End of The Dream: John Lennon's Death

In 1980, former Beatle John Lennon came out of self-imposed retirement, backed off his duties as a self-described “househusband” and, with his wife, Yoko Ono, recorded their first album in nearly six years.

“Double Fantasy” would spend eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, but not until after Lennon was gunned down in front of his wife and his apartment near New York’s Central Park.

Lennon was killed on Dec. 8, 1980 — 45 years ago Monday. He was 40 years old.

Watchin' The Wheels Go' Round' and 'Round ...

One of pop music’s greatest artists, John Lennon, quit the music business in 1975. He and his wife, Yoko Ono, bought an apartment — five units, actually, but who’s counting — in the Dakota complex across the street from New York’s Central Park.

John let Yoko take over the couple’s finances — various investments in a number of businesses and industries — while he cooked and cleaned and cared for their son, Sean.

In early 1980, John was listening to the radio when the music of the B-52s caught his ear. “Rock Lobster,” in particular, reminded him of the music Yoko had recorded back in the 1970s. And he really enjoyed “Coming Up,” the latest single by his old Beatles partner, Paul McCartney.

John began to get the itch to record again. He pulled together a band, hired a record producer and, in August 1980, began recording new songs at a New York sound studio called the Power Station.

It wasn’t until word leaked about his new work that record labels began bidding to release a new John & Yoko album. Surprisingly, John signed on with David Geffen’s new label — mostly because he was impressed with how Geffen had readily agreed to negotiate with John’s business manager: Yoko.

The first single from the new album was released on Oct. 23, 1980. John had reservations about the song but picked it because it seemed like a good song to ride back into the recording business. It peeked into the Billboard Hot 100 on Nov. 8, leapt into the Top 10 the next week and began a slow crawl up the chart.

Meanwhile, John and Yoko were delighted with the response their new music was receiving. They talked about launching a concert tour and continued to record new music for a follow-up album.

On Dec. 8, 1980, John and Yoko posed for a photo session by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. One of those shots — of a nude John curled around a fully-clothed Yoko — would later be used on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

He then sat down for an interview with RKO Radio’s Dave Sholin. He discussed his new, quiet home life but also talked about how, two months after he turned 40, he was feeling his age.

“I hope I die before Yoko,” he told Sholin. “Because if Yoko died, I wouldn’t know how to survive. I couldn’t carry on.”

On their way out of the Dakota to their studio, they passed a guy holding a copy of “Double Fantasy.” John stopped to ask him if he’d like John to sign it. He would and John did.

Six hours later, John and Yoko returned home. The young man with the autographed album stepped forward and fired five shots at John, hitting him four times. John was dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital.

Lennon’s killer had spent three days standing in front of the Dakota apartments, looking for the right moment to shoot. Another regular — a photographer — snapped Lennon signing for the man who’d kill him hours later. At right, fans gather in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park West with the Dakota in the background.

The Three Singles From John and Yoko's 'Double Fantasy'

(Just Like) Starting Over

Released: Oct. 23, 1980. Peaked at 1, with 5 weeks at number 1, and 14 in the top 10.

John wrote this song while vacationing in Bermuda earlier that year. He wasn’t sure he should record it but his producer assured him it would be a hit.

“All through the taping of ‘Starting Over,’ John told Rolling Stone, ”I was doing ‘Elvis Orbison.’ It’s like Dylan doing ‘Nashville Skyline,’ except I don’t have any Nashville, being from Liverpool. So I go back to the records I know: Elvis and Roy Orbison and Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis.”

The song was originally titled “Starting Over,” but John added the “Just Like” to the title because Dolly Parton had topped the Country Charts earlier that year with a single called “Starting Over Again.”

Woman

Released: Jan. 12, 1981. Peaked at number 2, with 2 weeks at No.2, and 12 weeks in top 10.

John wrote this song as a tribute to Yoko. He said it was the most Beatles-like track on “Double Fantasy” and referred to this song as a 1980s update of “Girl,” from the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” album.

“One sunny day in Bermuda,” John told Rolling Stone, “it suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms ... but any truth is universal.

“What dawned on me was everything I was taking for granted. Women really are the other half of the sky, as I whisper at the beginning of the song. It’s a ‘we’ or it ain’t anything.”

Watching The Wheels

Released: March 13, 19841. Peaked at 10, with 2 weeks at no. 10, and 17 weeks in the hot 100.

John wrote this “ode to inactivity” to explain, in part, what he had been up to in the six years since his last album, “Walls and Bridges.”

John was no longer interested in fame and had dedicated himself to family: His wife and young son Sean. John had become what he called a househusband, cleaning their apartment, cooking and caring for Sean.