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29 March 2024

Lennon's last words: 'I don't wanna be dead hero'

The Imagine mosaic in Strawberry Fields is decorated with flowers and other mementoes on Tuesday, December 7, in New York. Wednesday marked 30 years since John Lennon was murdered outside his New York apartment, triggering a wave of grief around the world (AP)

Published
By Reuters

Rolling Stone magazine is publishing an interview with John Lennon, conducted three days before the former Beatle was gunned down in New York, in full for the first time.

The magazine said the nine-hour discussion with Jonathan Cott was the singer/songwriter's final print interview. Lennon was murdered outside his apartment on December 8, 1980, aged 40.

Rolling Stone ran excerpts from the interview shortly after Lennon's death, but Cott never transcribed all of the tapes until recently.

"Earlier this year I was cleaning up to find some files in the recesses of my closet when I came across two cassette tapes marked 'John Lennon, December 5th, 1980,'" Cott said.

"It had been 30 years since I listened to them, and when I put them on this totally alive, uplifting voice started speaking on this magical strip of magnetic tape."

In the interview, Lennon lashed out at fans and critics who went after him during his five-year break from music.

"What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean," he said. "I'm not interested in being a dead f***ing hero ... so forget 'em, forget 'em."

He also spoke about the possibility of returning to touring. "We just might do it," Lennon said.

Fact File: Who was John Lennon?

Here are some facts on John Lennon, who was shot and killed 30 years ago:

- Lennon was gunned down by a crazed fan outside his New York apartment on December 8, 1980. The assassin, Mark Chapman, said 10 years later that by killing the ex-Beatle he had murdered an age of innocence.

- Lennon, along with Paul McCartney, is considered one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th century. He was voted the greatest rock 'n' roll icon of all time in a poll conducted by Q music magazine in 2004.

- Born in Liverpool, England, on October 9, 1940, Lennon formed his first band, The Quarrymen, in 1957, which went on to become The Beatles the next year with the addition of McCartney and George Harrison. The Beatles, which disbanded in 1970, are estimated to have sold more than a billion records worldwide.

- "Imagine", probably Lennon's most popular solo album, was released in 1971. Its title track, a Utopian song by the same name, has been adopted by peace activists around the world as an unofficial anthem. "Imagine" is also the official song of the human rights organisation Amnesty International.

- Lennon was married twice and had a son with each wife. Lennon and Yoko Ono, his second wife, held "bed-ins" during their honeymoon in 1969, allowing the world press into their hotel room as a show of protest against the Vietnam War.

"But there will be no smoke bombs, no lipstick, no flashing lights. It just has to be comfy. But we could have a laugh. We're born-again rockers, and we're starting over ... There's plenty of time, right? Plenty of time."

Yoko Ono, Lennon's wife who was with him when he was killed, also contributed to the Rolling Stones edition marking the 30th anniversary of Lennon's death.

The magazine hits newsstands on Friday.