John Ono Lennon MBE, born John Winston Lennon (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Together with Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.
Born and raised in Liverpool, as a teenager Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze; his first band, the Quarrymen, evolved into the Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine". After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to raising his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.
Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews. Controversial through his political and peace activism, he moved to New York City in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon's administration to deport him, while some of his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement.
As of 2012 Lennon's solo album sales in the United States exceed 14 million units, and as writer, co-writer or performer, he is responsible for 25 number-one singles on the US Hot 100 chart. In 2002 a BBC poll on the 100 Greatest Britons voted him eighth, and in 2008, Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer of all-time. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Famein 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Guinness World Records described McCartney as the "most successful composer and recording artist of all time", with 60 gold discsand sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles, and as the "most successful songwriter" in United Kingdom chart history. More than 2,200 artists have covered his Beatles song "Yesterday", more than any other song in history. Wings' 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre", is one of the all-time best-selling singles in the UK. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in March 1999, McCartney has written, or co-written 32 songs that have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States.
McCartney has released an extensive catalogue of songs as a solo artist and has composed classical and electronic music. He has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to such subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, landmines,vegetarianism, poverty, and music education. McCartney has married three times and is the father of five children.
Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote most of the Beatles' songs, their albums generally included at least one Harrison composition. His songs with the band include "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun". By 1970, Harrison had accumulated a backlog of compositions, a number of which he recorded and released on the triple album All Things Must Pass, from which two hit singles originated: a double A-side single, "My Sweet Lord"/"Isn't It a Pity" and "What Is Life". Later, he wrote two hit singles for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as songs for the Traveling Wilburys. With Ravi Shankar, Harrison organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, widely regarded as an innovative precursor to modern benefit concerts such as Live Aid. Among his other accomplishments, Harrison also worked as a session musician and as a music and film producer, co-founding the production companyHandMade Films in 1978.
Harrison married twice, first to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1977, and from 1978 until his death to record company secretary Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one son, Dhani Harrison. He is the only Beatle to have published an autobiography—I, Me, Mine(1980). Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.
Richard Starkey MBE (born 7 July 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He joined the Beatles in August 1962, taking the place of Pete Best. In addition to his drumming, Starr is featured on lead vocals on a number of successful Beatles songs (in particular, "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine", and the Beatles' version of "Act Naturally"). He is credited as a co-writer of the songs "What Goes On", "Flying", and "Dig It" and as the sole writer of "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden".
As a musically creative drummer for the Beatles, Starr's contribution to their music has received high praise from notable drummers. Starr described himself as "your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills". Drummer Steve Smith said that Starr's popularity "brought forth a new paradigm" where "we started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect" and that Starr "composed unique, stylistic drum parts for the Beatles' songs". In 2011, Starr was picked as the fifth-best drummer of all-time byRolling Stone readers.
Starr is the most documented and critically acclaimed actor among the Beatles, playing a central role in several of their films, and appearing in numerous other films, both during and after his career with the Beatles. After the Beatles' break-up in 1970, Starr achieved solo musical success with several singles and albums, and recorded with each of his fellow ex-Beatles as they too developed their post-Beatle musical careers. He has also been featured in a number of TV documentaries, hosted TV shows, narrated the first two series of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and portrayed "Mr. Conductor" during the first season of the PBS children's television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, Starr has toured with twelve variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
