Why Was There No Funeral for the Beatles Star?

The world mourned the loss of John Lennon after his 1980 death. The sadness felt by music lovers was palatable, knowing The Beatles would never again have the opportunity to reunite. While John’s wife, Yoko Ono, organized a 10-minute silent vigil to honor him, there was no official wake. Why didn’t John Lennon have a funeral after his death?

John Lennon didn’t have a funeral after his death

After John Lennon’s death, his wife, Yoko Ono, had his remains cremated. The day after Lennon died, he was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

In the book The Lives of John Lennon, author Albert Goldman wrote Ono decided there would be no ceremony honoring Lennon immediately after returning to their apartment in the Dakota the night of his death. Little is known about why Ono chose not to have an official funeral for Lennon, and she has never shared why she made this decision.

Goldman wrote, “John Lennon had anticipated receiving the customary rites, making provision for them in the first item of his will. Yet only a few hours after his death, Yoko announced through David Geffen that there would be no funeral, only a silent vigil to be held at a set time later.”

He claimed that Lennon “had a horror of cremation.” And “despite that aversion, his widow arranged to have his body burned.”

Per The Houston Press, Ono later scattered Lennon’s ashes in Central Park, near their New York apartment. In 1985, the Strawberry Fields Memorial was dedicated on the approximate spot.

A 10-minute worldwide ceremony in John Lennon’s memory was held instead of a funeral

On Dec. 10, 1980, Ono released a statement detailing a memorial for John Lennon. She said there would be no funeral for The Beatles, founder, and father of Sean Ono Lennon and Julian Lennon.

“There is no funeral for John. Later in the week, we will set the time for a silent vigil to pray for his soul. We invite you to participate from wherever you are at the time. John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him. Love Yoko and Sean.”

The vigil was held on Dec. 14, 1980, six days after Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside of the Dakota apartments in New York City. At 2 pm EST, over 30,000 people gathered in Liverpool and 225,000 in Central Park in New York City to commemorate Lennon’s life. Subsequently, per Ono’s request, even radio stations went silent for 10 minutes. 

Yoko Ono still ‘affected’ by John Lennon’s sudden death

In a 2009 interview with the Associated Press, Ono said that Lennon’s death still affected her. “It still affects me,” she explained.

“We were doing very well in New York together,” she explained. “And then it was gone.”

“The fact that he was gone so suddenly affected me. If it were a slow process, we could have talked about it. But the John I remember is a very gregarious, energetic, high-spirited guy.”

“It is a sad and very pointed paradox, I think,” Ono concluded. “He loved this place [New York City] so much, and that’s where he was killed.

John Lennon died on Dec. 8, 1980. He was 40.

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