Remembering John Lennon

Dateline interviewed different people who knew, admired, and crossed paths with John Lennon. Below, are excerpts of their remembrances of the music legend, as told to "Dateline."

Where were you on Dec. 8, 1980? How did you find out Lennon died? What was your reaction? Share your own personal tribute to John Lennon in the mailbag provided below.

Vin Scelsa, WNEW disc jockey, who had to announce the news to many New Yorkers
"I was on the air from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m, that was my shift.   And there was a desk assistant, a DA, who was in the newsroom —a young guy named Marty Martinez. Suddenly all the lights began to light up the switchboard. And I looked over and I saw it and I wondered what that was all about because I wasn’t doing a contest or a giveaway. Marty came running into the room, and he was white as a ghost.  And he said, “John Lennon’s been shot.” He knew that something significant had happened.  I was playing Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Jungle Land.’  This long, 11 or 12, or 13 minute track about the city and about life on the streets.  And to a certain extent, about violence on the streets.  A very ironic thing.  I faded down the music and I read the bulletin. And we tried to downplay it.  John has been shot.  He’s been taken to the hospital.

Many minutes later, the bulletin came across that he had died.  Marty came into the room, tears streaming down his face, totally shaken, and said; “He—he—he’s dead. He’s gone.” I kinda flipped out at that point.  I didn’t wanna go on the air and say this.  I had gone on the air other times in my life and announced that people had died.  John Lennon, I knew right away, thatthis was something that went beyond just a pop star murder or a pop star death.  That this was truly a significant moment in our cultural history.  I remember finally the song ending and my coming on the air and saying whatever it is I said.  I know that what I said is in the Museum of Television & Radio.  I’ve only listened to it two or three times over the years, cause I don’t really wanna listen to it.

I know that I said something like, 'For the first time in my life I’m speechless.  Cause I had been known as the DJ who talked a lot.' My voice was shaking.  I was crying.  I was trying to hold it together. And we began, without ever planning it or talking about it, or thinking it through, we began what became a radio wake for John Lennon.  We opened up the phones.  We took calls.  And what came across in those phone calls was this incredible sorrow, and rage."

Max Weinberg, drummer, Bruce Springstreen and the E Street band; Max Weinberg Seven
"It’s forever in my mind where I was the night John Lennon was assassinated.  I had just gotten done playing a concert with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Spectrum Arena in Philadelphia.  And I’ll never forget the scene. I was walking with the rest of the band up the ramp, backstage.  And one of our tech crew came over and said what had happened.  And it was just like all the air was sucked out of the room.  It’s one of those moments that stays with you forever where you were when John Lennon was assassinated, where John Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy.  It just freezes that moment in time.

"He just looked at us and said, "You’re not going to believe this, John Lennon’s been shot.' And the very first instant, the first thing I thought of was some sort of accident, which I can recall when I was in seventh grade I thought the same with President Kennedy.  It never dawned on me that somebody would assassinate John Lennon.  I immediately felt numb, being both a Beatles fan, a John Lennon fan and that feeling stayed with me all night long.  I think the next day on the way to the next concert, I believe it was Steve Van Zandt made the comment and observation that if there was any doubt in anybody’s mind, this was the end of the 60s.

"We were scheduled to play on December 9^th, 1980 at the Spectrum.  And we did.  And we didn’t quite know what we were about.  Of course, I think Bruce did.  And you know Bruce went up and made a very eloquent moving soliloquy about John Lennon.  And you know if memory serves, he said that we wouldn’t be up there tonight if it hadn’t been for John Lennon. When the world asks you to accept the unacceptable, all you can do is play music.  All you can do is rock.  And then, we played 'Twist and Shout.'"

Viewer e-mails
"I was decorating my Christmas tree when I heard the news report. I was totally devastated. I couldn't sleep that night and listened all night to a wonderful radio station (KMET) that no longer exists and talked on the phone with a friend and fellow Beatle fan. Thats what got me through that night. The Beatles had been an important part of my life since the beginning and John was especially important to me. His dedication to truth and peace has stayed with me ever since and will be a part of me for the rest of my life." --Cindi Poplos, Los Angeles, Calif.

"I was a junior at Ohio State University. 4 of us lived together in an apartment and we were getting ready for class,taking showers etc when Doc, came out of the bathroom crying saying she had just heard that John Lennon was assasinated. There was dead silence in our apartment no one knew what to say, we all just cried. We had grown up with the Beatles and John Lennon." --Susan Longbrake, Columbus, Ohio

"Like a lot of Americans, I was watching Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell announced that John Lennon had been shot. I was devastated as I was a Beatles fan since the age of 12. John had affected every aspect of my life. I had experienced loss of parents just like he did. The Beatles music was my escape as well as my defining myself as a musician. Personally, It was like reliving the Kennedys and King assassinations all over again. I will miss John and all that he and the Beatles meant to me in my life. I will never be the same. Not because of some rock band but because of what they stood for in our generation. As John said 'All I was is some truth' and I think that is what he delivered. Some of us were not ready for the truth." --Steve Charlson, Richmond Va

