We were watching the news on the little telly that later got used for computer games.

Wasn't his Birthday in October?

Lennon died a year before I was born, but I'm sure it would have rocked me just as when I heard John Peel died. A horrible day.

This was indeed a very sad day when Lennon was killed. I was too young to remember it, but grew up loving the Beatles and John's solo work.

I've often wondered though if the Beatles would have re-formed in the 1980's because Lennon was beginning to show proper signs of improvement with his song writing and was embarking on a big comeback album for release in 1981 and with the break up of Paul McCartney's Wings, I'm 50/50 sure a one-off Beatles reunion would have happened at some point.

Lennon as well would have probably continued to make great music on his own or with Yoko and perhaps even a duet with his son Julian would have been on the cards as well.

A real shame John Lennon was killed though and a huge loss to the music industry and still is today.

I was 6 months from being conceived. :S

Yes, October 9th.

Capital Radio - Mike Smith said he'd died.

Didn't affect me, or anyone I knew, at all (I was 16).

Not aware of any sadness on the streets.

A friend of mine (somewhat older) was in the 6th Form at school when Otis Redding died. He recalls how upset everyone was.

I would have been as well if I was that age.

Otis would have meant more to me that Lennon/The Beatles ever did.

My boss recalls the paper girl coming into the newsagent the day John died. She picked up a paper, and of course the front headline "Beatle John Lennon Shot Dead". She burst into tears there in the shop and collapsed to the ground. Apparently he saw customers do the same thing all day long.

My mum remembers people in the street in the early hours of the morning. Neighbours were all hugging each other and crying. John was singing all over the radio and my mum didn't go to work (apparently not many people did). And apparently all day long people in the street would pass each other and cry and hug.

And my Aunt remembers her teacher crying all through the lesson and listening to the Beatles all lesson. And the class all drew pictures of him and some said prayers for John.

I wasn't born until 1994. I cried for John this morning with my mum. I don't know HOW I would have reacted if I'd been there.

Yes, I was at university. Someone told me on the street and then I rushed back to my flat to tell my then boyfriend who was a huge fan (as I am but him more so) and we listened to the radio. It was a big shock.

I was only eight at the time, but I remember my family, teachers and adults in general all being in shock at the news. And, of course, it received blanket coverage across the world.

I found this on Youtube recently, It's a random scan of New York radio stations on the morning after his death. It's strangely moving IMO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBZnHmdL5ic