People often say they remember exactly where they were when they heard that Kennedy or Elvis had died. Can you remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news about John's Death?

I was at home and heard it on the radio.  My family and I then saw footage on T.V.  I remember nearly all of the local radio stations played John Lennon Songs for days.  A lot of the Double Fantasy album was played (since it was just released).  I remember all those who gathered at the Decota to pay tribute.  Such a sad day.

I have no idea where I was. I was two years old at the time.

I can't answer that because I wasn't even born yet! :P

I was in my mom's stomach, and was so distraught I was born 3 days later.

Quoted from Beatle_Ed, posted March 2, 2004, 1:23am at here

I was in my mom's stomach, and was so distraught I was born 3 days later.

Wow - short pregnancy!

I had been really, really ill with measles, and had been off school for about 2 weeks. This was to be my first day back.

I heard my Mum turn on the radio and was lying in bed thinking how great it was that so much John Lennon music was being played, when an announcer came on and said that John Lennon had been murdered in New York. I just layed there in complete shock.

Then the phone didn't stop ringing - apparently all my family were asking how I was, not because becuase I'd been ill, but because of the news about John. Everyone knew how much I loved The Beatles - especially John.

Then my Mum and Dad came into my room where I was still in bed - my Mum was in tears and my Dad's face was drained of all colour - I was so upset.

I still went to school that day though and I'd like to say all the other kids were sympathetic... but they weren't - you know how kids can be sometimes.

When I got home that evening I taped every single news and radio broadcast with my little cassette recorder using a microphone pointed at the TV. They showed the Help! film that night - it was pointless really, in fact it just made me feel worse.

Because John was killed so late at night (British time), the newspapers didn't carry the story till the 10th December... I bought every single newspaper that morning. And then every magazine. Books I'd been after for ages, suddenly filled the bookshelves - In His Own Write and A Spaniard In The Works.

Ten years later I went to Liverpool for the first time, it was for a tribute concert celebrating John's 50th birthday. At the end of the show Yoko came on stage and the whole crowd started singing Give Peace A Chance - Yoko just broke down in tears, as did everyone else in the audience. She couldn't even speak and eventually just left the stage with Sean.

I wont ever forget that moment when Yoko was trying to thank us and couldn't say the words - we were united. It really is amazing just how much John Lennon touched us all.

(flower)

I was in my mom's stomach too, so I don't remember. (I was born only in May, '81)
My family remember travelling in the car and hearing the bad news next day, on the 9th of December. After this, my sister kept asking everyone "Have you heard the bad news, John Lennon died!!" , when she was only 6 and didn't even know who John was.

Hats off to "The End". Touching story.

I was in my parents living room watching football with my mom and dad when the news broke. My mother and father didnt care about the beatles personally, but they knew they meant the world to me. When the event was announced my mother just kind of gasped. My dad looked at me as I got up and proceeded to my bedroom. I'm not sure what I did afterwards, but my mother came in a little later and asked me if I wanted to talk about it. I must have been angry because she told me that i looked at her and said, "I hope the guy who did this dies!" I was only 10.

My cousin who is the same age as me apparently went to school and found out about it (I didnt go) and he was so worked up over the news that my aunt had to go pick him up. Again, he was also 10. Yes it had an impact on everybody.

I was just getting up early in the morning on December 9th eating breakfast & getting ready to go to school when I heard the news about the tragic death of John Lennon which was a shock to me like a hit to the stomach like it was for most Beatles fans.  I just listened to John's music on the radio most of the day after I got back home from school even though I think it's ridiculous the way some fans are trying to turn him into a holier than thou figure after his death instead of the rock legend that he is & always will be.

Nowhere. :D

I was negative 7 years and some-odd months old

I had just gotten into the Beatles not too long before, and I was eating breakfast the morning after when I heard.  They played "Imagine" on WLS radio in Chicago, and I remember thinking "Cool! You don't hear this on the radio everyday..."  A few minutes later, the DJ came on and announced the sad news.  I remember being in shock, my mom and I had one of those movie moments where we literally both froze and looked at each other...for some reason, I remember she was pouring milk into my brother's cereal (good thing she snapped out of it before the bowl overflowed...)  It was doubly sad, as she introduced me to the Beatles at an early age, playing "Abbey Road" and "Let it Be" for me when they first came out; I was but a toddler at the time.  It was sad for both of us to lose him, but I'm glad we were together for it...

Wow, touching stories. The one about Yoko made me tear up! I remember it so well. I was getting ready for school when my cousin came over bursting to tell me the news. She knew I was a Beatle nut. At first I didn't believe her! I'm like, yeah right, it was SO unbelievable!! My best friend was so upset she didn't get to tell me first. Funny how concerned they were. I can't remember much after that other than being at school and seeing my music teacher crying. The rest of the week was so sad. I remember watching people on tv all over the world during the 10 minutes of silence. What an amazing person he was to have touched so many people.

I was negative 7 years, 3 months, and 10 days old.  I remember it well...lol

I asked my mom what she remembers about it...she was never really a "hardcore" fan, even though she DID like the Beatles a lot.  She said she doesn't really remember what she was doing at the time, only that she felt a little bad after hearing the news.  But then again, my mom has never really been a hardcore fan of anybody.  She just doesn't get all googly-eyed about celebrities the way I do. (grin)

I was negative 6 years, 11 months, and 1 day so I can't really tell you, I wasn't even a figment in my mom's imagination at that time.

Quoted from Maccalvr, posted June 11, 2004, 1:20am at here

Wow, touching stories. The one about Yoko made me tear up!

