ESPN OTL: John Lennon Murder, 30th Anniversary

An ESPN "Outside The Lines" report on Beatles band member John Lennon, murdered on December 8th, 1980 in New York City. His shocking death was initially announced to a nationwide American audience on ABC's Monday Night Football.
This piece gives an in depth look at the event from eyewitnesses and former sportscasters involved.
Originally Aired 12-5-2010

[@shenjingbing6021]

I was in tears that terrible night in college, and here I am in 2022, in tears again.

[@Tyrunner0097]

Say what you want about Howard Cosell, the way he worded the story was his finest moment. He said the right words for it.

[@fanoflakespeed9460]

no one can replace Howard Cosel or John lennon

[@conspiracytheorista8988]

He just read the words on the script.

[@Grisbi6]

I agree, lake Speed; Cosell's words were just right for that moment.

[@johntuttle3245]

Tyrunner0097 I was a Jr in high school watching the game that nite.....complete Shock and Horror.....very sad

[@sharonmahoney9333]

@@conspiracytheorista8988 Cosell probably wrote the wording of that announcement himself. That't the way it's generally done.

[@zone47]

I was driving to work that night (3rd shift) and thought, Wow! they are playing a lot of Beatles tunes ... a whole string of them. Then the DJ came on and said "In memory of John Lennon who was shot to death in NYC about an hour ago" I pulled into the parking lot and just sat there numb and crying .... it was so sad. I was such a huge Beatles fan and couldn't believe this even happened. Thanks for the video ....

[@PatrickTX100]

John matured and became a much better person over the final years of his life. Watch his interviews in 1980. Not the same bitter, angry person that he was in previous years. He's positive, optimistic, and was trying to actually make up with Julian.

[@johntuttle3245]

PatrickTX100 yes.....john was in a very good place in 1980......i say the Double Fantasy work....minus the Yolo horseshit.....was John's best solo work

[@danielgaughan4243]

That’s probably why the kabal took him out. Positive and optimistic! Uh-uh. We’ll have none of that around here.

[@muffs55mercury61]

It hurt almost as bad when George Harrison died. In his case it wasn't entirely unexpected as his health issues had been known for some time.

[@michaellopez7765]

@@danielgaughan4243 Yes indeed. There were some major irregularities concerning those present in proximity to John Lennon, who were present immediately before, during, but disappeared immediately after, during the initial chaos. If you haven’t already done so, enough research will explain the above mentioned statement, and much, much more...

[@elizabethbottroff1218]

The lost opportunity with Julian was what was the saddest for me. All of the music, celebrity, etc was just nonsense in perspective.

[@straitjacket8689]

Cosell was a class act.He did it well announcing Lennons death.May they both rest in peace

[@larryaldama1673]

🙏🏽🇺🇸🙏🏽

[@johnwalls7170]

I'm watching this on December 30, 2019 still my heart breaks

[@Yobbie72]

move on

[@johnwalls7170]

@@Yobbie72 obviously you have a lot to learn

[@loudapplause]

An interesting side note. John Madden also had an apartment at the Dakota at that time and said he often enjoyed talking to the Englishman who lived upstairs when they came across each other in the lobby. It wasn't until he was shot that he realized that Englishman was John Lennon of the Beatles.

[@chrissuggs9351]

What a dumbass

[@danielgaughan4243]

That’s why when Frank Caliendo does his Madden impression he has Madden say, “if that player gets tackled he’s gonna get dirty.” Or, “If the ref throws a flag then there’s probably a penalty on the play.” I get it now!

[@derrbow]

Perhaps Lennon didn’t know who Madden was either. I bet they had really good conversations.

[@moderoy]

Paul Wilson isn't a Beatles man. He's a butt nut.

[@frankpfaff9675]

If it's not Brett Favre John madden doesnt care. I swear those two had a sexual relationship

[@ebonygentleman79]

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on the video. To me, Lennon was a revolutionary. I was only a baby myself when he passed, but I respect what he did for music and what he did socially. He wanted to inspire people not to settle for the status quo. His death was senseless, and a loss for everyone. May God rest his soul.

[@poodlenme]

Watching this nearly 39 years later brings me to tears!

[@rumrunner1756]

I will never forget that announcement. My now deceased wife and I both cried. I miss them both so much. 😭

[@HHH-ye1ro]

Hope you are doing well.

[@ericbarash6842]

41 years ago tonight and I still feel the pain of hearing this while watching Monday night football. John continue to rest in peace.

[@rmr2471]

43 years ago 💔

[@johnwalls7170]

Frank Gifford had that right... this is going to shake up the whole world 😢

[@dalemcilwain]

and it did.

