More popular than Jesus
Encyclopedia
Angry reactions flared up in August 1966, after John Lennon's
remark that The Beatles
had become "more popular than Jesus
" was quoted by the American teen magazine, Datebook
. Lennon originally made the remark when an English newspaper reporter, Maureen Cleave
, interviewed him at home for a series of articles on the lifestyles of the four individual Beatles. When published in the United Kingdom in March 1966, Lennon's words provoked no public reaction.
When Datebook quoted Lennon's comments five months later in August 1966, vociferous protests broke out in the United States. The Beatles' records were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled and threats were made. The protest spread to other countries including Mexico, South Africa and Spain; there were anti-Beatles' demonstrations and their music was banned on radio stations. The controversy erupted on the eve of the group's US tour, and the anger and scale of the reaction led their manager, Brian Epstein
, to consider cancelling the tour.
Two press conferences were held in the US, where both Epstein and then Lennon expressed their regret at words taken out of context and offence taken. Christian spokesmen pointed out that Lennon had only stated what the church was itself saying about the decline of Christianity
. The US tour went ahead but there was disruption and intimidation, including picketing of concerts by the Ku Klux Klan
, and at one concert the group mistakenly believed they were the target of gunfire. From the close of the 1966 tour until their break-up in 1970, they never played another commercial concert.
A series of weekly articles entitled "How Does a Beatle Live?" appeared in the London Evening Standard
during March 1966. Written about, respectively, John Lennon
, Ringo Starr
, George Harrison
, and Paul McCartney
, the four articles were completed by journalist Maureen Cleave
. Well known by all four Beatles, Cleave had interviewed the group regularly since the start of Beatlemania
in the UK. Three years previously she had written of them as "the darlings of Merseyside", and had accompanied them on the plane to the US when they first toured there in January 1964. For her lifestyle series in March 1966, she chose to interview the group singularly, rather than all together, as was the norm.
Cleave interviewed Lennon on 4 March 1966. After encountering a full-size crucifix, a gorilla costume and a medieval suit of armour on her excursion through his home, Kenwood
, in Weybridge
, she found a well-organised library, with works by Alfred Tennyson
, Jonathan Swift
, Oscar Wilde
, George Orwell
, Aldous Huxley
, and The Passover Plot
, by Hugh J. Schonfield
, which had influenced Lennon's ideas about Christianity
. Cleave's article mentioned that Lennon was "reading extensively about religion", and quoted a comment he made:
The decline of Christianity had been the subject of regular discussion in the UK
since the First World War
. Experiencing ever-falling levels of attendance, the Christian church was making no secret of its efforts to transform its image into something more relevant to modern times. As music historian Jonathan Gould wrote, "The satire comedians had had a field day with the increasingly desperate attempts of the Church to make itself seem more relevant ('Don't call me vicar, call me Dick ... '), while the individual Beatles themselves had experienced the ministrations of the Rev. Ronald Gibbons, who told reporters at the height of Beatlemania that a Fab Four version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" might provide the Church of England with 'the very shot in the arm it needs'". In 1963, the Anglican
Bishop of Woolwich
, John A. T. Robinson, published a controversial but popular book, Honest to God
, urging the nation to reject traditional church teachings on morality and the concept of God as an "old man in the sky", and instead embrace a universal ethic of love. Lennon's words, published in the Evening Standard in March 1966, provoked no public reaction in the UK.
, printed Lennon's quote about Christianity on its front cover.
There was an immediate response, starting with an announcement by two radio stations in Alabama and Texas that they had banned Beatles' music from their playlists. WAQY
DJ, Tommy Charles: "We just felt it was so absurd and sacrilegious that something ought to be done to show them that they can't get away with this sort of thing". Around two dozen other stations followed suit with similar announcements. Some stations in the South went further, organising demonstrations with bonfires, drawing hordes of teenagers to publicly burn their Beatles' records and other memorabilia.
The Memphis city council, aware that a Beatles' concert was scheduled at the Mid-South Coliseum
during the group's imminent US tour, voted to cancel it rather than have "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion", and also saying, "The Beatles are not welcome in Memphis". The Ku Klux Klan
nailed a Beatles' album to a wooden cross, vowing "vengeance", with conservative groups staging further public burnings of Beatles' records. The Reverend Jimmy Stroad stated that a Christian rally in Memphis "would give the youth of the mid-South an opportunity to show Jesus Christ is more popular than The Beatles". The Memphis shows did take place on 19 August; the afternoon show went as planned, but there was a minor panic when a firecracker was set off on stage during the evening performance, which led the group to believe they were the target of gunfire.
