{"id":3577,"date":"2025-12-12T20:22:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/?p=3577"},"modified":"2025-12-12T20:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:24:15","slug":"i-remember-john-lennon-1940-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/i-remember-john-lennon-1940-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"I remember John Lennon: 1940 &#8211; 1980\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On February 9th, 1964, my life changed. America was getting their first live look at four English musicians with unusually long hair on Ed Sullivan&#8217;s Sunday night show. As I huddled around my parents&#8217; black and white TV, I was immediately transformed into a new world.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"729\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/edSullivan.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/edSullivan.jpg 729w, https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/edSullivan-300x273.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 729px) 100vw, 729px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">60 years ago, the Beatles performed on &#8216;The Ed Sullivan Show&#8217;. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The group&#8217;s performance on the program was seen by over 73,000,000 people, people, setting a record at the time for the largest television audience in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1274\" height=\"859\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jenWdylTtzs?list=RDjenWdylTtzs\" title=\"The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand - Performed Live On The Ed Sullivan Show 2\/9\/64\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1429\" height=\"804\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yqrYUORgY-s?list=RDyqrYUORgY-s\" title=\"The Beatles | Complete LIVE Performance | The Ed Sullivan Show | 2.16.1964 | A Must Watch!\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soon the whole world was to become obsessed with what was known as the Fab Four: John, Paul, George and Ringo. John was the founder, leader co-lead singer of the band. He had his own microphone while Paul and George shared one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was something special about John. Even then I recognized he had star power and wanted to look like him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everyone had their favorite Beatle. My best friend chose Paul. Arguments would break out between us. But it was a friendly rivalry, for we loved them all. Boys generally preferred John and George; girls, Paul and Ringo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My parents let me grow my hair longer and I became conscious of how I dressed. I even wore Beatle Boots playing kickball in the 5th grade.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/paulMetJohn.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/paulMetJohn.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/paulMetJohn-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/paulMetJohn-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/paulMetJohn-850x510.jpg 850w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: David Redfern\/Redferns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Today, John and Paul are regarded as the greatest composers in pop and rock history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Lennon&#8217;s life ended in December 1980 in New York City, approximately at 11:15. He was shot twice in the back and twice in the shoulder by a lone assailant. John was 40 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/inside-john-lennon-death-11863420\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"818\" src=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/newspaper.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/newspaper.jpg 660w, https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/newspaper-242x300.jpg 242w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RIP: John.<br>Your music and legacy lives on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On February 9th, 1964, my life changed. America was getting their first live look at four English musicians with unusually long hair on Ed Sullivan&#8217;s Sunday night show. As I huddled around my parents&#8217; black and white TV, I was immediately transformed into a new world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,724],"tags":[934,1568,1573,29,1571,1569,1566,1570,1572],"class_list":["post-3577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-memory-lane","tag-60s","tag-beatles","tag-ed-sullivan","tag-featured","tag-george-and-ringo","tag-john","tag-john-lennon","tag-paul","tag-paul-mccartney"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>I remember John Lennon: 1940 - 1980\u00a0 - Traveling Boy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/adventure\/i-remember-john-lennon-1940-1980\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I remember John Lennon: 1940 - 1980\u00a0 - Traveling Boy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On February 9th, 1964, my life changed. 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