"I was sitting on the couch with my girlfriend in her parents house. We were watching Monday night football and talking. We didn't even hear Howard Cosell make the announcement, but a few minutes later her little sister came running down the stairs shouting that John Lennon was shot. She knew I was the biggest John Lennon fan and she was distraught. I couldn't really believe her. We turned on the radio and every station was playing a Beatles or Lennon song and then it really hit me. Today that girlfriend is my wife of 23 years and we live in the house that we heard the horrible news in. We are godparents to 2 of her little sister's 3 kids and we all still love John Lennon and the Beatles." --Kevin McAteer, Newtown Square, Pa.

"I was 7 years old and asleep in my room. My father woke me and told me to get up and said 'John Lennon is dead.' I remember getting up immediately and had dreamed the night before Lennon had died. The news must have been on and it crept into my dreams. I remember crying. I knew something important had been taken from the world. I loved the Beatles. My father and my older brother are huge fans. I love the Beatles even now and I miss John Lennon and his music. His song "Imagine" is my favorite of his. I can not think of a better place than what he describes in that song. 'Nothing to kill or die for.' I still hope we come to that someday." --Kerry Barnum, Lexington, N.C.

"I was decorating the Christmas tree. The TV was on and a news break said that John Lennon had just been shot and killed in New York. For a long time after whenever I heard 'Imagine' I would start to cry because it seemed so very cruel and ironic that a man who had composed those loving words and been an advocate for peace could be taken away in such a violent way that was the opposite of his life.'" --Carole McSweeney, Los Angeles, Calif.

With tears in my eyes I am responding to to this question. I like so many others, I heard Howard Cosell announce the news on Monday Night Football. I spent the next four days glued to the TV, I was numb, I couldn't function, I found it so very hard to perceive how this could have happened. To this day I still hold John's message near to my heart and attempt to live my life in pursuit of the ideals that he so boldly represented. So did John's music and message change my life? I feel that it had a very profound effect on my life and gave a voice to my own outlook on so many issues, i.e. peace, human rights, the sexes, religion, etc... He spoke for so many in our generation and so many in the world as a whole. The loss was very much like the loss of Gandhi not so many years before, and just as senseless. These were to men so commited to the belief that living in peace was completely within our grasp if only we would embrace it. To have their lives taken so violently was such a contrast to their message. When Johns life was taken a big part of all of us was taken as well. John, we wiss you more with each passing year. --Patrick O'Hara, New York, NY

"I was watching Monday Night Football and heard the news from Howard Cosell of all people. I was sitting in my basement apartment on the north side of Chicago. At that exact second, I lost my childhood ... and a profound sadness set in. Lennon represented the hope of the '60s that we all might live together in peace some day. And I knew that hope was gone." --Stew Oleson, Pacific Palisades, Calif.

I had been at a basketball game, my friend drove me home in a car with no radio. I walked into my apartment and my wife was up crying. She told me that John was dead. The next morning my friend Rebecca called and said, "What do we do now?" Did John's life and music affect me? I'm 55 years old, I have a loving wife, two wonderful daughters and a great life and I'm crying as I write this. --Michael Pardys, Chicago, Ill.

It is amazing how the emotions come flooding back at a time like this. The Friday before his murder several friends were over and we listened to "Double Fantasy" and discussed how great the tracks were, John had once again given us a gift of hope and optimism. The world would be OK. I didn’t hear about his death until I turned on the TV and heard “Imagine” in the background and the newscaster mention the late, John Lennon. I don’t remember much except being numb. I know there were tears and I know I spent my free hours listening to John’s music and the Beatles music searching for comfort. I just had a Lennon compilation disc in my car and was thinking how great and relevant these songs are even today. No offense to the music makers of today but the day the music really did die was December 8, 1980. God Bless John for his passion and for what he gave to all of us. --Bob Krouse, Defiance, Ohio

I was away at college, when I heard the news. Since I was such a big John Lennon fan, I first had a hard time believing that it happen, until I saw Howard Cosell announcing it during a football game. I mourned for weeks. I still love John Lennon music, and find that his music is real and plays an important part in my life. --Lynn Gregory, Canton, Mich.

I was in my mid-twenties when John Lennon was murdered and working at a small beverage center as a cashier. It was windy and rainy night and the customers were few in number. So I sat there listening to the radio, when all of a sudden I heard a breaking news announcement. It said that John Lennon had been shot by some lunatic outside his apartment in NYC. I couldn’t believe it! I sat there feeling numb and thinking maybe he will survive. But, a little while later, I was shocked to learn that he had died. I had been a long Beatles and John Lennon fan and to this day I still am. On the way home that night, I listened to Imagine for about two hours straight still not believing John was gone. He was truly a musical genius that the world will never see again.  --Carmine Paris, Rochester, N.Y.

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