Ex-member of the Beatles, singer and songwriter John Lennon on the beach in Cannes, France, May 21, 1971.Getty Images
John Lennon, who co-founded the Beatles before he moved on to have an equally prolific solo career before he was assassinated in 1980, would have turned 77 on Monday.
Born on Oct.9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, he was a legendary songwriter well-known for his contribution in revolutionizing pop music and rock & roll.
He was a part of the legendary music band The Beatles since it broke up in 1970 after which Lennon went on to release hit songs such as “Give peace a chance” and “Imagine.”
Since then, music lovers remember the icon through his song lyrics and statements in interviews.
"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears."
"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy.' They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life."
"The more I see, the less I know for sure."
"It's weird not to be weird."
"Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear."
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."
"Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace ... we just need to declare it."
"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people."
"Before Elvis there was nothing."
"There are only a few notes. Just variations on a theme."
"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong."
"Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too, Imagine all the people. Living life in peace. You may say that I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one."
"We're trying to sell peace, like a product, you know, and sell it like people sell soap or soft drinks. And it's the only way to get people aware that peace is possible, and it isn't just inevitable to have violence. Not just war -- all forms of violence. People just accept it ... [but] We're all responsible for everything that goes on, you know, we're all responsible for Biafra and Hitler and everything. So we're just saying "SELL PEACE" -- anybody interested in peace just stick it in the window."
"As I play the game of life, I try to make it better each and every day.And when I struggle in the night. The magic of the music seems to light the way."
"You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!"
