<?xml version="1.0"?>
<artist artist_type="Person"><name>John Lennon</name><image><src>http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/artists/234x132/4d5447d7-c61c-4120-ba1b-d7f471d385b9.jpg</src></image><gid>4d5447d7-c61c-4120-ba1b-d7f471d385b9</gid><disambiguation></disambiguation><begin_date>1940-10-09</begin_date><end_date>1980-12-08</end_date><wikipedia_article><content>John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founder members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Together with Paul McCartney, he formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.

Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved as a teenager in the skiffle craze; his first band, The Quarrymen, evolved into The Beatles in 1960. As the group disintegrated towards the end of the decade, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as &quot;Give Peace a Chance&quot; and &quot;Imagine&quot;. After his marriage to Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name to John Ono Lennon. Lennon disengaged himself from the music business in 1975 to devote time to raising his infant son Sean, but re-emerged with Ono in 1980 with the new album Double Fantasy. He was murdered three weeks after its release.</content><url>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon</url><title>John Lennon</title></wikipedia_article><reviews><review><short_synopsis>The former Beatle's most famous singles collected in one place, again.</short_synopsis><url_key>c6vh</url_key><review_date>2010-11-25</review_date><release_date>2010-10-04</release_date><reviewer>Mike Diver</reviewer><release gid="8acace08-3f01-4d1c-9d14-17dcecec41d2"><title>Power to the People</title><artwork small="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/48x48/c6vh.jpg" large="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/176x176/c6vh.jpg"/></release></review><review><short_synopsis>Why not invest in copies of 'Plastic Ono Band', and 'Imagine' instead? It's a more...</short_synopsis><url_key>gw54</url_key><review_date>2005-10-10</review_date><release_date>2005-10-03</release_date><reviewer>Chris Jones</reviewer><release gid="c105826b-e984-4ecd-be04-e241012b3a0f"><title>Working Class Hero</title><artwork small="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/48x48/gw54.jpg" large="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/176x176/gw54.jpg"/></release></review><review><short_synopsis>Though there is very little subtlety, there is evident affection throughout.</short_synopsis><url_key>rmcg</url_key><review_date>2010-08-26</review_date><release_date>1975-02-21</release_date><reviewer>Sean Egan</reviewer><release gid="6b1230cc-6584-4ffc-abdc-30123a3d4d93"><title>Rock’N’Roll</title><artwork small="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/48x48/rmcg.jpg" large="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/176x176/rmcg.jpg"/></release></review><review><short_synopsis>A weird, ramshackle collection of eclectic gems.</short_synopsis><url_key>dhd3</url_key><review_date>2010-08-27</review_date><release_date>1971-10-08</release_date><reviewer>Garry Mulholland</reviewer><release gid="f237e6a0-4b0e-4722-8172-66f4930198bc"><title>Imagine</title><artwork small="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/48x48/dhd3.jpg" large="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/176x176/dhd3.jpg"/></release></review><review><short_synopsis>Lennon’s solo debut is still grossly underrated.</short_synopsis><url_key>9r9p</url_key><review_date>2010-08-27</review_date><release_date>1970-12-11</release_date><reviewer>Garry Mulholland</reviewer><release gid="4ccb6b7a-278b-4118-ad2d-054a49c0a82c"><title>John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band</title><artwork small="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/48x48/9r9p.jpg" large="http://static.bbci.co.uk/music/images/reviews/176x176/9r9p.jpg"/></release></review></reviews><releases><release release_type="Album" gid="8acace08-3f01-4d1c-9d14-17dcecec41d2"><name>Power to the People</name><release_year>2010</release_year></release><release release_type="Album" gid="c105826b-e984-4ecd-be04-e241012b3a0f"><name>Working Class Hero</name><release_year>2005</release_year></release><release release_type="Album" gid="6b1230cc-6584-4ffc-abdc-30123a3d4d93"><name>Rock’N’Roll</name><release_year>1975</release_year></release><release release_type="Album" gid="f237e6a0-4b0e-4722-8172-66f4930198bc"><name>Imagine</name><release_year>1971</release_year></release><release release_type="Album" gid="4ccb6b7a-278b-4118-ad2d-054a49c0a82c"><name>John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band</name><release_year>1970</release_year></release></releases><links><link type="official homepage"><name>johnlennon.com</name><url>http://www.johnlennon.com/</url></link><link type="youtube"><name>youtube.com/user/johnlennon</name><url>http://www.youtube.com/user/johnlennon</url></link><link type="social network"><name>facebook.com/johnlennon</name><url>http://www.facebook.com/johnlennon</url></link><link type="wikipedia"><name>John Lennon</name><url>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon</url></link><link type="IMDb"><name>imdb.com/name/nm0006168</name><url>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006168/</url></link><link type="Last.fm"><name>John Lennon</name><url>http://www.last.fm/music/John+Lennon</url></link><link type="discogs"><name>discogs.com/artist/John Lennon</name><url>http://www.discogs.com/artist/John+Lennon</url></link><link type="MusicBrainz"><name>John Lennon</name><url>http://musicbrainz.org/artist/4d5447d7-c61c-4120-ba1b-d7f471d385b9.html</url></link></links><news><news_item><title>John and Yoko nude pictures sold</title><description>Two nude photographs of John Lennon and Yoko Ono discovered in a loft in Dorset sell for £700 at auction.</description><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-17688240</url><source><title>BBC England</title><url>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/</url></source><date_published>2012-04-12T13:34:14.000+0000</date_published></news_item><news_item><title>Lennon celebrated on anniversary</title><description>Fans around the world gather to sing John Lennon songs and pay tribute to the former Beatle on the 30th anniversary of his death.</description><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11947118</url><source><title>Entertainment News</title><url>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment</url></source><date_published>2010-12-09T00:00:12.000+0000</date_published></news_item><news_item><title>Musicians gather for Lennon photoshoot</title><description>Hundreds of musicians gather in Liverpool to recreate a famous Beatles photograph and mark the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death.</description><url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-11947177</url><source><title>BBC England</title><url>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/</url></source><date_published>2010-12-08T13:23:32.000+0000</date_published></news_item></news><label_positions/><related_artists><related_artist type="parent"><artist><name>Sean Lennon</name><gid>722c6718-0c61-4db2-a8bc-993a8c5d2baf</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="parent"><artist><name>Julian Lennon</name><gid>fbe1a6d6-12c9-459e-bf73-fdcc76b14b7e</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="married"><begin_date>1969-03-20</begin_date><end_date>1980-12-08</end_date><artist><name>Yoko Ono</name><gid>b0b33754-a664-43b7-ba00-be0dc4ec2396</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="member of band"><artist><name>The Plastic Ono Band</name><gid>84f81b32-8b3a-4914-9cff-017a52f9d16b</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="member of band"><artist><name>The Quarrymen</name><gid>9fcc463b-7cfc-4ea4-a65e-bab77fc78e9a</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="member of band"><end_date>1970-04-10</end_date><artist><name>The Beatles</name><gid>b10bbbfc-cf9e-42e0-be17-e2c3e1d2600d</gid></artist></related_artist><related_artist type="collaboration"><begin_date>1968-12-11</begin_date><end_date>1968-12-11</end_date><artist><name>The Dirty Mac</name><gid>d1d5e62f-2159-4556-811d-8949cc7247c6</gid></artist></related_artist></related_artists></artist>

