By Ahmet Abdulaziz….
Forty years ago, on 8th December 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed in front of his apartment in New York. He was forty years old then. If not murdered by Mark David Chapman on that fateful day, he would have turned eighty now.
As the founder member of “The Beatles”, he remained the vital force in giving the music world a new style and showing a totally new way. 
He wrote by himself, or along with Paul McCartney, most of the popular songs of the Beatles. The simple worded songs, sung with a different style of music made “The Beatles” the most popular musical group of the last century.
Hailing from Liverpool, England, unknown at that time in the music world, John managed to bring Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in one place, to form the new group in the early 1960s. The Beatles took Britain by storm in 1963, after releasing “Please Please Me”. Climbing high in world music charts in a short period of time, “Beatlemania” spread to the whole world, and particularly the United States.
The Beatles ruled the music world and kept on making their mark. However, the group members decided to dissolve the group in 1970.
John Lennon was not just a musician. He also made his mark as a peace activist. He was very outspoken and shocked the world by issuing anti-religious statements. However, apart from all this, he was a thinker and an intellectual.
Looking at all the songs that John Lennon wrote and sang, I personally put “IMAGINE” as his number one. The song, released in 1971 is a piece of high intellect. “Imagine” has been the best selling single of his solo career. This song takes the listeners away from the problems of the present world. He imagined a world at peace with no divisions, due to political borders or religion or nationalities. He believed that humanity would flourish if we start considering every other human being just equal and sharing the whole world equally.
“Imagine” has made John Lennon immortal. Though he was murdered 40 years ago, he is still alive in “Imagine”.