[@woodykelleher9253]

I don't see what the big deal is. He was just a singer.

[@kylelewis2536]

“Just a singer” is really, seriously downplaying the impact he had on an entire generation and the history and trajectory of music (which is an important aspect of the human experience, like it or not) in the world. Hundreds of millions of people knew this man, and the Beatles remain the highest selling artists of all time, by a lot… “just a singer” just like you’re just an ignorant fool.

[@daniellinehan63]

4 years before rumors spread of an $100,000,000 planned Beatle concert......the buzz that created

[@mtthwskdmr2]

I am 12 yrs old. John Lennon was, no IS one of my favourite artists/singers/etc. that i have ever heard. Even when I hear John Lennon died on tv, it still makes me tear up. John, rest in groovy peace

[@reneperezz]

"this is going to shake up the whole world" :(

[@davidjefferson8091]

I was watching the game in my mother's bedroom. She was asleep and her back was turned to the black and white tv screen. I used her rear end as a pillow when Howard Cosell made the announcement. I was 14 years old,living at 12 Underhill ave in Brooklyn. As an African American, Black Stations were playing "Woman",about a week or so in NYC, so to hear that this man from The Beatles had been shot to death in Manhattan,changed my life,forever. Since that day,I have expanded my music variety. Anyway, I woke up my mother (God Rest Her Soul) and told her the sad news. That was my "JFK" assassination experience.

[@raygordonteacheschess5501]

Little Richard was a huge influence on the Beatles. "Roll Over Beethoven" was a kind of tribute to that.

[@HHH-ye1ro]

What was your mom’s reaction to the news?

[@daviddennis808]

I was in my room when I heard the news. I wondered if my parents had heard. Then I heard them both let out a horrific scream. Everything about the next 72 hours just sucked. Especially living less than a mile away from the Dakota. I was 16 and we didn’t understand lunatic fans yet.

[@JohnCee754]

I first learned about John's murder when I woke up the next morning -- December 9th, 1980. No celebrity death, before or since, affected me the way his did. I had just bought his new album "Double Fantasy" and I had played it the night before -- in fact I was probably listening to it as the bullets were tearing into John's flesh, which still makes me shudder. I had just read his Playboy Interview a few days earlier and was so excited that Lennon was back after a five year absence -- and then it was all over. Now here we are almost 40 years later, and it still cuts like a knife. RIP John -- you were a true giant.

[@diaryofanaxeman539]

The weekend before I bought Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz and John Lennon's Double Fantasy . My band mates Mom, was so happy, I made her a cassette copy of John's newly released album .... after John Lennon died .... the World became more emptier and cold.

[@nickbigmann5228]

It's odd the way life is. I still remember watching that game when Cosell announced that Lennonhad been shot dead. It's like it's frozen in time in my mind I know exactly where I was sitting what TV we owned everything about it.

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

Cronkite: A man that sang and played the guitar..... Kind of an understatement but news media really misses Walter. What a mess they are now.

[@evilgrows]

The news Media is SO CORRUPT it is not even funny!

[@jeffa6780]

The media is not a mess today. It's fake news driven by corrupt narcissists and sociopaths in their attempts to destroy freedom.

[@danielgaughan4243]

They’re all lying shills for the kabal and they always were. TV is a mind-fuck machine. Cronkite just came from a more civilize-appearing era. Not trying to sound like an asshole but looking back now... the moon hoax, the jfk psyop...these guys are all in this satanic cult lying and fabricating news and distorting reality. It’s been bullshit forever.

[@hw343434]

Ridiculous description of a cultural Icon 😆

[@sdwriter2626]

@@danielgaughan4243 back on your meds!

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

I too remember when it happened. I was 17 and we were watching the game like everyone else, and when Howard made his statement an incredible pall fell over my family. I kept asking my dad if maybe they were wrong, maybe it wasn't true. But of course my hopes were not to be. Reflecting back, it still seems like yesterday.

[@aflsteve9139]

I'm a huge collector of live Springsteen shows and despite being a fairly poor sounding recording, the show from the Philly Spectrum the night after Lennon's murder still sends shivers down my spine. Springsteen starts the show with a spoken introduction talking about how hard it is to get up and play that night and how Twist and Shout was the first record he learned to play. Every time I hear his brokenhearted tone of voice I'm instantly transported back to how me and my friends were just sitting around with no idea how to try to sum up this incredible loss we were feeling. Despite a world that seems to be getting crazier and crazier every year, those days after the murder still stand out in my mind as one of the most tragically senseless and wasteful events I've lived through. Perhaps the greatest tribute I can think of to John Lennon is that I've only seen those same looks of loss and confusion on so many people's faces in old footage of the JFK assassination aftermath, the Challenger disaster and 9/11. The fact that the death of a rock star had a similar effect on so many people as a presidential assassination and such huge national tragedies says so much about the man and his life.