The funny thing was, as we were leaving the concert and crossing over the road, Yoko's limo came tearing round the corner and nearly run us over!

It's weird, your story of that horrible morning is so similar to what I experienced - the world truly united on that day.

I must have collected every newspaper that week. He was on the cover everywhere. I would still have them if my mother didn't throw them out!!! She just didn't get it.  I can't believe it's going to be 25 years this December. Does that mean Sean is 30?? Wow!

I was sleeping.  My wife watched TV and saw the news, she didn't want to wake me up.  The phone rang, it was my best bud, and he told me.  I was still half asleep and it just didn't sink in...I even made some lame jokes.

People started calling me to offer sympathy as if it was a family member.  That's how well known it was that I was Mr Beatle fan.

What can one say?  It was amazing to see the world come together in grief.  For many of my generation, the first-gen's, it was the slamming of the sarcophagus lid on our own mortality.

We were young when the Beatles were young and their whole thrust was YOUTH.  Much of the 60's was the same thing, so when the event occured not only was it abundantly clear that there would never be a reunion, it also took our YOUTH away once and for all, and pushed us forward into the rest of our lives.

Quoted from Maccalvr, posted June 22, 2004, 3:08am at here

I must have collected every newspaper that week. He was on the cover everywhere. I would still have them if my mother didn't throw them out!!! She just didn't get it.  I can't believe it's going to be 25 years this December. Does that mean Sean is 30?? Wow!

I bought every single newspaper too! I still have mine, but they are very yellow and faded now. I can't believe Sean is going to be 30! God, that makes me feel old!

I lived in Long Island, New York (just an hour from New York City). I was 18 at the time and a Beatles/Solo Beatles collector. John was my idol, and I was thrilled that he was back in the music scene again.

I had just graduated high school and had gotten my first job that year. It was around 11pm and I  was getting ready for bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress to go to sleep and get ready for work the next day,  when a longtime friend called me and said John had been shot.

This friend and I always liked to pull jokes on one another, but he told me to turn the TV on and see for myself. It was a bizarre gradual set of developments ... first they weren't sure it was Lennon, then they said it was but they didn't know the extent of the injuries.
My friend and I were on the phone together and he kept saying, "don't worry - maybe he was only shot in the leg or something". Shortly thereafter, I heard he was shot "several times in his chest," and I feared the worst.

Crazy as it sounds, I was such a collector that I grabbed a tape recorder (no VCR then) and recorded the radio. I still have it on tape as a newscaster sounded depressed and shaken when I turned the radio on to hear:

" ---- where he and his wife, Yoko Ono, had a permanent residence."  And then again: "Repeating -- former Beatle, John Lennon, was shot - and KILLED ...errr...errr... critically at this home tonight".

It was my mom's 40th Birthday and I told her I'm sorry, but December 8th will always have a different meaning for me.

Next morning I walked to the bus stop to go to work. These days I would have called in sick, but back then I didn't know what to do. The morning sky was still dark, and as I walked past a candy store, the newspapers were already on a bundle on the sidewalk:

"JOHN LENNON SLAIN HERE. FORMER BEATLE SHOT; NAB SUSPECT".

Complete devastation.

6 more years till I clamped eyes on a rather depressing Hospital room.

i wasn't born until 9 yrs, 1 month and 8 days later, but my parents remember. they were about 20, and they were watching a football game when it was interuppted to say the sad news. they both are big beatles fans, but my dad especially loved them and mostly john...i think he said he cried. :[

I was negative 9 years and 9 months old, but my guitar teacher- a hardcore Beatles fsn told me that when she heard the news she was just waking up and she had a cup of coffee in her hand, and when she heard it on the radio she dropped her coffee and was just in shock. The big-time music school that she went to was closed that day, and people were in the streets just crying and playing old John/Beatles tunes.

I'm glad I wasn't around for that day.

A few people killed themselves after hearing of Johns Death..
I find this surreal..and scary

Quoted from Mairi, posted October 3, 2004, 8:14pm at here

I'm glad I wasn't around for that day.

I suppose. But then if I hadn't been around that day, I wouldn't have been around when he was alive.  But yeah, it's not a day I'd like to repeat. Or week. Or year for that matter.

a few years after that, i woulve been born

Well I guess I'll join in the tradition of saying something like...........

I was negative 7 years and 30 days and I am also glad that I was not around to remember it.

There is a news report on a BBC site about the event, when I watched it I cried and felt awful so I don't know what I'd have been like had I been alive.

I think it's amazing that there seems to be so many that weren't even born when he died that have been touched by his music and words, he was a really intelligent guy.

I was born 6 years later...after johns death :-/......for the other i wasn't even born....

Hmm... Maybe we should make a thread called 'Where Weren't You'.  ;D

LOL!!!!! YEAH WE SHOULD! :-D

Kennedy: I was in 1st grade. it came over the loudspeaker from der central scrutinizers office  (school principal )

John: I was at home listening to the radio in disbelief and a state of numb disaccociation, because I didn't want to believe it. that's somewhat redundant.

I was at home, listening to the radio. I'm still shellshocked that John has been gone as long as he has.

Elvis: I was onstage, playing at at some upholstered outhouse for 75 bucks or something close.  I was quite sad, but not surprised by the passing of Elvis.

it was in December ninth one Tuesday. I came from the school and heard in the radio, which would have been murdered John.

I was 11 Years Old.

I asked my cousin if she remembered. I didn't think she would cuz she wasn't a Beatles fan. But she remembers asking her parents if she could call me! She was like 8.