Epstein was so concerned by the US reaction that he considered cancelling the tour, believing the group would be seriously harmed in some way. He then flew to the US and held a press conference in New York, where he publicly criticised Datebook, saying the magazine had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the group that "people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended in any way". Epstein's efforts had little effect, as the controversy quickly spread beyond the borders of the US. In Mexico City there were demonstrations against the group, and a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain, took the decision to ban national radio stations from playing Beatles' music. Even the Vatican
became involved; issuing a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. Shortly before the tour began, on 11 August 1966, all four Beatles attended a press conference in Chicago
, Illinois
to address the growing furore:
At the press conference Lennon described his own belief in God by quoting the Bishop of Woolwich, saying, "... not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us." When the tour began, it was marred by protests, cancellation of concerts, and disturbances. Telephone threats were received, and concerts were picketed by the Ku Klux Klan. Daily Express
writer Robert Pitman, responding to the US outcry, wrote, "It seems a nerve for Americans to hold up shocked hands, when week in, week out, America is exporting to us a subculture that makes The Beatles seem like four stern old churchwardens." In the US too there was criticism of the reaction; a Kentucky
radio station declared that it would start to give Beatles' music airplay to show its "contempt for hypocrisy personified", and the Jesuit magazine America
wrote: "Lennon was simply stating what many a Christian educator would readily admit". After completing the tour, The Beatles never performed a commercial concert again.
Asked about the controversy during a 1969 trip to Canada, Lennon said:
Lennon also said in 1978:
In a 2008 article marking the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' "White Album
" release, the Vatican
newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano
, issued the statement:
Reaction to this gesture came from Ringo Starr who stated: "Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic -- and they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican's got more to talk about than the Beatles."
to announce that he was the living reincarnation of Jesus: "I have something very important to tell you all. I am Jesus Christ. I'm back again". The meeting was adjourned for lunch, and Lennon never mentioned the subject again. In May 1969, Lennon recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko" with McCartney, singing the lines, "Christ, you know it ain’t easy, You know how hard it can be, The way things are going, They’re gonna crucify me"; in a BBC
interview a few months later, Lennon called himself "one of Christ's biggest fans", though he [Lennon] still believed his past statements to be accurate.
On 3 December 1969, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and Tim Rice
asked Lennon to play the part of Jesus in the stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar
, which he declined, although he said he would have been interested if his wife, Yoko Ono
, could play the part of Mary Magdalene
. Lennon mentioned Jesus again in his 1970 song, "God
", singing, "I don't believe in Jesus", but also sang that he did not believe in the Bible
, Buddha
, Gita
, and The Beatles. Whilst living in Los Angeles with May Pang
, Lennon once said to DJ Wolfman Jack
, "To boogie or not to boogie, that is the Christian." Critics of Lennon's lyrics also focused on Lennon's 1971 song, "Imagine
", because of the line, "Imagine there's no heaven".
Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 by Mark David Chapman
, who had become a born-again Christian in 1970, and was supposedly incensed by Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remark, calling it blasphemy
. He later stated the he was further enraged by the songs "God", and "Imagine"—even singing the latter with the altered lyric: "Imagine John Lennon dead".
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
remark that The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
had become "more popular than Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
" was quoted by the American teen magazine, Datebook
Datebook
Datebook was an American teen magazine published during the 1960s. It focused on popular music and other topics relevant to teenagers. The magazine is famous for publishing an interview with John Lennon in which the Beatle made his infamous "More popular than Jesus" statement....
. Lennon originally made the remark when an English newspaper reporter, Maureen Cleave
Maureen Cleave
Maureen Cleave is an English journalist who worked for the London Evening News and London Evening Standard in the 1960s, conducting interviews with famous musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon....
, interviewed him at home for a series of articles on the lifestyles of the four individual Beatles. When published in the United Kingdom in March 1966, Lennon's words provoked no public reaction.
When Datebook quoted Lennon's comments five months later in August 1966, vociferous protests broke out in the United States. The Beatles' records were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled and threats were made. The protest spread to other countries including Mexico, South Africa and Spain; there were anti-Beatles' demonstrations and their music was banned on radio stations. The controversy erupted on the eve of the group's US tour, and the anger and scale of the reaction led their manager, Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
, to consider cancelling the tour.
Two press conferences were held in the US, where both Epstein and then Lennon expressed their regret at words taken out of context and offence taken. Christian spokesmen pointed out that Lennon had only stated what the church was itself saying about the decline of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. The US tour went ahead but there was disruption and intimidation, including picketing of concerts by the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, and at one concert the group mistakenly believed they were the target of gunfire. From the close of the 1966 tour until their break-up in 1970, they never played another commercial concert.
