This day in history marks the end of life for the British musician John Lennon. Lennon remains to be one of the most influential figures and went on to have a successful solo career even after The Beatles broke up — he was fatally shot dead by a man who claimed to be his fan, Mark David Chapman, in New York City, on the night of December 8, 1980. Lennon's death came as a shock to people living across borders of the world. His killer is still alive and at one of the Parole hearings he reportedly said that he feels “more and more shame” every year. “Thirty years ago I couldn’t say I felt shame and I know what shame is now,” he reportedly said.
The shooting took place only hours after having Lennon autographed an album for Chapman. At the time of the shooting, Chapman was famously carrying the JD Salinger book, Catcher in the Rye. There are multiple versions Chapman has given over the years as his motivations for killing Lennon. In one of the versions, Chapman pointed towards the novel and said that he associated with one of the characters to an extent that drove him to murder. However, there are experts who have time and again denied that the book is a call to violence. In another version, Chapman said that Lennon was killed because he dared to say that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.
The point is that it does not matter what Chapman's motivations were. In most likelihood, there were none at all. He was in need of immediate mental health services. In fact, one doctor even diagnosed him as schizophrenic.
The last photoshoot
On the same day of his death, Annie Leibovitz, an American photographer, had a photoshoot with John Lennon. The photograph is one of the most iconic pictures in rock and roll history. Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph Lennon before he was murdered. The Rolling Stone Magazine published Leibovitz’s photograph on its January 22, 1981, cover and even by then, the fans and friends and family of Lennon were still to come to terms with his untimely death.