On the morning of December 9th, my sister woke me up for school. I was in 9th grade then. She said, 'You'll never guess who died last night.' I asked her who, and she said John Lennon. We're so close in age and she knew the Beatles were my life and I thought it was one of those bad sibling jokes, so I told her to shut up. I turned on WLUP in Chicago and I caught Steve Dahl mid sentence saying "The man was shot, it wasn't like an overdose like so many rock stars", and I was just in shock. I had been watching Monday Night Football that night and went to bed about 45 minutes before Howard Cosell broke the news, so I missed his announcement. I still have all my newspapers from all over the place about it.

Very similiar to my experience. Except it was my cousin I told to shut up. It felt like it could only have been a joke. There was just no way. I'm still mad at my mom for throwing away those newspapers. I remember the whole Paul reaction thing and that was like the first time ever that I hated him. For a second. But then you realize it wasn't what the media made it out to be. The poor guy was just in shock. You can see the sorrow in his face from the pics back then.

One weird thing I remember is when I was watching the coverage of the ten minutes of silence with my friends, we started to laugh. I have NO idea why. How stupid of me. Maybe we were to young to handle it or something. Or I didn't want to cry in front of them. They were never into the Beatles. But I sure cried a lot when I was alone. Still do whenever I see the Imagine video or hear certain songs. I can't really watch the Lennon Legend DVD that much. Too much.

Anyway, I've been asking people lately if they remember that day. Even people who are not remotely into them, and they ALL remember exactly where they were. Then I ask about Elvis and they have no idea. Just remember when it happened but not the specifics of where they were. I find that interesting. Maybe because John's death was so tragic.

If I remember correctly (I was only 3 at the time), I was watching the news with my parents and they were reporting it.

I was a little sperm waiting to reach an egg 12 years later

[quote=Maccalvr]

One weird thing I remember is when I was watching the coverage of the ten minutes of silence with my friends, we started to laugh. I have NO idea why. How stupid of me. Maybe we were to young to handle it or something.

Not stupid. Laughter is one of our defense mechanisms. If you really look at it, we laugh at things that make us uneasy or don't fit with rational thinking. Why do people laugh at disgusting jokes? Its because your brain knows what's right or acceptable or rational, the joke goes competely against it and the result is laughter. Also when some people are uneasy they laugh, its just a way of handling it.

Quoted from TurnMeOnDeadman

I was a little sperm waiting to reach an egg 12 years later

So how did your father's sperm react to John's death?

Quoted from Fab4

Such a sad and fascinating thread. Although I wish people would refrain from letting everyone know that they were not born or were negative something. Like that is cute or funny. Quite strange considering the name of the thread.

I agree. If you weren't around when it happened, you weren't there. If you were 'a sperm waiting for 12 years to be born', what the f***? You weren't alive, you have no recollection, so why post? Just to post? We're talking about a vivid memory here folks.

I was 14 at the time and had been into and collected The Beatles records and memorabilia for about 6 years by then. My dad who is a early riser, woke me at 4:30 am an said "son your better hold on to your Beatle collection" Thinking to myself W.T.F is he talking about!!!!!! Its frigging 4:30 in the morning and I dont have to get up for another 2 1/2 hours, and I damn sure dont want to talk about my Beatles collection! Anyway, I asked "why"? He said "someone Killed John Lennon last night". Knowing that I was a huge Beatles fan he felt he should wake me up to tell me. I kind of went numb and thought He does'nt know what he talking about. So I got up and watched the news, got the morning paper and proceeded to ditch school for three days watching tributes and listening to the radio. It is one of the worst memories of my youth. >:(

I was only 6 at the time but had already got heavily into A Hard Days Night and had the Beatles double red LP. My mum and dad had a few Lennon songs like Beautiful Boy, Jealous Guy and Woman on the juke box... I was only just understanding that The Beatles had broken up when it was revealed on the news, in the kitchen, when I lived in Wales. Even then I was gutted at the thought of an impossible Beatle reuninon. I still never quite realised the magnitude of the man, only the reaction of the world at the time.

I was 22 and had just finished a band practise. Went to the pub and a friend rushed up and told me John was dead. I didn't believe him until he pointed out that the radio was playing back to back Beatle songs.
I don't recall how I felt. But I got VERY drunk.

i was like negtive 11 years...lol

i asked my dad though, and he said he was he was in birmingham(england), driving along with the radio on at about half 10 in the morning, and they apparentlky said 'news just in that john lennon, leader of the beatles has been shot to death in new york. :'( he wasnt really a big fan of the beatles, he only quite like them), but apparently said it was a 'great shame', and a sentsless killing, and was very sad.

I was getting ready for school and my mom had the news on.  I remember her being quite upset.  

you guys have good memories

^i don't thing its something you can easily forget

I wasnt a beatles fan when George died..but I remember my teacher was sad and was talking about it

Quoted from TurnMeOnDeadman

you guys have good memories

There are certain moments in history that are so unbelievable and devastating, that they're burned into your memory. Do you think you'll forget where you were when you heard about 9/11? Surely you weren't too young to remember that. I have the worst memory ever, but the moment I heard of John Lennon's death will stay with me forever. Just like people say of the Kennedy assasination. Even people who were not Beatles fans or didn't care for John Lennon remember it. It was a bizzare and tragic moment.

I remember 9/11.....I woke up in the morning and I turn on the TV and almost evry channel has some dancing Palestians dancing around in the street

I don't understand that kind of hatred. I know they hate our country and some of our policies, but most of us are just hard working people trying to live our lives as best we can. Like any other human being out there.

