John Lennon: 35 Years Gone

Today is the 35th anniversary of John Lennon's murder.

On the night of December 8th, 1980 he was shot as he returned home to his luxury apartment building, The Dakota, on New York City's Upper West Side. The shooter was 25-year-old Mark David Chapman, who remains imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York.

Many people found out about the tragic event when Howard Cosell broke the news during a Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.

On December 7th, 1980, Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" entered the Billboard Hot 100 to become his first Top 10 hit. It remained there for eight weeks, peaking at number-five on December 27th, 1980. The following day, December 8th, 1980, Lennon referenced the song during his last interview, saying, "Bruce Springsteen's 'Hungry Heart,' which I think is a great record, is, to me, it's the same kind of period sound as [my new song] 'Starting Over.' ... 'Starting Over' is a '50s song made with an '80s approach."

Springsteen was equally as impressed of Lennon, delivering this eulogy a few days after Lennon was shot before a show in Philadelphia, saying:

"I'd just like to say one thing....I appreciate it....and it's a hard night to come out and play tonight when so much's been lost....the first record...the first record that I ever learned was a record called 'Twist and Shout' (cheers).....and if it wasn't....if it wasn't for John Lennon, we'd all be in some place very different tonight (cheers).... it's....it's an unreasonable... world and you have to live with a lot of things that are just unliveable .... and....it's a hard thing to come out and play but there's just nothing else you can do......"

To mark its 35th anniversary, Springsteen re-released The River album, which contains "Hungry Heart," in a deluxe format last week.

Shortly before his death, Lennon spoke about the fame and how it affected his life.