John Lennon, 29 years ago today....

Talented guy.

What a waste!

I do believe Lennon was/is a hero to many, FBOFW, and did affect the lives of many who admire/admired him.

THe saddest thing to me about his death was that he appeared to be entering a new phase of his public life with some new perspectives perhaps as a result of being a newly engaged father and family man. We'll never know what kind of new musical directions he might have gone down. As one of the undeniable great pop/rock musical talents of his time, and not one to rest on is laurels I would say, he might well had delivered a lot of interesting new music and remained relevant for many years IMO.

I believe pop/rock music would be much different today had he lived into the 1980s. No way to know for sure though.

Well, the book was "The Catcher in the Rye" I would assume.

No clue about the album.

"Changed the way we live our lives? Absolutely not."

Well, he was the founder of The BEatles. Did The BEatles change any lives you think?

"If a musical group changed your life,you must have had a miserable existence."

They didn't, but seemed to have a big effect on the world in general when I was a kid.

I tend to think the world would be different somehow today if there were no Beatles. There definitely would have been no Beatles withot John Lennon. Hard to say....maybe things would have turned out differently, maybe not.

They were just a music group yes but undoubtedly one of the major cultural influences of the latter 20th century. I do not think there is any denying that? It is well documented.

Tis the season for "It's a Wonderful Life", I suppose.

I'd also say that even if the Beatles formed without John Lennon, their influence would have been lesser. He was the primary force in the Beatles that made people take notice IMHO. His music was a big part but his wit, outspokenness and apparent intellect (as evidenced in the messages the lyrics in his songs espoused as well as in spoken interviews), was the thing that put and kept the Beatles and himself on the map.

Plus, he had a dark side that also helped make him an interesting person, for better or for worse and ironically played a tragic role in his demise. Fascinating stuff!

Lennon/McCartney and LEnnon himself are fascinating topics IMHO. Ying/Yang to the max! McCartney's perhaps lesser public dark side is/was far less interesting IMHO.

Not many celebrity tragedies affect me personally as much as Lennon's death, particularly those involving artists.

Its a good day to reflect on a lot of things for many who shared and continue to share a special bond with John Lennon in some way...