John Lennon’s Death: Inside His 1980 Murder and Where His Killer Is Today

John Lennon left an immeasurable mark on the world, both in life and death.

The musician, who is widely considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time, rose to fame as a member of The Beatles and enjoyed a prolific solo career after the group disbanded in 1969. Sadly, his life was cut short: He was shot and killed in front of his residence, the Dakota, in New York City on Dec. 8, 1980.

The killer, Mark David Chapman, confessed at the scene of the crime. He later told a parole board that he was a Beatles fan “seeking fame.” “I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil,” he said in September 2022. “I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.”

Lennon was survived by his wife, Yoko Ono, and two sons, Julian and Sean Lennon, who have worked hard to keep the late musician’s legacy alive.

“I remembered him as a kid — goofy, funny, sarcastic, charming,” Julian told PEOPLE after watching the 2021 documentary series The Beatles: Get Back. “I fell in love with him again because that was the guy I remember before it all went pear-shaped.”

Lennon’s former bandmate Paul McCartney also revealed that the “Imagine” singer once pondered how he would be remembered postmortem.