John Ono Lennon, MBE (born John Winston Lennon October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980), was an iconic English 20th century composer and singer of popular music, best known as the founding member of The Beatles, in which he and Paul McCartney formed the massively successful Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership throughout the 1960s.

Lennon's songwriting was an integral part of The Beatles' profound commercial, social, economic and political impact. His melodies, written during the Lennon-McCartney era, and later, in his solo career, are distinctive and unabashedly romantic. Lennon's lyrics reflected his personal and career demands, philosophical outlook, his unease with his fame and current events. He and McCartney popularised the use of electronic effects in rock music, paving the way for the harder rock forms of the 1970s and 1980s.