John Lennon turns 76 – five tracks to celebrate the Beatles' birthday

John Lennon turns 76 – five tracks to celebrate the Beatles' birthday

John Lennon would have turned 76 today, and to celebrate the extraordinary life and impact of the revolutionary Beatle, we have compiled a list of his top five solo tracks.

5. Jealous Guy

Now one of Lennon's most covered songs, the final version became an apology to Yoko Ono for his frequent possessive, violent, often drunken outbursts towards her during the break-up of the band.

A song of heartfelt self-flagellation, it was only released as a single five years after his death, and four and a half years on from a chart-topping cover from Roxy Music.

4. Give Peace A Chance

An evangelical hippy anthem if there ever was one, the track takes aim at the superfluous competing ideologies around the world that fight for dominance, rather than simply giving peace a chance. It also makes reference to counter-culture figures who bucked the system in favour of a more humanist approach – including beat poet Alan Ginsberg.

The track acts as a companion to Happy Xmas (War Is Over), the soundtrack to the peace activism Lennon and Ono took part in from the late 1960s, moving from simple bed-ins to a worldwide media campaign.

Lennon, increasingly influenced by Ono's ideals, helped fund billboard space in nine cities with the simple message "WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko".