George Harrison Said John Lennon’s Murderer Was Pointless, Violent, and Sneaky
George Harrison had some brutal words about John Lennon’s murderer, Mark David Chapman.
A dreadful phone call woke George and his wife, Olivia, up one night in December 1980. On the other end of the line, someone explained that Chapman had killed George’s fellow Beatle in cold blood in front of his New York City apartment building, the Dakota.
George couldn’t get over what a waste the situation was.
The former Beatle thought his other ex-bandmate, Ringo Starr, had died when he got the call about John Lennon’s death
In a 1988 interview on Aspel and Co., George said he was sleeping at his home, Friar Park, when he got the call about John’s death.
“The call came through sometime in the morning, four or five in the morning,” George said. “I didn’t take the call. Olivia took the call, and she said, ‘John’s been shot.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, how bad is it?’ I just thought maybe a flesh wound or something like that, but she said, ‘No, that’s it, he’s dead.’
“I just went back to sleep, actually. Maybe it was just a way of getting away from it. I just went to sleep and waited to see what it said the next morning, and he was still dead the next morning, unfortunately.”
In an interview with BBC’s Women’s Hour, George’s wife, Olivia, revealed that her husband initially thought Ringo had died when they got the call about John’s death.
“All I can say about that moment was… You know, that phone call in the night, and you know it’s not good,” Olivia said. “And you don’t want to answer the phone, but you don’t have a choice. I happened to be the one [who] answered that call, that monumental call in the night to say… Someone said, ‘John’s dead.’
“And I thought you have 10 seconds to try and figure out how you’re going to break this news. I said… George actually said, ‘Who is it?’ And he thought it was Ringo…”
George Harrison had some brutal words for John Lennon’s murderer
Years later, in 1989, George had some brutal words about John’s murderer.
“Well, it was because it was such a waste by some stupid person,” George said (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters). “If John had been killed by Elvis or something, it would have been, you know, at least … but killed by somebody who was, like, pointless and didn’t have any … and in such a violent way and also in such a sneaky way.
“You know, I mean, that thing—I’ve just read about it and at times I flash on that when people call my name from behind, you know: ‘Mr. Lennon, will you sign this.’ It’s such a sh***y thing.
“And also, he cast—that guy Chapman—cast a very dark cloud over any fan who happens to be standing on the pavement when you come by … because you just don’t know who’s crackers and who isn’t.”
George was upset that John Lennon’s murderer took away John’s peaceful death
George was upset that John’s murderer took away a potentially peaceful death for John. However, after he came to terms with his ex-bandmate’s death, George realized John wasn’t truly gone.
“The idea of John not being here doesn’t bother me so much because he is here to me,” George continued. “You know, ‘life flows on within you and without you.’ And although he’s not here in his physical body, but …
“The reincarnation, you know, in order to realize that it’s the spirit, not the body. I’ve learned that over the years that that’s it: you don’t need a living guru right in front of you, because he’s in front of the spiritual eye every time you close your eyes. And you just go inside, and it’s like that. They’re all there, all our loved ones and all our friends and relatives; everybody is all there in their astral bodies.
“In a way, to me, I’m in England and I can still think of John still in New York, because I never saw him anyway for so long. He could still be there for all I know, you know? So I mean, it’s like, they can kill the man, but they can’t kill his spirit, and they can’t kill what he meant to you.”
George was scared for a while after John’s death, but he didn’t think anyone would want to murder him too. Unfortunately, George was wrong. In 1999, 19 years after John’s murder, George and Olivia almost died during a home invasion. Fortunately, though, George wasn’t cheated out of a peaceful death like John. When George’s cancer battle ended, he left his body the way he’d always prepared.
