Message from the grave
In just-released interview, John Lennon imagines his future
It's unedited, raw and sure to induce chills.
On the 30th anniversary of his death, Rolling Stone has released John Lennon's final interview. A mere three days before Lennon was murdered on Dec. 8, 1980, the magazine's Jonathan Cott embarked on an exclusive interview with the legendary musician, but it wasn't until the latest issue of Rolling Stone that the question-and-answer sequence was published.
The recording was never transcribed, instead remaining locked away in Cott's closet. Now, the footage is available in the magazine's online archives and as a free iTunes podcast.
Listening to the artist tell all to Rolling Stone during the nine-hour interview, it's not hard to "Imagine" Lennon still being alive today. He reveals his struggle during his five-year recording hiatus and lashes out at fans and critics who slammed him for taking such a long break.
What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interested in being a dead fucking hero...so forget 'em, forget 'em."
He also talks about a possible return to concert touring.
Also in the Rolling Stone issue, which hits news stands Thursday, is a personal essay by Yoko Ono on her late husband's final days. She writes:
Just before we left the studio [minutes before he died] John looked at me. I looked at him. His eyes had an intensity of a guy about to tell me something important. 'Yes,' I asked. And I will never forget how, with a deep, soft voice, as if to carve his words in my mind, he said the most beautiful things to me. 'Oh,' I said after a while, and looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed."