John Lennon Remembered - 29 years ago

It's so hard to believe 29 years has passed since that awful day in December when John Lennon was shot dead in front of his home, The Dakota, in Manhattan (the city he adopted and loved so much, the country he adored). I remember it like it was yesterday.

Dec. 8, 1980-- I was sitting in my apartment in Schaumburg, Illinois with my friends - my best friend, Moira and a few others... but one man was there who, I remember, my mother had counseled... and he was challenging me. He said, "What would happen if you lost someone you loved?" and I was very cocky in my youth. I don't remember how I replied, but I was so sure we'd all survive.

That evening they all left and I kept playing John Lennon's songs over and over. I'd taken my band into the recording studio that week and we were working on tunes, but were all looking forward to John Lennon's tour where we might be able to meet him and see him perform. His release of "Double Fantasy" was like a new beginning for us all.

So when the call came from my beloved brother, Johnny, that John Lennon had been murdered, I was caught completely off guard and in total disbelief. I said to the receiver, "I won't believe it until I hear it from Moira!" And so she grabbed the phone and Johnny told her the truth: "Turn on the TV, you'll see..." and she did. So we all sat around watching the horrible news. I heard Yoko's statement, "John loved and prayed for the human race... let's do the same for him..."

So I did what any artist would do: I sat down and wrote a song and then I and my band were in the studio the next night recording "Let's Save the Human Race" and on WIND Radio in Chicago, IL the next night talking to the masses about John Lennon's death. We STILL love and pray for the human race and IMAGINE all that he taught us to imagine. [more...]