[@sidewinder3000]

Thanks for sharing that. What a moving moment that must’ve been.

[@sc2539]

Thanks for telling your story. Big Springsteen fan here. Have seen him live multiple times.

[@thomaslanguell7257]

I was in the Air Force basic training barracks when our drill sergeant came in and told us about John Lennon's death. Myself and several other airman shed some tears about his senseless murder.

[@chriscastillo4275]

Wow. I’ve heard the live reporting by Cosell a few times but this is the first time I’ve heard their discussion in the booth. I salute Frank Giffords “absolutely” when they Howard asks if it should trump the drama of this game. And Cosell’s delivery was masterfully done. Hard not to get choked up watching this.

[@adamplace1414]

Good point. Everyone saw Cosell as this force of nature, but he was really wrestling with things in the moment and leaned on the views of everyone else.

[@stelvis7413]

Watching this at 11 PM on December 8th, 2022. 42 years to the moment just about. Still chilling. Always will be. Howard Cosell handled it like a pro under the circumstances & time constraints. This is probably the best piece that ESPN has done in the last twelve years.

[@frslas]

I was watching the game as any 16-year-old Dolphins fan would. I'll never forget Howard Cosell's announcement. Miami won and I couldn't have cared less. Absolute shock. I couldn't sleep at all that night and I had to be in class at 6:45am as our high school was on split sessions then. It didn't matter. I got to school and Lennon's death was all anyone talked about, teachers, students even the janitors. We should have just stayed home. Now 40 years later I mourn the passing of Eddie Van Halen, whose music was part of the soundtrack of my teenage years. Where did those years go? Damn, that was fast. Warren Zevon once said, "enjoy every sandwich". Good advice. Don't waste time on bullshit.

[@brettshepherd5240]

Howard was the best. I remember watching this and being stunned

[@poodlenme]

My mom bless her heart heard it live on TV. I was asleep. She didn't tell me the next morning. I heard it on the radio on the way to work driving 60 miles one way to Lufkin Texas. She knew I was a huge John Lennon fan and I would not sleep that night. ( Actually for several nights) God bless my mom who passed in Oct 6,1985!

[@HHH-ye1ro]

RIP to your mom.

[@tonypascale5317]

I was watching the football game and clearly remember Howard Cosells announcement. I was 11

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

I was a Pats fan but must have fallen asleep by then with work the next day coming.

[@suuzq35]

I remember getting a phone call from a friend and I was 14 years old, being a huge John Lennon fan when I was told this... Didn't believe it until my friend told me to look at the newspaper.. I was completely a numb wreck after that for days , took time off of school. I tried in middle school to call John with that same friend thinking that we could get through... Lol That 10 minute vigil stays in my memory and how alone and small I felt when the silence happened then the music... Truly heart breaking. Remember it like it was yesterday and now I am 52 and it still hurts.

[@paulsonj72]

Frank Gifford off air with an understatement for the ages.

[@eric829]

what i find most chilling about this piece is cosell's statement that "it's only a football game" ... we use sports (die hard patriots/red sox fan from massachusetts) to temporarily escape reality. we use music (also been a songwriter since 1994) to escape and/or ease reality's pain. to have everything juxtaposedlike this, it must have been heart wrenching for cosell to break the news to the world. Lennon and Cosell: thank you both for your contributions to society, and about how life should be.

[@AzimuthTao]

I remember watching Monday Night Football when this was announced.

[@aheartwork]

The night of the 30th aniversary I was in strawberry fields. I remember that night and I still get the goosebumps. The influence of this men will never leave NYC.

[@NichOlsonSmooth]

Dead...on... arrival...damn, that was tough

[@beauyoung6091]

I will never forget those 3 words coming out of cosell mouth that night😔

[@Bsimmonsnw]

That and the doctor saying he had John's heart in his hand and couldn't save him. Devastating.

[@thecawdsquad875]

That's how Howard spoke.

