John Lennon's 80th birthday: The Beatles Brighton Hippodrome

Everyone knows John Lennon’s story.

From his beginnings in The Quarrymen, to meeting Paul McCartney, the birth of The Beatles, The Cavern Club, Yoko Ono, the rooftop gig, Imagine and his death, Lennon’s life borders on legend.

But the genius of his lyrics, the controversies surrounding his personal life, his political activism and the tragedy of his death, paint a complex portrait of the man.

So how should we remember the working-class hero?

Jenny Jeater, who lives in Hassocks, saw The Beatles at Brighton Hippodrome on June 22, 1963.

Ms Jeater said: “I saw them for my 16th birthday and it’s amazing to look back.

“They were wearing their suits with no collars and everyone knew the words when they sang Love Me Do.

“It was all about being young and everything was changing. The movement The Beatles were part of opened up society.

“The Fifties were very grey and heading into the Sixties life was easing up a bit. The Beatles were part of that change and I think that’s why they were such a big phenomenon.”

The Beatles played at Brighton Hippodrome on two further occasions – July 12, 1964, and October 25, 1964.

For fans across the world, John Lennon continued to symbolise change and optimism.

Lyrics to the likes of In My Life are as relevant today as the day they were written.

He created the image of a future that was far removed from the post-war reality.

He demonstrated how music could be used to call for unity and his lyrics resonated the loudest among those who sought escapism.

It is this aspect of Lennon’s legacy that still continues to endure in popular culture.

During lockdown, Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot assembled a band of celebrities for a rendition of Lennon’s 1971 single, Imagine.

In Richard Curtis’s 2019 film Yesterday, a film in which The Beatles never existed, John Lennon grows old, avoiding the fate he suffered in reality, at the hands of Mark Chapman.

Both examples show how Lennon has been sentimentalised in the public imagination.

Lennon’s murder on December 8, 1980, marked his entrance into musical martyrdom.

To this day, fans continue to romanticise his life and death, clinging to a preserved idealised memory that has manifested itself in many forms over the years.

From the 2009 film Nowhereboy to the announcement of a new pop-up TV channel dedicated to Lennon for his birthday, it appears that some are still not ready to let his legacy lie.

For many, the answers lie in Lennon’s songs and lyrics that have now become anthems, soundtracking weddings and funerals and other important milestones in our lives.

Only in them is he truly immortalised.

In a recent BBC interview with Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, Paul McCartney admitted he still thinks of John when writing new material.

He said: “The interesting thing is that ever since The Beatles broke up, and we didn’t write together, or even record together, I think each one of us referenced the others when we’re writing stuff.

“I often do it. I’m writing something and I go, ‘oh, this is awful.,’… and I think, what would John say?

“And you go, ‘yeah, you’re right. It’s awful. You’ve got to change it.’

“And so I’ll change it.

“And I know from reports that he did similar things to that, you know, if I’d have a record out, he’d go, ‘oh, got to go into the studio, got to try and do better than Paul’.”

In his 1974 song Nobody Loves You When You’re Down And Out, Lennon wrote: “Everybody loves you when you’re six feet in the ground.”

And almost 40 years after his death, John Lennon continues to be loved, revered and idolised the world over.