Named in memory of John Lennon (1940–1980), musician and ex-Beatle. With Paul McCartney {see planet  (4148)}, he wrote the early songs that helped make The Beatles {see planet  (8749)} the most popular group of their generation. Perhaps the most famous Beatles album is Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which represents the Lennon-McCartney partnership at its most fertile and innovative. From his solo recording career, the song that will probably best be remembered is ‘Imagine’. Passionately anti-war, John, and his wife Yoko, also made many public demonstrations of their desire for a peaceful world. (M 16247; G. V. Williams) _ _.