Background
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
during March 1966. Written about, respectively, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, the four articles were completed by journalist Maureen Cleave
Maureen Cleave
Maureen Cleave is an English journalist who worked for the London Evening News and London Evening Standard in the 1960s, conducting interviews with famous musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon....
. Well known by all four Beatles, Cleave had interviewed the group regularly since the start of Beatlemania
Beatlemania in the United Kingdom
The phenomenon known as Beatlemania originated in the United Kingdom, birthplace of The Beatles, when the band first realised enormous popularity there in late 1962. Returning from a highly formative two-year residency in Germany, The Beatles achieved a commercial breakthrough with their second UK...
in the UK. Three years previously she had written of them as "the darlings of Merseyside", and had accompanied them on the plane to the US when they first toured there in January 1964. For her lifestyle series in March 1966, she chose to interview the group singularly, rather than all together, as was the norm.
Cleave interviewed Lennon on 4 March 1966. After encountering a full-size crucifix, a gorilla costume and a medieval suit of armour on her excursion through his home, Kenwood
Kenwood, St. George's Hill
Kenwood is a house on the St. George's Hill estate, Weybridge, Surrey, England. Originally called the Brown House, it was designed by architect T.A. Allen, and built in 1913 by local builders, Love & Sons. The estate was constructed around the Weybridge Golf Club, which was designed in 1912 by...
, in Weybridge
Weybridge
Weybridge is a town in the Elmbridge district of Surrey in South East England. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the River Wey, from which it gets its name...
, she found a well-organised library, with works by Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
, Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
, Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, and The Passover Plot
The Passover Plot
The Passover Plot is the name of a controversial, best-selling 1965 book, by British Biblical scholar Hugh J. Schonfield who has also published a translation of the New Testament informed with a Jewish perspective....
, by Hugh J. Schonfield
Hugh J. Schonfield
Hugh Joseph Schonfield was a British Bible scholar specializing in the New Testament and the early development of the Christian religion and church. He was born in London, and educated there at St Paul's School and King's College, doing postgraduate religious studies in Glasgow, Doctor of Sacred...
, which had influenced Lennon's ideas about Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Cleave's article mentioned that Lennon was "reading extensively about religion", and quoted a comment he made:
The decline of Christianity had been the subject of regular discussion in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Experiencing ever-falling levels of attendance, the Christian church was making no secret of its efforts to transform its image into something more relevant to modern times. As music historian Jonathan Gould wrote, "The satire comedians had had a field day with the increasingly desperate attempts of the Church to make itself seem more relevant ('Don't call me vicar, call me Dick ... '), while the individual Beatles themselves had experienced the ministrations of the Rev. Ronald Gibbons, who told reporters at the height of Beatlemania that a Fab Four version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" might provide the Church of England with 'the very shot in the arm it needs'". In 1963, the Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
Bishop of Woolwich
Bishop of Woolwich
The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England....
, John A. T. Robinson, published a controversial but popular book, Honest to God
Honest to God
Honest to God is a book written by the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich John A.T. Robinson, criticising traditional Christian theology. It aroused a storm of controversy on its original publication by SCM Press in 1963...
, urging the nation to reject traditional church teachings on morality and the concept of God as an "old man in the sky", and instead embrace a universal ethic of love. Lennon's words, published in the Evening Standard in March 1966, provoked no public reaction in the UK.
The controversy
In August 1966, five months after Cleave's article appeared in the Evening Standard, an American teen magazine, DatebookDatebook
Datebook was an American teen magazine published during the 1960s. It focused on popular music and other topics relevant to teenagers. The magazine is famous for publishing an interview with John Lennon in which the Beatle made his infamous "More popular than Jesus" statement....
, printed Lennon's quote about Christianity on its front cover.
There was an immediate response, starting with an announcement by two radio stations in Alabama and Texas that they had banned Beatles' music from their playlists. WAQY
WAQY
WAQY is a Springfield, Massachusetts area classic rock radio station. Since the late 1980s, the station has been known as "Rock 102".-History:...
DJ, Tommy Charles: "We just felt it was so absurd and sacrilegious that something ought to be done to show them that they can't get away with this sort of thing". Around two dozen other stations followed suit with similar announcements. Some stations in the South went further, organising demonstrations with bonfires, drawing hordes of teenagers to publicly burn their Beatles' records and other memorabilia.
The Memphis city council, aware that a Beatles' concert was scheduled at the Mid-South Coliseum
Mid-South Coliseum
The Mid-South Coliseum, also known as "The Entertainment Capital of the Mid-South", was a multi-purpose arena, that seated 10,085 people, in Memphis, Tennessee...
during the group's imminent US tour, voted to cancel it rather than have "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion", and also saying, "The Beatles are not welcome in Memphis". The Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
nailed a Beatles' album to a wooden cross, vowing "vengeance", with conservative groups staging further public burnings of Beatles' records. The Reverend Jimmy Stroad stated that a Christian rally in Memphis "would give the youth of the mid-South an opportunity to show Jesus Christ is more popular than The Beatles". The Memphis shows did take place on 19 August; the afternoon show went as planned, but there was a minor panic when a firecracker was set off on stage during the evening performance, which led the group to believe they were the target of gunfire.
