How John Lennon’s death terrified musicians in general, according to Stevie Nicks

The murder of John Lennonon December 8, 1980, changed the world of music completely. Not just fans of Beatles They were shocked, but the news also fell like a bomb among the artists.

The most immediate reflection in the segment is: many realized that fame did not fully protect them. Stevie Nicks was one of the people affected by this thought.

In a 2019 interview with EntertainmentWeeklythe singer of Fleetwood Mac highlighted the feeling that everyone around had when they found out what happened. According to the singer, the possibility of having her life taken by an alleged fan seemed completely out of the question before the tragedy.

Suddenly, it happened to one of them — even if he was one of the biggest icons in rock history. In the words of Steve:

That was a very sad and scary moment for all of us in the rock and roll scene, it scared the hell out of us that some idiot could be so deranged that he would wait for you outside your building, without knowing you, and shoot you.”

Nicks understands that a politician, for example, being the target of a crime of this type would make a little more sense — even if it is not at all justifiable — given the divisive nature of this area. Not in music, no. She says:

If you were the president of the United States, maybe, but just being a music person? Although, of course, it is a Beatles? Being shot and killed in front of your apartment, when you have a wife and two children? That was unacceptable to all of us in our community.”

Stevie Nicks’ song about John Lennon’s death

Grief and fear of Stevie Nicks can be heard in “Edge of Seventeen”hit from his first solo album, Bella Donna (1981). The lyrics talk, in a somewhat abstract way, about the murder of John Lennon and also about the death of the singer’s uncle, which occurred in the same week as the tragedy with the Beatles.

In 2022, speaking on the radio SiriusXM (via Estadão), Paul McCartney he also commented on his reaction upon finding out what had happened to his friend. Your feeling, as well as that of Nicksbecame music: in this case, “Here Today”released on the album Tug of War (1982). The member of the Beatles he said:

It affected me very strongly, I couldn’t talk about it. I remember coming home from the studio the day we heard the news that he died, turning on the TV and seeing people saying, ‘Well, John Lennon that was it’ and ‘what he was, that was it’ and, ‘I remember meeting him at such a time.’ It was like, ‘I don’t know, I can’t be one of those people. I can’t just go on TV and say what John meant to me’. It was too deep. It was simply too much. I couldn’t put it into words.”

Motivation

To this day, many wonder what led Mark David Chapman to commit such a brutal crime. Arrested in the act – since, after killing John Lennonthe killer remained at the scene, reading the book The Catcher in the Ryefrom JD Salinger – the criminal has been in prison ever since. In 2000, he became eligible for parole every two years. Never made it.

In 2020, the BBC had access to the speeches of chapman during one of these requests. The man is being held at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York. From there, the killer apologized to his widow. Lennon, Yoko Onoand spoke of the motivations behind the crime.

I killed him not because of his character or the type of person he was. He was an icon and a family guy; He was someone who already talked about things that we can now talk about, which is great. I killed him because he was very, very famous. It’s the only reason. I was being very selfish, seeking too much self-glory.”

chapman came to meet Lennonhours before killing him, to ask for an autograph. Mark believes he deserves the death penalty, which no longer exists in New York State. Requests for parole are denied on the grounds of the safety of the applicant’s family. Beatles and the criminal himself. Yoko Ono shares the same opinion as Justice.

Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.