1Beatles Bonfire
In August 1966, a few months after John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus," a radio station in Texas, USA had a "Beatles bonfire" and burned thousands of Beatles records in front of a crowd. The next day, the station's transmitter tower was struck by lightning.
2. John Lennon repeatedly denied that the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is about LSD and that he got the inspiration for the song when his son brought home a drawing of his friend Lucy who was in the sky with diamonds.
3. For the Rolling Stones, 1967 single "We Love You," John Lennon and Paul McCartney provided uncredited backing vocals.
4. John Lennon never said, "Ringo isn't the best drummer in the world. He isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles." It was uttered by British comedian Jasper Carrott in 1983, three years after Lennon's death.
5. In 1968, John Lennon, after taking a large amount of LSD, called an emergency meeting of The Beatles to inform them that he was in fact, Jesus Christ reincarnated.
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6Lennon's Bed-Ins for Peace
In 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held two week-long Bed-Ins for Peace, which were intended to be non-violent protests against wars and experimental tests of new ways to promote peace.
7. John Lennon was offered the role of Jesus in the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" but would only accept on the condition that Yoko played Mary Magdalene. The offer was then withdrawn.
8. John Lennon purposely tuned the D string low on his guitar making it "slightly out of tune" to make it recognizable on mono recordings from the other Beatles.
9. John Lennon wrote the Beatles song 'Dear Prudence' for Prudence Farrow (Mia's sister) while studying Transcendental Meditation in India. The group became worried about her because she spent the majority of her time alone in her room practicing meditation, so John wrote her a song to persuade her to socialize more.
10. Not long after John Lennon received his first guitar, his aunt Mimi (his guardian at the time) told him, "The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it." Three years later, The Beatles formed.
11Come Together Song
John Lennon originally wrote "Come Together" as a campaign song for Timothy Leary, who was running for governor of California at the time. When the song didn't work out, Lennon took it to the Beatles. It was the last song all four Beatles cut together.
12. John Lennon loved the Beatles Parody band ‘The Rutles.’ It was created by Monty Python's Eric Idle for a BBC sketch. He loved it so much that he refused to hand back the preview tape.
13. John Lennon and Yoko Ono once visited an astrologer who told them John would be shot and die on an island. They were so disturbed that they canceled their extended Greek Isles vacation. Ten years later, he died on Manhattan Island.
14. The medals John Lennon wore on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was owned by the Grandfather of drummer Pete Best who was kicked out of the band years prior.
15. John Lennon suffered from bulimia. He loved eating, fantasized about food, and kept snacks hidden in his various homes. But he hated the feeling of being full, so he would force himself to vomit. During Beatlemania, his weight fluctuated wildly.
16Rock Lobster
The B 52's song "Rock Lobster" inspired John Lennon to go back into making music in 1980, because it reminded him of his wife Yoko's work.
17. John Lennon and Paul McCartney once wrote a song for The Rolling Stones, "I Wanna Be Your Man" because they were short on material for a single. It went on to be one of their first hits.
18. When John Lennon was recording the song "How Do You Sleep?" in which he ruthlessly slanders Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr visited the studio and became very upset, saying: "That's enough, John."
19. John Lennon hated many of Paul McCartney's later compositions for the Beatles, calling it 'Paul's granny music sh*t.'
20. John Lennon's inspiration for the title of the Beatles' song 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' originates from Charles M. Schulz's phrase that "happiness is a warm puppy", which began in the Peanuts comic strip.
21John Lennon's Return to Philippines
John Lennon said the only way the Beatles would return to the Philippines after being ambushed by mobs of angry citizens would be "with an H-bomb."
22. John Lennon wrote, "Because" from hearing the chords of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" played backward.
23. John Lennon returned his Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) four years after receiving it as a protest "against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts."
24. In the 1983 movie "Wargames", John Lennon was interested in playing the character of Dr. Stephen Falken but he was murdered while the script was still in development.
25. Before one of the Beatles sessions, John Lennon accidentally took LSD instead of an upper and complained about not feeling well. The producer unknowingly took him to the studio roof for fresh air, but his bandmates, who knew what happened, rushed to the roof and brought Lennon back to safety.
