John Lennon was a member of the human race.
John Lennon . He and fellow member Paul McCartney formed a much-celebrated songwriting partnership . Born and raised in Liverpool , Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager ; his first band , the Quarrymen , first became the Silver Beatles , and finally , evolved into the Beatles in 1960 . Controversial through his political and peace activism , he moved to Manhattan in 1971 , where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon 's administration to deport him , while some of his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture . He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 , and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice , in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and in 1994 as a solo artist .