[@mgebi1]

40 years ago today. I worked a long shift came home to my very young family. Watching what was left of the game. Then a moment that shocked most of the world. I had just listened to the double fantasy album the night before. I thought what a great record and return for John. As usual.music with meaning. People rushing out the next day to buy that record. I also had purchased the 45 that had been released earlier. Still have all my records. Like some other artist he seemed to often write music ahead of his own time. I mean like ( My Life) what a great song. So emotional. One of the best. The world was robbed that day of a musical genius and just such a great human. Certainly not in my life has there nor will there be impact on the world like the Beatles. Its more than just music.They influenced the world in ways I can't define. But I know I lived in one of the greatest music era's of all time. I'm older now,but my lifetime was enriched by artists like Lennon. And I'm thankful for that.✌️☮️♥️

[@s2kny04]

The influence of this men will never leave the WORLD....

[@muffs55mercury61]

The game was how i found out about it. This was the golden age of Monday Night Football which millions watched.

[@northsider75]

I never had any particular fondness for Cosell, but he did handle the situation with the proper respect. He did well to act both as a journalist and be respectful of Lennon

[@bigtexmacgonigle444]

Me and my g/f were making out in the back seat of my 1975 Mercury Marquis the night of Lennon's murder; we had FM 100.3 in Houston on and the DJ came on saying Lennon had been shot...make out session cancelled.

[@trubiz4u]

KILT

[@Burco1]

Great video. It is amazing how quickly the whole event transpired!

[@sjduges67]

I've seen this video numerous times since it aired. Knowing what we do about "Breaking News" and the fight to get it on the air first instead of waiting if it's right, I'm still amazed by the professionalism of everyone involved at ABC. I don't know if such a story today would worry anyone about confirming the news as much as it seemed in 1980. I was 13 at the time and remember my dad and I watching the game. I had just been introduced to the Beatles by my aunt a couple of years earlier, so it wasn't until later that I fully appreciated the enormity of his death. We brought up all three of our kids on the Beatles. We've visited the Dakota and the Imagine mosaic in Central Park. Our oldest granddaughter got to experience the same about 2 years ago. What a great story.

[@JP5466]

42 years later and this is still difficult to watch. Puts a huge lump in my throat.

[@ODUBlue]

When he said he was so cheered by hearing “Yesterday.” ❤️ A Paul, and only Paul (well, and George Martin arranging the strings) tune. I love that.

[@stevenking7388]

I was in San Diego in the Navy. I was absolutely stunned. We all were. I still am.

[@jenniferprice4697]

Still can't believe it's so sad. This was a great video

[@matthewdavenport2490]

40 years ago today I was only 6 years old. My mother woke me up for school the next morning crying, and she told me. I could barely understand, but I remember it scaring me, and making me sad. 40 years later, it still sings.

[@IAmJustSaying6]

I was in a college night class on that dreadful day. Nearing the end, I got up to go to the restroom. On my way back, I noticed a TV set tuned to MNF in an empty classroom, so I stepped in to see the score of the football game. At the instant I sat down for "a few moments," Howard Cosell was announcing the death of John Lennon. I arrived back to my class mere moments thereafter. The professor was still talking. I sat down, then raised my hand -- and was called upon. It was at that moment I announced to the class that I just heard via the TV in the next room that John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City. There were a few gasps, then silence. The professor dismissed the class a few minutes early. That's how I found out, then about 20-25 others found out that Lennon was dead. It was a sad day for Beatles and Lennon fans the world over.

[@YANKEE10018]

Cal Ven wow cool memory man! Moments like that man... just man

[@SethMacLeod95]

You had your own little William moment as well. You know it, you gotta tell them. Well done man.

[@GeorgeVreelandHill]

RIP John Lennon. The world was never the same since that day.

[@vinceniederman3235]

I Agree!

[@mr.jameslahey2849]

I don't see how?

[@MikeJones-rk1un]

End of the innocence? Peaceful and non-violent man murdered violently. This was where our world outed itself.

[@PurpleObscuration]

I don't want to sound Cold but his death was a static, three hundred people died today in car accidents, they are statistics.

[@shatoshi331]

not really

[@galacticfantastic4195]

"Shot by an obsessed fan." What a strange planet.

[@enleger]

Being the youngest of 4 and born in 1967, I came to know of the Beatles from my sister's records in the mid to late 70's. As a football fan, MNF was a way of life. I remember that night vividly...sad how the seminal events in one's life are usually tragic.

[@jeanroberts4344]

It was a real tragedy . Such a shock to everyone.

[@jeanroberts4344]

I don't remember that night . But I'm sure I heard it.

[@E5150DIO]

i just viewed this and again i sobbed for at least 20 min and hell i turned 50 this year and i think my feelings show so much more now that i'm older plus the fact that i've been listening to Beatles since i was a young boy.

