What Is The Net Worth Of John Lennon?

John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, and musician with a net worth of $800 million at the time of his death. He is best known for being the singer and rhythm guitarist for The Beatles and a successful solo career later.

He is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters in history and a revolutionary figure in the world of music.

John Lennon Net Worth When He Died: Career And Income Sources

Lennon found the band “The Quarrymen” in September of 1956 playing skiffle and rock n roll. Lennon then met Paul McCartney during the band’s second performance and asked him to join. Paul joined and advised his friend George Harrison to be the lead guitarist who got the role after an audition.

After a few drum line changes, the band settled for Ringo Starr; the four would remain in the band until their breakup in 1970.

The Beatles changed the face of music, becoming the world’s best-selling band selling over 800 million album units. Their album details are:

Albums Release Date Sales
Please Please Me March 22, 1963 1.5 million
With the Beatles November 22, 1963 935 thousand
A Hard Day’s Night July 10, 1964 335 thousand
Beatles For Sale December 4, 1964 1.18 million
Help! August 6, 1965 3.5 million
Rubber Soul December 3, 1965 10 million
Revolver August 5, 1966 5.87 million
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band May 26, 1967 25 million
The Beatles November 22, 1968 14 million
Yellow Submarine January 13, 1969 1.15 million
Abbey Road September 26, 1969 16.3 million
Let It Be May 8, 1970 8.5 million

After the Beatles’ breakup, John led an almost equally successful solo career. His solo career comprised of 5 studio albums:

Albums Release Date Sales
John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band December 11, 1970 n/a
Imagine September 9, 1971 2.5 million
Mind Games October 29, 1973 1 million
Walls and Bridges September 26, 1974 560,000
Rock ‘n’ Roll February 17, 1975 1 million

Rolling Stones has named Lennon 38th greatest artist of all time and his debut and sophomore albums have been named the 76th and 22nd greatest albums of all time.

The Beatles Sold Over 600 Million Albums

The Beatles began in 1963 and has made several records in terms of album sales.

The band has sold over 178 million albums in the U.S. alone. If his singles are to be considered, the sales exceed 1.6 billion.

Likewise, his worldwide sales of albums alone is over 600 million, which in itself is a record.

Charity

Lennon made several donations throughout his life and was an advocate for peace and non-violence. His song “All You Need is Love” was written for charity purposes and all of the proceedings of the song went to various causes.

After his death, his widow Yoko Ono said that certain gifts were given to the Spirit Foundation which included $500,000, houses, Lennon’s lithographs, a piece of land on Virginia, and an island off Ireland’s coast. She said that the donations were made “in apology as a member of the human race and in memory of war casualties of the world.”

He owned a few cars including a 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom, 1956 Bentley s1, and a 1979 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Wagon, all of which were auctioned off to charity.

The Personal Life Of John Lennon (Biography)

John Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, at Liverpool Maternity Hospital to parents Julia and Alfred Lennon. He was a merchant seaman who was away at the time of his son’s birth and mostly away due to work.

He sent paycheques to the family in Liverpool but once left for 6 months and no notice. Upon arrival, he was rejected by his wife, who at the time was pregnant with another man’s child. He grew up with his aunt, Mimi who filed a complaint at the Liverpool social service twice for Lennon’s custody.

Lennon was a trouble maker in his childhood and youth about which he stated,

A part of me would like to be accepted by all facets of society and not be this loudmouthed lunatic poet/musician. But I cannot be what I am not … I was the one who all the other boys’ parents – including Paul’s father – would say, “Keep away from him” … The parents instinctively recognised I was a troublemaker, meaning I did not conform and I would influence their children, which I did.

He expressed his sorrow,

I did my best to disrupt every friend’s home … Partly out of envy that I didn’t have this so-called home … but I did … There were five women that were my family. Five strongintelligentbeautiful women, five sisters.

About his family, he added,

One happened to be my mother. [She] just couldn’t deal with life. She was the youngest and she had a husband who ran away to sea and the war was on and she couldn’t cope with me, and I ended up living with her elder sister. Now those women were fantastic … And that was my first feminist education … I would infiltrate the other boys’ minds. I could say, “Parents are not gods because I don’t live with mine and, therefore, I know.”

In 1956, John got his first guitar from his mother, Julia against the will of his aunt who was a strict Christian and against music of such kind. He graduated QuarryBank high school and attended Liverpool College of Art.

Political Activism

John was a supporter of peace, and during the rage of the Vietnam war, was holding silent in-bed protests. His anti-war movement and protests caused so much stir that then-president Richard Nixon thought it would hurt his re-election campaign.

He tried to get Lennon deported from the US and even had the FBI monitor him. However, he failed because of corruption and scandals being leaked and Lennon and his wife Yoko were given permanent residency in the US.

Relationships

Two of John’s most famous relationships included Cynthia Powell and Yoko Ono. He met Cynthia during his time in college and after she got pregnant with John’s child, the two had a secret marriage.

Their son Julian was born on April 8, 1963. However, their marriage was filled with John’s abusive nature and violent tendencies, about which he himself said,

“I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically – any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace.”

Cynthia blamed Lennon’s use of LSD as the main catalyst in the dissolution of their marriage. They got officially divorced in November 1968 with John paying $240,000 at the time along with Julian’s custody.

Lennon had met Yoko Ono on November 9, 1966, at the Indica Gallery in London, where Ono was displaying her art. After a unique first meet, Lennon invited Ono to his house and recorded Two Virgins album the same night before having s** at dawn.

Lennon’s then-wife Cynthia arrived from Greece and saw Yoko in her bathrobe with Lennon drinking tea. After their divorce, Lennon and Yoko married on March 20, 1969. The couple managed through thick and thin, even allowing Lennon to have a mistress, May Pang and stayed together until Lennon’s death in 1980.

Death

At around 5:00 pm on December 8, 1980, Lennon autographed a copy of Double fantasy for a fan named Mark David Chapman and headed towards Recording Plant. After their recording session, John with his wife Yoko arrived at their Manhattan apartment where Lennon was shot dead by Chapman with four bullets to his body. He was rushed to the emergency room of Roosevelt Hospital and announced dead at their arrival on 11:00 at the age of 40.

The fan pleaded guilty in 1981 saying that he wanted to make some kind of statement. John was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Central Park where later Strawberry fields memorial was created.

Tags