Quoted from TurnMeOnDeadman

I remember 9/11.....I woke up in the morning and I turn on the TV and almost evry channel has some dancing Palestians dancing around in the street

But that was simply old footage of those people dancing. They WEREN'T celebrating what had just happened. The footage was at least MONTHS old.

That so many news outlets showed that footage (originating where? CNN? Fox? I don't know) shows how easily the media can manipulate - and how easily people can be manipulated.

Quoted from Maccalvr

I don't understand that kind of hatred. I know they hate our country and some of our policies, but most of us are just hard working people trying to live our lives as best we can. Like any other human being out there.

See my post above.

Of course, they too are just "hard-working people trying to live theie lives as best they can".

So much propaganda out there.

What's your point Ydoll? Do you think I'm attacking ALL of the people in the middle east? Gee I must be real stupid then to think they're ALL evil and full of hatred. I'm not a sheep thank you very much. I don't hate based on nationality, religion, or race. I'm talking about the hatred that exists in people that have no problem murdering innocent people for no apparent reason. I don't agree with that no matter who it may be. I certainly didn't say anything about the people in those countries that are going about their own lives and are good and loving people.
I don't understand the kind of hatred that could make people drag an decent person from a truck because of sexual preference or hang someone based on color.  That's what I was getting at. I don't understand where that comes from in ANY person. Get it. I don't understand that kind of hatred.
And what are you talking about those scenes being months old? They were holding up pictures of the disaster, burning American flags and human effigies and so on. Excuse me, but those people were manipulated by their media then as you also seem to be.
Don't make it so black and white. Americans are not just f-ing sheep who believe whatevers thrown at us. You have no idea what's going on over here right now and how divided the country is on these issues. I can't believe you can take a simple straigtforward statement and start in with your put downs. I'm American so I must be a complete idiot who thinks all middle easterners are evil. And I need you to explain to me that that's not so. Right?

Please calm down Sandra. My posts were in no way meant to be critical of YOU. I was just pointing out to you in my response to your post that there are hard-working people on the "other" side too.

But I was also responding to Deadman's post about those Palestinians dancing around in the streets. That was NOT recent footage, and they COULD NOT have been celebrating the atrocity.

Quoted Text

They were holding up pictures of the disaster, burning American flags and human effigies and so on.

There are always groups of middle Eastern people burning US flags etc. Hence all media outlets contain lots of library footage that they can troop out as they see fit. But they were NOT holding up pictures of the disaster. "They seem to be waving pictures of the crashes ..." --"seems", but not in fact.

I'm as calm as you are Ydoll. I just thought your bit about 'there are hard working people in other countries too' was a tad condescending. As if I wasn't aware. Ethnocentric stereotype and all. I admit I was a bit overly sensitive to the comment, but I do think your comments about the footage not being current should be backed up by something.
I would be interested in reading something that proves that statement. You didn't get that from listening to Michael Moore did you? Because he's as bad at spewing out propaganda as the other side is. You've got to take everything with a grain of salt these days.
I can't help but think this, and I don't mean it as an insult or anything, but the fact that people would say this or that didn't happen reminds me of the people who say the pictures of the holocaust were propaganda and that it wasn't as bad as everyone was making it seem. Just reminded me of that, that's all. You may well be 100% correct, but I've been searching online and have yet to come up with proof either way. Like I said, I'd love to find it so I can educate my fellow Americans.

To be honest, I can't remember! That sounds lame - but it's honestly lame!

I can remember a fuss about it where I live (Australia) a couple of hours after the footage was broadcast by (I'm fairly sure at least) CNN. But I also have a memory of the lie of showing such material as being regarded as a bit ho hum - as if "it's done all the time, where's the harm".

You're obviously (?) a pretty conservative person, maybe even a supporter of Bush. Just remember, though, when you're assessing your president, that he has his finger on the greatest nuclear arsenal in the world - and the poor dodo can't even pronounce "nuclear" (he says nucular). Shee-it! And some people trust this guy's judgement!

Im not a supporter of Bush....Im not a supported of Michael Moore, or John kerry, ralp nader, saddamn hussein, osama bin laden, hitler, etc.

Ha! Conservative? Where’d you get that?? Cuz I said something against Michael Moore??  What on earth did I say that could make me out to be 'obviously' a Bush supporter? No I actually voted for Kerry, but I’m not a bleeding heart liberal either and I do love my country. Maybe that’s why I seem conservative? Because I’m not bashing America?
Anyway, when I think of 9/11 I do get angry, I do think there’s a faction out there that wishes us harm and was happy about the attack. I don’t think the war going on right now is the solution, and I think it’s horrible when American soldiers do things just as horrendous as the things we accuse them of.
The thing that got me was saying as a fact that the ‘celebrations’ after the attack were not real. I watched the news for hours a day weeks and weeks after that happened like most people, just trying to make sense of it. And it DID seem to me that at least SOME of the footage was shot right after the attack. That’s the way I perceived it. But of course I could be wrong. This is something I would like to know for sure because I certainly wouldn’t want to accuse people of doing something that callus when they actually didn’t.
BTW, I though you lived in the UK for some reason! Australia? What time is it there?

Lots of people in the Middle East DID celebrate in the streets after 9/11.  They paraded about, shot into the air, and burned American flags.  Though they seem to do that alot.  Maybe it takes their minds of the fact that they live in caves and dont have jobs.

