A Brief Remembrance of the Night John Lennon Was Shot

December, 1980 – Forty-One Years Ago This December 8^th

By Doug Draper                   

Posted December 8^th, 2021 on Niagara At Large

John Lennon, as he looked during his ‘Fab Four’ days with The Beatles

Forty-one years ago this December 8^th, I was a young cub reporter at The St. Catharines Standard, driving back to the newsroom to write a story out of a meeting I was covering in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I barely sat down at my desk in the newsroom when one of the editors, checking some of the news coming in from around the word, said; “Oh know. Someone shot John Lennon.”

“Is he dead,” another in the newsroom asked. “It doesn’t say,” was the response. “This is just a first bulletin coming in.”

This Beatles fan, who was a particular fan of John, decided to write whatever story I had to write as soon as possible because I had a feeling that the next bulletin coming in would not be good, and it wasn’t.

Within the hour, it was confirmed that John Lennon was shot dead by some crazed individual outside the building where he lived in New York City.

For Beatle fans all over the world, including this one, it was mind-blowing news. And to put it selfishly, it drew a brutal close to any dream that The Beatles – arguably the greatest rock band of the 20^th century – would ever reunite again.

Just the thought of what John, along with Paul, George and Ringo, might have offered the world in music, had they re-united, is enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.

So let me leave you with this – a performance of The Beatles performing one of John’s edgiest songs from the group’s time together. To hear and watch a performance of it, click on –

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