New York. On December 8, 1980, the wrought iron gates of the Dakota Building across from Central Park went down in history as the place where John Lennon was shot.
New York, however, had been for almost 10 years a symbol of rebirth for the former Beatle and author of “Imagine.”
When he arrived in America’s first metropolis in 1971, the city was plagued with poverty and crime. But it was also in full artistic effervescence and populated by so many celebrities that even a world star like Lennon could have a coffee around the corner, at “Cafe La Fortuna”, without being harassed by admirers and paparazzi.
“We really feel in tune with New Yorkers,” his iconic partner Yoko Ono, now 87, recounted in the documentary “LENNONYC” (2010).
“I’ve met a lot of New Yorkers who complain, but nobody leaves,” he said. “It’s the best place in the world.”
– Expulsion order –
The couple had first settled in Greenwich Village, then the quintessential arts district.
“He didn’t want to be John Lennon, the former Beatle, a celebrity,” says Susan Ryan, a New York writer who organizes Beatles-related tours.
The apartment at 105 Bank Street, where they lived from 1971 to 1973, has been occupied for 25 years by the same tenant, Roger Middleton, “aware of the heritage” of the place.
John and Yoko quickly joined the leftist circles of the time and in 1972 released an album, “Some Time in New York City”, very political, which addressed racism, sexism and incarceration.
The FBI began tracking Lennon’s footsteps, and the Richard Nixon government ordered his deportation, the beginning of a long legal battle. The former Beatle did not obtain his residence permit until 1976.
– John the joker –
It was during this battle that Bob Gruen took the famous photo of Lennon making the peace sign in front of the Statue of Liberty.
The photographer captured other images that have become iconic, such as the one in which the singer in small round glasses with shoulder-length hair proudly wears a T-shirt with the inscription “New York City.”
Gruen says he was pleased to photograph a star “always ready to play with words and joke.”
“I would have liked to see what he would have done with Twitter, he was so good with short sentences,” says the septuagenarian.
Allan Tannenbaum, author of intimate portraits of John and Yoko, also remembers their sense of humor.
On one occasion, he says, when the couple were naked and simulating a sex scene that was being filmed, Lennon kissed Ono for so long that at one point he turned around and said, “What is this? Ben Hur. ? “, referring to the famous film of almost four hours released in 1959 …
“He broke the ice, everyone laughed,” recalls Tannenbaum.
“And I have the photo of that moment, him with a big smile on his face while he is on top of Yoko. And she laughing. It was the best.”
– “Househusband” –
That photoshoot dates back to November 1980, shortly after Lennon returned to music and a month before his murder. He and Yoko had just released “Double Fantasy”, their last album released while alive.
Five years earlier their son Sean had been born, who sealed the couple’s reconciliation after about 18 months of separation, described by Lennon as a “wasted weekend.”
They had met again on November 28, 1974 during what would be Lennon’s last concert when, to everyone’s surprise, he joined Elton John on the Madison Square Garden stage.
After Sean’s birth in October 1975, Lennon lived in seclusion at the Dakota. The security of the building, where other stars like Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland lived, was far superior to what they had experienced in Greenwich Village.
“He took care of the baby, he made bread and he was a householder,” said the former Beatle about that time.
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