I thought Bush and Kerry were both conservative in their outlooks. So Bush was more so, but no one could call Kerry a liberal, surely?

Sorry if I labelled you unfairly - but I did put a (?) after obviously!

Well, right no it's just after 9 am on Sunday morning. Already I'm writing - or should be!

Quoted from Herecomesyoursun

Lots of people in the Middle East DID celebrate in the streets after 9/11.  They paraded about, shot into the air, and burned American flags.  Though they seem to do that alot.  Maybe it takes their minds of the fact that they live in caves and dont have jobs.

Uh - yeah. ::)

Whaddya know - propaganda works!

Quoted from Ydoll_Gwyn

Uh - yeah. ::)

Whaddya know - propaganda works!

What do you mean by that?  It is a fact that there was celebration by people in the Middle East after 9/11 (not all, just the fuckers who hate us)  Am I a sheep who follows the propaganda because I hate the terrorists who killed my countrymen, innocent people?  Does that make me a blind moron?

Wow, already Sunday there! It's only 3:15 on Saturday here. Well, you are on the other side of the world so I kinda figured!

Kerry conservative? Hmm, not quite. But yeah, he's more a moderate liberal. Nowhere NEAR as conservative as Bush with his religious right wing agenda. And why is it so unconceivable to you that there just MAY have been people out there celebrating the attack? Do you realize that many of those people grow up being told what horrors we commit against mankind and how it's their job to put us in our place? A faction of course, not all. It can happen you know.

True Sandra. I'm sure there were many who celebrated what happened on 11 September. My point is merely that the famous clip of those people apparently celebrating was not what it was purported to be! The media DO lie and manipulate.

Kerry a conservative or a moderate liberal? From where we are, it seems as if there's nothing, IN PRACTICE, that really separates them. In Australia now, we have a very conservative party in power, and their main opposition is indistinguishable from them in practice (though rhetoric is different). Distinguishing between what politicians say, and what they DO, is really important I reckon.

I'm so glad I'm Canadian.

Quoted from Ydoll_Gwyn

Kerry a conservative or a moderate liberal? From where we are, it seems as if there's nothing, IN PRACTICE, that really separates them. In Australia now, we have a very conservative party in power, and their main opposition is indistinguishable from them in practice (though rhetoric is different). Distinguishing between what politicians say, and what they DO, is really important I reckon.

Issues that seperate them: stem cell research-a HUGE issue, the war, abortion, gay rights. Although Kerry is wishy washy on the last two. Bush has supporters among the NRA and religious faction, which make him more 'obligated' to push through bills in their favor. I think Kerry is not as tied to those extremists. But yeah, it was the lesser of two evils type thing. I can't wait till 2008 when Hillary runs! Now THAT should be interesting!

to ease the tension here is a light hearted joke i found rather funny.

After getting nailed by a Daisy Cutter, Osama made his way to the pearly gates. There, he is greeted by George Washington.

"How dare you attack the nation I helped conceive!" yells Mr. Washington, slapping Osama in the face. Patrick Henry comes up from behind: "You wanted to end the Americans' liberty, so they gave you death!" Henry punches Osama on the nose. James Madison comes up next, and says, "This is why I allowed the Federal government to provide for the common defense!" He drops a large weight on Osama's knee.

Osama is subject to similar beatings from John Randolph of Roanoke, James Monroe and 65 other 18th-century American revolutionaries. As he writhes on the ground, Thomas Jefferson picks him up to hurl him back toward the gate where he is to be judged.

As Osama awaits his journey to his final very hot destination, he screams, "This is not what I was promised!"

An angel replies: "I told you there would be 72 Virginians waiting for you. What did you think I said?"

I was born in 83...
But of course i remember 11/9/2001. In Poland it was 'bout 15.00 o'clock
and i was in my room watching some serial on tv after school then sister entered to my room and switched on other TV
station and i found out what happened. Polish TV stations started to relate from NY
and other places for all evening and night. Same with radio stations.

i came back from school when i heard about 9/11, and my mum said, look come in here(enters tv room), and she was there with a friend, and they were watchin the news, and i just saw these bloody buildings on fire, and i was like ''what the hell!''...

I don't remember exactly what I was doing when I heard,but I do remember listening to the radio for days,switching the channels when one station got through with news or music about John or The Beatles until I found another one. I just couldn't believe it. I wanted to hear and see everything about it. I still can't believe it.

I was just 3 when John died, and I didn't even know 'bout Beatles, since I was born in 1977...but later on when i started loving Beatles ( i was like 11) I found out that there was one Beatle missing, I said to myself: "who the hell...??" then I was told by my brother that it was John Lennon. I was really disappointed coz actually he had just started to be my favourite Beatle. Pfff now I'm 27 and i've already cried for Lennon's death, yeah coz I cry a bit every time I listen to "Because".....

Love is ald love is new
Love is all love is you

I was cleaning my room and watching Monday Night Football on t.v when a special report came on saying there had been an unidentified man shot in New York and that the man who was shot was reportedly one of the ex-Beatles.  Then about ten minutes later Howard Cosell anounced to the world the death of John Lennon.  Cosell said many great things about John.  I was so stunned and numb for weeks.  I missed the Kennedy assassination so I don't know about that but for one week John's death brought the world together in a way I hadn't seen before in my life.  I think it was the end of my innocence I finally gathered that the world wasn't such a great place after all!  I remember it like yesterday.  Unfortunately I'll never forget it.

I'm sure there must've been a similar thread like this before but I thought I'd start a fresh one since we're nearing the 25th anniversary of that fateful day. What are yor memories?

