# What were you doing when John Lennon died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484 "2010-02-26T03:42:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/81 "2010-03-01T09:07:39Z")
Forgive my ignorance, but what was wrong with Howard Cosell making the announcement? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/82 "2010-03-01T09:09:53Z")
[Here’s a clip from YouTube.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H9LoPfFaxA) In short, imagine someone doing a parody of Howard Cosell doing an announcement about a death. And you’ve got the right idea. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/83 "2010-03-01T13:03:22Z")
> [@wmulax93](#): > > I was embedded in my mother’s uterus. Hey, me too! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/84 "2010-03-01T21:37:03Z")
> [@SleepyDuck](#): > > Chalk up another one who heard about it from Howard Cosell. I also heard about the 9/11 attacks from Mike and Mike on ESPN radio, if you see any sort of pattern here. For me, 9/11 was the Tony Bruno Extravaganza, so yeah, I _do_ see a pattern there… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/85 "2010-03-01T21:47:47Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > This is probably the thing that pissed me off in my life so far. Of all the people to make an announcement like this … Lennon had made a guest appearance during a MNF game in '74: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ds82Id_GMe8/hqdefault.jpg "John Lennon on Monday Night Football 1974") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds82Id_GMe8) As I understand it, Cosell liked him quite a lot, and was devastated to learn that he had been killed. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/86 "2010-03-02T07:23:40Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Forgive my ignorance, but what was wrong with Howard Cosell making the announcement? Well, Howard was an obnoxious asshole, so I didn’t really need to hear that from him. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/87 "2010-03-02T17:37:41Z")
I was in my mid-20s, and can’t remember what I was doing when I heard. It surely says something about me that my first thought was, “so much for the Beatles getting back together.” (Of course, the possibility of a Beatles reunion was one of those rumors that surfaced about every 25 minutes during the 1970s. Several years later, George Harrison would say, “As long as John Lennon remains dead, there will be no Beatles reunion.”) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/88 "2010-03-02T17:47:26Z")
I got it from Howard as well. I was devastated. To this day, that murder has more emotional impact on me than any other well-known person’s death. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/89 "2010-03-02T17:52:11Z")
I was 10 and have absolutely no idea. My parents never listened to the Beatles so I didn’t know who in the world he was. Given that my dad was a MNF diehard, I imagine it was via Cosell, but have no specific memory to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/90 "2010-03-02T18:59:25Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > I got it from Howard as well. \*I got it from Agnes She got it from Jim We all agree it must have been Louise who gave it to him …She then gave it to Daniel Whose spaniel has it now Our dentist even got it And we’re still wondering how\* - Tom Lehrer ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484/91 "2010-03-02T22:14:17Z")
I was working at the local library (I had a high school job as a page). I didn’t hear about it until I got home, when either my mom told me or I heard it on the news. My guess is it was all over the news. I still remember drinking diet RC Cola, munching Bavarian pretzels, and watching the news coverage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-doing-when-john-lennon-died/530484.md?page=4)