24 Years Ago Today

[GalvestonDuck]

[alicia-w]

wow. how sobering is that.

thanks for the reminder. what a loss of a great talent.

[Miss Mary]

The saddest day in music history/Rock & Roll, IMHO. I will never forget going out for my morning paper to read the bold headline - ex-Beatle Dead.

Broke my heart. And still does.

Mary

[isobar]

Very sad and totally senseless.

[Stephanie]

I was on my way to college when the news broke on the radio. I started to cry while stopped at the light.

[Amanzi]

A great loss to the music industry...the poster that says "Why" had a great impact on me.

[Lindaloo]

What a sad day that was!! I loved John Lennon.

[SouthernWx]

It must have been on a weekend or Monday....because I remember hearing the news break during a pro football game, and it absolutely stunned me, my dad and uncle who were watching the game. It was a totally senseless crime

Edit: It was on a Monday evening.....because I remember the football broadcasters were Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, and Frank Gifford.

[StormCrazyIowan]

Quite obviously I wasn't even born yet, but I can certainly appreciate Lennon's music, and agree it was a loss- and still is.

[Miss Mary]

It was a weekday, and as someone confirmed, a Monday. I remember first learning of the tragic news from the morning paper (as I previously posted here). Then turning on the morning news. All 3 networks had live reports from NYC. Driving to work, nearly every radio station I turned on, suspended regular programming to air Beatles' music. In fact I remember several local rock stations running B. music for 3 days straight. I cried the whole way to work. And everyone at work was talking about how terribly sad it all was.

For my generation, we always held out hope the Beatles would reunite once more. It was hitting us that with John Lennon's sudden death, a reunion wouldn't be possible now.

So I think baby boomers felt robbed then and to this day, still do! Robbed b/c John Lennon was one of a kind. And then so many people still wanted the Beatles to play together, just once more. Their last live performance was on that rooftop in London, to a small gathering. Thankfully it's recorded, but fans had absolutely no idea that would be the very last time all 4 would play together.

One more comment......I've always felt that John Lennon's murder/death was Rock's saddest day. Much sadder than when Elvis died. I'm not saying I wasn't sad when learning of Elvis' sudden and unexpected death, it's just that John was TAKEN from us. Elvis chose to live his life in a way that clearly jeaprodized his health - popping all sorts of Rx meds assuming since a doctor prescribed them, they were safe to take, eating very fatty foods (sandwiches fried in real butter!), not exercising, etc. I'm also aware JL took drugs, but he seemed to do so in moderation. Elvis did all of that to the extreme.

Mary

[azskyman]

Indeed it was a sad sad day. The Beatles were bigger than life. Collectively, those four were one even when they were no longer playing together. It was as if the Beatles were senselessly killed as well.

My son was pallbearer for the funeral of a 17 year old friend who died tragically in a car accident on Thanksgiving Eve, 1992. During the funeral, the church played Lennon's "Imagine" as part of the service.

Sad in its own right because of Lennon's tragic death, Jason's mother and I could only sit a few rows behind those pallbearers and watch our son sob openly as John Lennon's voice pierced the souls of all who were there that day.

We remember John and his music...the Beatles and their music...and Jimmy's funeral. Seem to be all one sad snapshot in our memory.