Me, I was 23 at the time sitting in a barracks at Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Wisconsin. Also known as bootcamp. Our Company Commander came in on the morning of Dec 9th and ordered us to attention and announced that John Lennon had been shot and killed. Naturally most of us freaked out, but only so much. When you're in bootcamp, you don't think about things like this too much.

It wasn't 'til after I got out of bootcamp in Jan that it really started to sink in. I was transferred to Orlando and was sitting in a bar one night and Imagine was playing and then it just hit me like a freight train and started blubbering like a little kid. The barmaid looked at me and came up and said "You're not the first when we play that song".

your right mate. This was done not so long ago.

Quoted from kevin_b

your right mate. This was done not so long ago.

Where was it? I didn't see it here.

I have merged the two threads :)

I don't know how to do links, but its under John called "where were you."

Quoted from The_End

I have merged the two threads :)

Ok, cool.

I'm watching Elton John on the Actor's Studio and Elton was talking about the song Empty Garden. He said it's a very emotional song for him and rarely plays it live because it's hard to get through. He said he plays it sometimes in NY as a tribute to John because he felt like he was such a NY person. He also said that John's death was one of the most horrible things that's ever happened because he loved him so much. He made me cry! Anyway, then Lipton asks him if he could do the song and Elton told him he didn't think he could. He did the Border Song instead. Still made me sad. Didn't know where to post this, just wanted to share. I mean, even after he talked about Princess Diana and Gianni Versace you could tell that John's death was the most shocking to him. For some reason. Anyone remember that song? They never play it anymore. I loved it, but it made me cry everytime I saw it on MTV or heard it on the radio.

I was a child (not interested in music yet) so I can't remember ... but the day in which the whole world kept in silence for 10 minutes my little sister was busy being born so I remember being at hospital but not the world even ...  :-/

sadly, i was 8 years from being born. weird as it is, my sister was actually born in the morning and he died that night. makes it easy to remember how old she is. but i do wish i was around then. or cared when george died.

It was 10 years before I was born.

I was 11 years old and met my friends outside the school. One of them asked me if I heard that JL was shot. I didn't. I seriously thought she was kidding. Till I got home. My mum said it was true. :'(

I was doing my residency at a New York City Hospital.  I just returned to my on-call room and turned on the radio and heard the news.  All of us went to the physicians' lounge and stayed up all night watching the TV coverage.

We used to take lunch in Central Park.  It was not uncommon to see John and Yoko walking through the park.  John would always acknowledge our waves with a friendly "Hi doctors!"

hm i wasnt even born :D but when dad told me later on like at he age of 8 >_o about his death i tear up :( but then i just listen to his song as a sololist and not just with the beatles and it helped a bit ^ ^

As always i was walked to work on a dark winters english morning ,i started work at 7.00am ,my workmate whose house i passed always waited for me, came running up to me ."JOHN LENNON has been shot" he said ,  he`ll be allright i said on he`s dead .I just was not having that he was dead .When got to work the news was on i dont remember what they were saying i was numb .the radio station [bbc radio 1]played beatles and john lennon all day ,there was no reaction from me , i was only 18 i had a beatle maniac for over 5 years lived and breathed beatles ,only the year before i had seen mccartney at manchester both nights, thery were talk of JOHN LENNON touring next year it was a good time to be a beatle fan .
I got home from work the first news came on the t.v. 6.45pm i sat there silent ,i think i must have watched 3 minutes and i cryed , i was devestated i went upstairs to my bedroom i put a record on i normally did, for me that was the day music had died .Allthough it was 26 years ago as you read it was a day i`ve never forgotten and never will .

I had gone to Shoney's restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee for breakfast that morning.  I was buying a morning paper and looked at the headline through the box.  "John Lennon murdered," it read.  I was stunned.  It seemed impossible.  

I was listening to Hawkwind(!), when my brother came in the room and said that Lennon had been murdered. I simply didn't believe him, and carried on regardless. I was in a state of disbelief and sadness when I found out for sure.

I was in the 10th grade and it was a school night but I was up late which was unusual, I just couldn't sleep.  My oldest sister was watching The Tonight Show in the next room and I heard 'We interrupt this program for a special report..." and I just knew.  I knew one of them was gone.  I just couldn't believe some BASTARD just murdered John in cold blood and right in front of his wife. How sick is that??? I was so mad! What a waste!
A man that gave so much to the world, a man that was beloved by millions, a man who wanted peace, a man who was enjoying his life, being an artist, a husband, a father...
There's just no words.
Elton's song Empty Garden said it as best as anything.


What happened here
As the New York sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain

And what's it for
This little empty garden by the brownstone door
And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothing grows no more
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed we're crippled and we're dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace

And I've been knocking but no one answers
And I've been knocking most all the day
Oh and I've been calling oh hey hey Johnny
Can't you come out to play

And through their tears
Some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he'd have said that roots grow stronger if only he could hear
Who lived there
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now we pray for rain, and with every drop that falls
We hear, we hear your name

Johnny can't you come out to play in your empty garden

  

Lyrics that touch the soul ...

I've got that record...the only one by Elton John I actually have...weird innit :-/
Isn't Elton the Godfather of Julian?

Quoted from Kate

[...]Isn't Elton the Godfather of Julian?

You meant Sean, didn't you?  ;)

Yah's, that'd be corerect

10 and a half, 11 yrs. old. At home. I told my mom, I 'll bey my brother was freaking out when he heard it.

