(October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.   John Lennon (October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English rock musician, singer, writer, songwriter, artist, actor and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles.

Once the Beatles visited Maharishi Yogi in India in the 1960's, John started doing meditations. John Lennon took more than a passing interest in spiritual subjects, and it may have triggered his own clairvoyant abilities.  John Lennon once said "Spiritualism should interest everyone." John attended many seances during his lifetime- an interest still continued by his widow, Yoko, who practices the teachings of psychic Edgar Cayce.

It is believed that John had premonitions that he would be shot. He even stated that his fear of murder caused the Beatles to break up. "We were not bored," he said "and certainly did not run out of songs. I was paranoid about somebody trying to bump us off." When he heard that the Beatles's former road manager had been shot dead by Los Angeles police, he said over and over again, "I'm next, I know it."  But John believed firmly in an afterlife. "I am an optimist about eternity. I believe in life after death. I believe that death is not an end but a beginning."

On the night of 8 December 1980, at around 10:49 p.m., Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times (the fifth shot missed) in the entrance of the Dakota. Earlier that evening, Lennon had autographed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman who had been stalking Lennon since October.
Lennon was taken to the Emergency Room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 p.m. On the following day, Ono issued a statement: "There is no funeral for John. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love, Yoko and Sean." Chapman pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life where he remains, having been denied all requests for parole.  Lennon's body was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York; his ashes were then kept by Yoko.

Three weeks before his death, John Lennon had fired his bodyguard. His reply was that any killer would shoot the bodyguard first. When he was still a Beatle, Lennon was asked how he might die. Lennon replied: “I'll probably be popped off by some loony.“