John Lennon
The musician the Beatles began with, whose partnership with Paul McCartney produced the best-known song catalogue of the century. After the group broke up he made solo records, spoke against the war in Vietnam, and spent five years at home with his son releasing nothing. He was shot outside his New York home on 8 December 1980.
Born in Liverpool on 9 October 1940 at 18:30 British Summer Time: through the war years Britain did not put the clocks back for winter, and summer time ran the year round. The hour comes from the record of the Oxford Street maternity hospital.