I wasn't even born yet, but when I became a fan and read a old news article about the death, I was devasteted. I mean really hurt, for real.
I knew John was dead, of course, but the reading about it.... I think I cried and cursed the damn psyko who did that (shot on the back? Coward! Like I were in the Wild West... :P)... I was 13 at the time.

Sadly, I was only two years old at the time,  my mom said she fell to her knees in pure shock. I remember feeling a loss about it when I was old enough to understand.

I know people don't wan't people posting who werent there- and I wasn't there, but I can share my parent's reactions from what they have told me..

I was to be born exactly nine years later than John Lennon's death by the way, almost to the minute. It's a weird coincedance. Especially given that nine was such a special number for John.

Anyway yeh my parents were driving on the motorway in the fast lane, heard it on the radio and slowed right down in the shock to about 40mph- which was quite dangerous for the fast lane. I think it was my Dad that was driving. He eventually got his senses together and pulled into the nearest service station, where they remained for a few hours because they were so much in shock and trembling that they thought it would be dangerous to get back into the car. When they eventually got home, they did a small meditation for John (theyre the hippy-ish spiritual sorts!).

It gets me all teary and worked up just thinking about his death  :'(

Quoted from GreenApple

I was listening to Hawkwind(!), when my brother came in the room and said that Lennon had been murdered. I simply didn't believe him, and carried on regardless. I was in a state of disbelief and sadness when I found out for sure.

Seems like a lot of people reacted that way. I did the same thing when my cousin told me that morning. I thought she was playing a cruel joke.

I wasn't born yet

I wasn't even born! I born in May 22, 1988. I remember my mother told me that she didn't believe it when she first heard it. Her brother was a big Beatles fan, he always played Beatles records, but she never really cared about them, even she kinda hate them (!) because she was a Monkees fan  ::). But she was really impressed about the story anyway. Everyone were shocked, it was a historic moment, one of the most important episodes of 1980.

I remember my mother telling me when she heard the news on John,
she was just getting ready for work & the news came on the radio. she said she
just stood there in shock & cried. it was strange as my mum was never
a Lennon fan but loved the Beatles. and then i was born 2 years later!! & became a
Lennon fanatic! :) She still can't believe i'm listening to records that she was
listening to at my age! so my folks never compain about my music apart from the
odd Yoko record! ;D :P
:)

I wasn't around at the time, I was about negative 10 1/2! I was born in 1991. But, both my parents have been huge Beatles fans every since they became famous, especially my mom. She was 8 when they came on the Ed Sullivan Show for the 1st time, and my dad was 7. So, I asked them where they were when they heard about the bad news, and my mom said she was at work like any other normal day. Then, it came on the radio or something, and she and her friend who worked with her just broke down. They both couldn't function all day, they just hugged each other and cried. :(

I think my dad just heard it on the radio in his apartment or something. He said he cried, John is and always was his favorite, he thinks the world of him. I've never seen my dad cry before, ever. But he said he did when John died.  :(

On VH1 on tv a few months ago, there was a show on with the top 40 most shocking moments in rock 'n' roll history. John's death was #1, I guessed that it would be. They showed videos of the people giving a moment of silence, and played what was heard on the radios and stuff. I started to cry, and I wasn't even around to experience it when it really happened. Watching that show and the Imagine movie were the closest I got to experiencing it. John has had such an effect on the world, I've known who he was since I was like 3. None of us fans knew him personally, but love him and miss him so much.

Was watching NY WABC channel 7. Geraldo Rivera was the first one I heard break the news. He knew john personally--he was barely able to report this. I was in TOTAL shock. I was 27 at the time (Dec 8, 1980) so this is a vivid memory. I was in Grad school during this period. I was working on my master's thesis on Post-modern Lit, but when I heard this news my mind went numb. I asked my professors for a few days off--they granted it. Pretty much everyone I knew back then was very supportive but they didn't take it as a personal loss ...I did. People just didnt "get" that even though I didn't "know"  J.L., the tragic loss of a childhood icon was very significant for me. I'm not ashamed to say, I cried off and on for a week--this was horrendous. Being from the NY area--where I first saw The Fab many years earlier (as I described in another post), just to know John was also killed here--in my native city, made it even harder to bare. I will never forgive Chapman.

I had heard the news on the radio at home (I actually still listened to radio back then) and simply could not believe it. I felt that it had to be a cruel prank of some sort. Once the reality set in I felt that a large part of me had been violently scooped out, never to be regained. The world had changed.

:'(

Heard it on the radio, and all kinds of Beales songs and interviews were playing constantly with brief discussions of the shooting in between on just about every pop and rock station. Even over on the news oriented stations they had special programs going with snippets of Lennon interviews and songs.

i was 10 years old when it happened, so I don't remember anything about it.

Chapman shot him at night, so I guess I was tucked away and asleep in my widdle iddle beddy bye. :)

Quoted from Buttmunker

i was 10 years old when it happened, so I don't remember anything about it.

Chapman shot him at night, so I guess I was tucked away and asleep in my widdle iddle beddy bye. :)

Yeah but don't you remember the next day? Or week? Or month? It was a pretty big deal. As I recall.

I wasn't around then born in 84 but my Dad & Uncle are  huge Beatle fans they told me they had plastic Beatle wigs etc sadly they don't have them. My Dad told me he cried non stop he said he was going to a concert but when he heard John died he didn't go. My Mum says she doesn't remember

I'm from Australia, so the news broke in the middle of the day. My 2 brothers and I were being driven out of a shopping centre carpark by mum, listening to an hourly radio news bulletin. I was 13 at the time. My older brother is a huge John fan, and I will always remember his cry of shock and disbelief. A day or two later the daily rag published a front and back page wrap-around of the infamous shot of John's and Chapman's faces while John signed his album under the headline "Lennon Faces His Killer". Not a happy memory.

