When people ask me who I'd want to have dinner with, dead or alive, I always say, 'John Lennon.' I just feel that he was an artist who was, in his own way, committed to wholeness and authenticity in a not dissimilar way that I am years later.
Alanis Morissette
I couldn't sing without a guitar. I like the way it feels to sing and be holding a guitar, even if I'm not playing it that much. All my idols that I grew up liking always had a guitar on them, but they didn't play it - Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello. It's like having a partner with you.
Albert Hammond, Jr.
When I brought 'El Topo' to New York, no one understood the picture. But John Lennon understood. John and Yoko Ono, they presented 'El Topo' in the United States; they introduced it.
Alejandro Jodorowsky
I spent many years trying to write a lot like Ben Folds or John Lennon or Rivers Cuomo. I think that's healthy when you're learning to write and seeing how chords fit together and how songs take shape.
Andrew Dost
Dream projects are always a funny thing to label. I guess just more exciting scripts in my inbox. Maybe an exciting script about John Lennon.
Andrew Gower
You ready? I have gold teeth, I have braids, I'm wearing Rick Owens moon boots, I have rips in my denim, a biker vest, I love artsy girls, my favourite artists are Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. I'm obsessed with being different.
ASAP Rocky
John Lennon and Ringo Starr liked my songs. I used to write songs and they heard me sing songs on stage in London.
Ben Kingsley
When I heard The Beatles, that was my turning point. They were like my mentors. You know, the funny thing about that, when I heard 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand,' at first I said these guys are like a flash in the pan. But the second album, I had to take all that back. John Lennon - one of the greatest writers in the world.
Billy Paul
John Lennon, who was a good friend of mine, he had one of the best senses of humor of any human being. And Keith Richards, fantastic sense of humor. They were smart, sharp. They had their own thoughts on matters.
Bobby Keys
Men have a lot less to write about, unless you're somebody like Tom Waits or John Lennon. And the female voice is much more suited to melody. Men have this barky thing - we're domesticated apes with a microphone.
Brandon Boyd
John Lennon was very irreverent and very intelligent.
Brenda Lee
I met John Lennon and he was with his wife in Tokyo. I met him there.
Bryan Ferry
I realized that it's all really one, that John Lennon was correct. We utilize the music to bring down the walls of Berlin, to bring up the force of compassion and forgiveness and kindness between Palestines, Hebrews. Bring down the walls here in San Diego, Tijuana, Cuba.
Carlos Santana
'The Beatles' did whatever they wanted. They were a collection of influences adapted to songs they wanted to write. George Harrison was instrumental in bringing in Indian music. Paul McCartney was a huge Little Richard fan. John Lennon was into minimalist aggressive rock.
Chris Cornell
No matter what, I can't sound like John Lennon. But I can do Tom Jones.
I guess John Lennon had it right: give peace a chance.
Chris O'Donnell
I made records purely for fun - songs that made you feel good. I left the message songs to people like John Lennon.
Dave Clark
But I sent letters to people in the music business. And one day I got a phone call from somebody and he asked me when I was born and where I was born. And, you know, three or four days later I got a call. Someone said, you know, Yoko Ono wanted to meet me in New York. I got on a plane. And the next day I was having coffee with John Lennon.
David Sheff
We live in a country where John Lennon takes eight bullets, Yoko Ono is walking right beside him and not one hits her. Explain that to me!
Denis Leary
But even with no money you could still go to places like the Scotch Club and, you know, John Lennon might be sitting right over there, but I was certainly not a part of any of that circle. I was truly peripheral.
Donald Sutherland
I didn't realise that I was so accomplished on the guitar until someone said to me, 'How do you do that?' That someone was John Lennon. He asked me to teach him my technique.
I loved John Lennon. I read interviews, and whatever he said he liked, I would go and listen to them. That is what I want to do with my fans.
A lot of the people I'd love to work with, like John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, aren't alive, unfortunately.
It's a cliche, but John Lennon is my hero. He was so rebellious, so outspoken and so publicly opinionated, and I'm someone who's so private. I suppose you admire people who have the qualities you wish you had.
I like the Beatles. They're at the core of my musicality. And John Lennon's my spiritual father.
I worked in Licorice Pizza when John Lennon was killed. I had the day off, but I came in anyway because people needed a place to mourn.
If one could have a wish, or an alternative life, I would've liked to have been John Lennon.
'I Want To Hold Your Hand' is a great classic by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, I sure love that song. I did like the classic version, a rock-oriented song, then someone heard me do it with the Grant Green approach - Grant Green and Larry Young did it, with a bossa nova beat on the funky side.
To tell the truth, I'd join a band with John Lennon any day, but I couldn't join a band with Paul McCartney, but it's nothing personal. It's just from a musical point of view.
As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead.
It's bad enough being conned into singing an anti-war message by John Lennon when you think you're just wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
I love Soul, R+B, Electronic, and good pop. Really, the only thing I don't listen to is country and heavy metal. I love Marvin Gaye, John Legend, Al Green, Fat Freddys Drop, Sade, Grace Jones, Bazoo Bijou, Prince, John Lennon, London Grammar, Daft Punk, Dr John, Dusty Springfield, Peggy Lee, Gotye, and on it goes.
I keep mementos from everything I've done. I've got my cab driver's license from 'Happiness.' I've got a pair of glasses and a belt buckle from playing John Lennon. I've got a pair of sunglasses from playing Andy Warhol... It's all in a box in the garage.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon would often write a song a day, so I have the same workmanlike philosophy.
Over four or five years, I did six albums with three people: John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Smith. I felt that if I could care as much about their music as they did, I could be useful to them. I really cared about their music and their lives.
To me, John Lennon and Elvis Presley were punks, because they made music that evoked those emotions in people.
I think about John Lennon all the time. What would John Lennon do? What would John Lennon say if he got this part? How would he act? I don't know, but he's my moral barometer.
One of the most cherished photographs in my life is a picture of me with John Lennon - who I met back in 1971 at an anti-war rally.
My heroes were Dylan, John Lennon and Picasso, because they each moved their particular medium forward, and when they got to the point where they were comfortable, they always moved on.
I don't like to waste notes, not even one. I like to put the right note in the right place, and my influences have always been those kinds of players. Keith Richards comes to mind, and I really like Nils Lofgren's soloing, because he's so melodic. I love John Lennon's rhythm playing, and George Harrison was an incredible guitarist.
The Beatles never sounded intimidated by their idols. They never interpreted old rock; they simply played it as well and as joyfully as they knew how. On 'Rock 'n' Roll,' John Lennon does nothing but interpret old rock.
It would be great to have Bach in one corner, Bessie Smith in another, John Lennon in another. That's what I'd ideally like. A studio of the dead.
I loved John Lennon, by the way.
When your hair is rising, that's when you know it's a good song - that's happened to me with some artists and some songs, John Lennon songs or when Nina Simone sings. It's great to make those moments yourself.
I am not John Lennon; I never will be!
John Lennon made wonderful music, which people listen to as music. Nobody around the world is living their life according to the precepts of John Lennon.
I look back and wonder why I wasted my time talking about fried potatoes with the great John Lennon. But that's what was so fabulous about him - he was very down to earth.
I wanted to have the adoration of John Lennon but have the anonymity of Ringo Starr. I didn't want to be a frontman. I just wanted to be back there and still be a rock and roll star at the same time.
John Lennon was definitely my favorite Beatle, hands down.
I want to make an impact on people. Like John Lennon writing 'Imagine,' a song that changes an entire generation of people.
