John Lennon’s Death Anniversary: Sir Paul McCartney Tearfully Remembers Hearing The News


The death of John Lennon shocked the entire world, and now, 34 years later, it still brings tears to the eyes of so many. As the anniversary of the late Beatles’ star’s death approached, Lennon’s former bandmate, Sir Paul McCartney, called his friend’s killer “the jerk of all jerks.”

It isn’t often that McCarntney speaks out on Lennon’s death, but his thoughts on Mark David Chapman ring strong and true.

“For me, it was just so sad that I wasn’t gonna see him again… For me, the biggest thing was that the guy that took his life, the phrase kept coming in my head: ‘Jerk of all jerks!’ “This is not even a guy political motivated; it’s a total random thing.”

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ABC News reported of an interview that McCartney recently gave, and it was of him sharing the story of how he found out about Lennon’s passing. The 72-year-old former Beatles star had appeared on the Jonathan Ross Show.

“I was at home and I got a phone call. It was early in the morning. I was in the country and I just got a phone call. I think it was like that for everyone, just so horrific, you couldn’t take it in. And I couldn’t take it in.”

“Just for days, you couldn’t think he was gone. Yeah, it was just a huge shock and I had to tell Linda [McCartney’s former wife, who died of breast cancer in 1998] and the kids. It was very difficult. It was very difficult for anyone. That was like a really big shock in most people’s lives, a bit like Kennedy…. For me, it was just so sad that I wasn’t going to see him again.”

The Beatles broke up in 1970, and all of them went their separate ways for some time. McCartney was actually quite pleased that he was later able to reconnect with John Lennon before his tragic death. He said that if Lennon had died without them being friends again, well, it would have been “the worst thing in the world.”

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The New York Daily News actually went back 34 years to look at the original story that told of the death of John Lennon. At just 40-years-old, the rock legend was gone.

Mark David Chapman was arrested just minutes after the shooting and charged with the murder of Lennon. Chapman was “described as a local screwball,” and the “smirking” suspect had been seen in the area of the shooting for several hours leading up to it.

Over three or four days before John Lennon was shot, Chapman had pestered him for an autograph several times.

In 1981, Mark David Chapman was imprisoned for a term of 20 years to life for the murder of John Lennon. He has been denied parole at least eight times.

As our world’s continues to erupt in turmoil and chaos, Lennon’s lyrics to “Imagine” have never been more relevant.

“Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one”

John Lennon 1940 – 1980

A friend of humanity.

[Images via palabrasdealgodon.wordpress.com and Fan Pop]

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