I was not born then. I really have no idea what the reaction of my parents was....

It's weird, even though I was never alive when he was, I still feel like I was. Hmm

I was not yet born when John Lennon was shot, but im all day then when i first became a beatles fan i didn'tknow that John Lennon was dead,i kept on talking about him that day, i was so sad when my uncle told me that John Lennon was dead i was really sad.

It's funny how the exact moment I heard is completely frozen in time. I mean anytime someone asks me about this I immediately see myself in the little downstairs bathroom with a brush in my hand looking in the mirror ready to brush my hair with my cousin at the bathroom door telling me the news. Strange.

Lots of regulars haven't yet shared their story. I mean the ones that were around then. I wish they would.  :)

Quoted from The End

Then the phone didn't stop ringing - apparently all my family were asking how I was Everyone knew how much I loved The Beatles - especially John.

That was the same with me when George died I was terribly upset even though I'm a fan of George any on John I wasn't born (1984) my Dad however told me he was going to a xconcert and when he learnt about John's death he didn't go as he was so upset my Mum say's she doesn't remember

I was a little over one year and asleep at the time of the murder.  My dad said that as was customary at the time that he was watching Monday night football as Howard Cossell delivered the news.  My Dad was a Beatles fan and was shocked.

I wasn't born.

neither was I  :'(

Quoted from Buttmunker

i was 10 years old when it happened, so I don't remember anything about it.

Chapman shot him at night, so I guess I was tucked away and asleep in my widdle iddle beddy bye. :)

I find that hard to believe. I would think that you'd remember something like that at ten. I was only seven when Diana of Wales died, and even though I didn't know who she was at the time, I remember it very clearly.

Plus what about the weeks after his death! My God, it was like the president had been shot! How you can't remember that is beyond me.

I got up that morning.........it was on a Tuesday, I remember that.  I had a birthday coming up on the 11th, so I was "almost 16"............mom and dad always listened to this country/news station on the radio...........and they came on saying, "former Beatles John Lennon has died, shot dead last night at his Dakota complex"..........and said more about it and I just cried and cried and CRIED that whole day at school.  Oh my god......someone had shot a "Beatle" and killed a "Beatle"........I was in shock for a long, long, time......

I did the whole bit of wearing, "Remember John" and all those T-shirts that people came out with just to remember, and "remind" what the music world had lost..........I was a "trouper", I was.......................and a fanatic............even got my mom to buying "anything" she saw of John Lennon at the stores when she went for her weekly shopping.

Quoted from Sandra

Lots of regulars haven't yet shared their story. I mean the ones that were around then. I wish they would.  :)

For anyone in Europe it was the middle of the night, so we were all asleep at the time.

always taking news lying down...

;)

My husband "to be", heard it on Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell made a statement that John Lennon was shot at his Dakota apartment..........but nothing more was said.........so yes, this is all "American Time".....

everything in America is about football!

Quoted from BlueMeanie

For anyone in Europe it was the middle of the night, so we were all asleep at the time.

Yes but, it's: where were you when you heard. Like the Kennedy thing or now 9/11. The moment you heard it is what sticks with you. And we all eventually heard it.

BTW, I was asleep too. It was pretty late in NY too. Especially for a kid on a school night.

i was not born yet

I wasn't even born yet(:
i knew john was death , i think when i was 5 years old(:

Wasn't born, thank god for that because it isn't something I'd want to live tbh

i have no idea!!! i was born 12 years later!!

I was not alive when he was killed... I am only sixteen. But, I do remember when I heard that he was not alive for the first time. I have been a lover of the beatles since the age of five... and death is a pretty heavy subject at that age, but my dad decided he would tell me at age six. I was in the truck with my dad listening to revolution.. when he told me that the beatles weren't a band that is still together and that john was shot in 1980. And ever since then I have become more and more fasinated with the history of the band and all of the members.. especially john. He has been my favorite from the gecko.

I wasn't born yet but I am sure if I had been living, I would have been quite sad.  :'(

Quoted from heyjude

I was not alive when he was killed... I am only sixteen. But, I do remember when I heard that he was not alive for the first time. I have been a lover of the beatles since the age of five... and death is a pretty heavy subject at that age, but my dad decided he would tell me at age six. I was in the truck with my dad listening to revolution.. when he told me that the beatles weren't a band that is still together and that john was shot in 1980. And ever since then I have become more and more fasinated with the history of the band and all of the members.. especially john. He has been my favorite from the gecko.

Gecko? The Geico Gecko!

I remember that day well. I was eleven and I'd just gotten up and came down the stairs. My dad was sitting there in shock and my older brother had his hand on my dad's shoulder. I asked what was up, and my brother replied 'John Lennon's been shot and killed in New York.'

I was only eleven but I was floored. He and the other guys had been a big part of my childhood and I walked to school in shock. In lessons I couldn't concentrate and when my classmates asked me what was wrong and I told them, they were of the opinion 'he's just a singer'.

I'm just one of millions of people who loved and respected him.

I was not around in 1980 (I was born just a few years later).  When I first got into the Beatles I don't think I was aware that John had died.  I think I found out about it while looking up the Beatles in an encyclopedia, and it mentioned that John had been murdered.  I felt shocked and sad and thought to myself...  Who would do this?  And why? :'( :'( :'(