''Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon'' is the third official compilation album of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's solo career, coming after 1975's ''

Shaved Fish ''Shaved Fish'' is a compilation album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Band, issued in October 1975 on Apple Records. It contains all of the single (music), singles that he had issued up to that point in the United State ...

'' and 1982's ''

The John Lennon Collection ''The John Lennon Collection'' is a 1982 posthumous compilation album of music from John Lennon's solo career. Release and selection The album was originally scheduled for release in late 1981, but was held back a year due to legalities owing to ...

''. Because neither collection spanned Lennon's releases up to and including 1984's '' Milk and Honey'', ''Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon'' – considered the definitive Lennon retrospective – was compiled. It was released in the UK in 1997 through

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

and early 1998 in the US by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. ''Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon'' peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and certified 2× Platinum by the BPI in May 1998. The album has also certified Platinum in the US and Canada as of December 2008. In the history of Japanese Oricon chart, ''Lennon Legend'' has been one of the longest charting albums that failed to reach top 40, selling more than 190,000 copies up to late 2006. The album re-entered the UK Chart on 18 June 2007, almost ten years after its release, at number 30. The album also appeared in a commercial for Apple's

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...

. A DVD with the same name was also released in 2003 as a series of remastered, remixed & new music videos with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio mixes.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

, except where noted. #"

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

" – 3:02 #"

Instant Karma! "Instant Karma!" (also titled "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)") is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions ...

" – 3:20 #"

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

" * – 3:53 #"

Jealous Guy "Jealous Guy" is a song written and originally recorded by English rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album ''Imagine (John Lennon album), Imagine''. Not released as a single during Lennon's lifetime, it became an international hit in a v ...

" – 4:14 #" Power to the People" – 3:17 #"

Cold Turkey "Cold turkey" refers to the abrupt cessation of a substance dependence and the resulting unpleasant experience, as opposed to gradually easing the process through reduction over time or by using replacement medication. Sudden withdrawal from dru ...

" – 5:01 #"

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

" – 3:23 #"

Mind Games Playing mind games (also power games or head games) is the largely conscious struggle for psychological one-upmanship, often employing passive–aggressive behavior to specifically demoralize or dis-empower the thinking subject, making the a ...

" – 4:11 #" Whatever Gets You thru the Night" – 3:19 #" #9 Dream" – 4:46 #" Stand By Me" (

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

) – 3:27 #"

(Just Like) Starting Over "(Just Like) Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from the 1980 album, ''Double Fantasy''. It was released as a single on 24 October 1980 in the United Kingdom, with Yoko Ono's " Kiss Kiss Kiss" as the B-side. It reache ...

" – 3:55 #"

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

" – 3:26 #"

Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is a song written and performed by John Lennon. It was released on the 1980 album ''Double Fantasy'', the last album by Lennon and Ono released before his death. Paul McCartney has stated this is one of his favour ...

" – 4:00 #"

Watching the Wheels "Watching the Wheels" is a single by John Lennon released posthumously in 1981, after his murder. The B-side features Yoko Ono's "Yes, I'm Your Angel." It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Ono's album ''Double Fantasy'', and ...

" – 3:31 #"

Nobody Told Me "Nobody Told Me" is a song by John Lennon. The A-side and B-side, B-side features Yoko Ono's "O' Sanity"; both are on the ''Milk and Honey (album), Milk and Honey'' album. The promo video for the single was made up of clips of footage from Lenn ...

" – 3:33 #" Borrowed Time" – 4:30 #"

Working Class Hero "Working Class Hero" is a song by John Lennon from his 1970 album ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', his first album after the break-up of the Beatles. Theme Stridently political, the song is a commentary on the difference between social clas ...

" – 3:49 #"

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single release by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reach ...

" (Yoko Ono, John Lennon) – 3:33 #"

Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, Ca ...

" – 4:52 * US single version, issued in December 1970, for the first time released on CD.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1997 greatest hits albums Compilation albums published posthumously Albums produced by Jack Douglas (record producer) John Lennon compilation albums Parlophone compilation albums