Epstein was so concerned by the US reaction that he considered cancelling the tour, believing the group would be seriously harmed in some way. He then flew to the US and held a press conference in New York, where he publicly criticised Datebook, saying the magazine had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the group that "people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended in any way". Epstein's efforts had little effect, as the controversy quickly spread beyond the borders of the US. In Mexico City there were demonstrations against the group, and a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain, took the decision to ban national radio stations from playing Beatles' music. Even the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
became involved; issuing a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. Shortly before the tour began, on 11 August 1966, all four Beatles attended a press conference in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
to address the growing furore:
At the press conference Lennon described his own belief in God by quoting the Bishop of Woolwich, saying, "... not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us." When the tour began, it was marred by protests, cancellation of concerts, and disturbances. Telephone threats were received, and concerts were picketed by the Ku Klux Klan. Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
writer Robert Pitman, responding to the US outcry, wrote, "It seems a nerve for Americans to hold up shocked hands, when week in, week out, America is exporting to us a subculture that makes The Beatles seem like four stern old churchwardens." In the US too there was criticism of the reaction; a Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
radio station declared that it would start to give Beatles' music airplay to show its "contempt for hypocrisy personified", and the Jesuit magazine America
America (magazine)
America is a national weekly magazine published by the American Jesuits that contains news and opinion about Catholicism and how it relates to American politics and cultural life....
wrote: "Lennon was simply stating what many a Christian educator would readily admit". After completing the tour, The Beatles never performed a commercial concert again.
Asked about the controversy during a 1969 trip to Canada, Lennon said:
Lennon also said in 1978:
In a 2008 article marking the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' "White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
" release, the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano
L'Osservatore Romano is the "semi-official" newspaper of the Holy See. It covers all the Pope's public activities, publishes editorials by important churchmen, and runs official documents after being released...
, issued the statement:
Reaction to this gesture came from Ringo Starr who stated: "Didn't the Vatican say we were satanic or possibly satanic -- and they've still forgiven us? I think the Vatican's got more to talk about than the Beatles."
Other mentions
On 18 May 1968, Lennon summoned the other Beatles to a meeting at Apple CorpsApple Corps
Apple Corps Ltd. is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in January 1968 by the members of The Beatles to replace their earlier company and to form a conglomerate. Its name is a pun. Its chief division is Apple Records, which was launched in the same year...
to announce that he was the living reincarnation of Jesus: "I have something very important to tell you all. I am Jesus Christ. I'm back again". The meeting was adjourned for lunch, and Lennon never mentioned the subject again. In May 1969, Lennon recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko" with McCartney, singing the lines, "Christ, you know it ain’t easy, You know how hard it can be, The way things are going, They’re gonna crucify me"; in a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
interview a few months later, Lennon called himself "one of Christ's biggest fans", though he [Lennon] still believed his past statements to be accurate.
On 3 December 1969, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
and Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
asked Lennon to play the part of Jesus in the stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
, which he declined, although he said he would have been interested if his wife, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, could play the part of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
. Lennon mentioned Jesus again in his 1970 song, "God
God (John Lennon song)
"God" is a song from John Lennon's first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album was released on 11 December 1970 in the United States and the United Kingdom....
", singing, "I don't believe in Jesus", but also sang that he did not believe in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, and The Beatles. Whilst living in Los Angeles with May Pang
May Pang
May Fung Yee Pang is best known as the former girlfriend of John Lennon. She had previously worked as a personal assistant and production coordinator for Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono....
, Lennon once said to DJ Wolfman Jack
Wolfman Jack
Robert Weston Smith, known commonly as Wolfman Jack was a gravelly voiced US disc jockey who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early career:...
, "To boogie or not to boogie, that is the Christian." Critics of Lennon's lyrics also focused on Lennon's 1971 song, "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
", because of the line, "Imagine there's no heaven".
Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 by Mark David Chapman
Mark David Chapman
Mark David Chapman is an American prison inmate who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He committed the crime as Lennon and Yoko Ono were outside of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Chapman aimed five shots at Lennon, hitting him four times in his back...
, who had become a born-again Christian in 1970, and was supposedly incensed by Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remark, calling it blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
. He later stated the he was further enraged by the songs "God", and "Imagine"—even singing the latter with the altered lyric: "Imagine John Lennon dead".