John Lennon was born in 1940 in Liverpool, England. As a teenager, he formed a rock band that eventually became The Beatles along with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The Beatles achieved huge popularity in the UK and US in the 1960s. Lennon married Cynthia Powell and had a son named Julian, but later met and fell in love with Yoko Ono. He and Ono were peace activists who protested the Vietnam War. The Beatles split up in 1970 to pursue solo careers. Tragically, Lennon was shot and killed in 1980 by Mark David Chapman outside his New York City apartment building.