John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (born October 9, 1940 as John Winston Lennon in Liverpool, † December 8, 1980 in New York) was a British musician, composer and peace activist as well as an Oscar and multiple Grammy award winner. He became famous worldwide as a co-founder, singer and guitarist of the official rock band The Beatles, for which he - along with Paul McCartney - wrote most of the songs. The Lennon/McCartney composer partnership is one of the best known and most successful in the history of popular music.