[@dsmscenester]

Amazing back story of how Cosell made the announcement. It was Frank Gifford who told Howard to go ahead and break the news, after Howard expressed uncertainty to do it or not.

[@jimcoleman598]

I remember this night, and in the Detroit area, channel 7 ABC - it actually came across the bottom of the screen (local Channel 7 ticker message) saying John Lennon had been shot. Talk about a WTF moment!!! I was lying on the couch, and sat up in disbelief. Then about 10 minutes later another ticker message came across, saying that he had died. Cosell announced it in the game a few minutes later. But I'll always remember reading the ticker messages.

[@paulsonj72]

CBS radio broke into the broadcast of the game and had a news anchor deliver the news from the Wire Service reports.

[@jeffjodibrent]

I was watching MNF that night, 40 years ago tonight...stayed up all night watching news reports. I still get the same feeling watching this that I did that night.

[@diaryofanaxeman539]

I wept until I fell asleep ....

[@BBQFanNo1]

There are 3 moments in music history in my lifetime that still haunt me and shock me to this day. And they are the only three in music history whose deaths literally made me cry after hearing them announced. First the death of Elvis Presley. Then the death of John Lennon and after that the death of Karen Carpenter.

[@VRNESTX]

Bill Bass get ova it ya chump

[@richardcook6284]

jackass

[@maazkalim]

Did all of them die unnaturally?

[@starlenestilltouringyoutub2116]

Maaz Kalim Karen Carpenter died when her disease wasn’t very known yet to the world.

[@starlenestilltouringyoutub2116]

I think it was Anorexia Nervosa

[@francis1971]

This is a very interesting moment in time. Thanks for sharing this.

[@strategery101]

I have a picture of me and my brother sitting on the Imagine symbol in Strawberry Fields in New York. Great memories.

[@andrews1597]

John Lennon’s murder is so upsetting! I wish I could go back in time to save him!

[@maazkalim]

You meant like "killing baby Hitler" narrative?

[@F5_cena]

@@maazkalim they wanted to kill thanos as a baby

[@graydog28]

Great video - THANKS for sharing.

[@balerjohnson3099]

I remember that day very clearly ..I was 18 years old ..38 years ago yesterday..God Bless John Lennon .

[@IAmJustSaying6]

One thing I'll add: Music from that era is timeless, compared to the crap they put out today.

[@stevepwnz]

I am always amazed by the quality of american archive video footage . Its great that stuff like this has been preserved properly so that future generations can experience it . Could you imagine if the master tapes had simply deteriorated away!

[@joe6096]

I'm 44, too young to have remembered when John Lennon but a lifelong Beatles fan like probably anyone who enjoys good, positive, fun rock n roll music. So I've been watching the Peter Jackson produced Get Back a couple times over, all three episodes. After watching that, you have the feeling like you've just spent 3 weeks with the Beatles. Getting to know them as people, not just the icons as the greatest rock band ever. So that made Lennon's murder so much more personal and emotional for me than it's ever been. I feel like I understand just a little more, how the people old enough to have grown up with him and the Beatles, felt this day. The loss is even greater. John was a flawed man, did heroin for a stint during the Get Back sessions, treated his first wife Cynthia and first son Julian like crap. But no one is perfect and it seemed by the late 70s he'd matured, cleaned up, and was on talking terms with Julian and had mended the fence with Paul. So much so that they were actually watching Saturday Night Live together, in the Dakota, in 1976 when Lorne Michaels jokingly offered the Beatles $3000 to reunite on SNL and looked at each other for a moment thinking how funny it would be if they actually walked down there on to the set. As a side note, if that had happened for real, that would have crashed the TV networks at the time lol

[@navie36]

I remember watch this game and hearing the news. Couldn’t believe it. I was walking to school the next day when I saw “Lennon Died In Vain” written on a white billboard in red paint. That’s when it hit me.

[@gpowellish1]

I was 15 years old when this happened. it was on a school night. It was announced as soon as I got in the bed.

[@baleswb]

awesome piece thanks for posting!

[@maryhlad5277]

Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford did right to discussing the tragic death of John Lennon before Cosell announced it. Both of them had no choice but to go and announce the horrific news.

[@sleeves1235]

I had to rewind this video no joke like 5 times to hear Howard cosell discuss it with the boys. He says ... Let GIFF call this play and I'll get it in..... AND BOY DID HE .. A CLASS ACT HOWARD COSELL. RIP

[@lonewolfmh]

God I just relived that moment 41 years later

[@itsgleneaton4883]

It is a.ways so touching to see many people grieving over the loss of an individual. You see the compassion in everybody come out.

[@altfactor]

I live in the Boston area, and once I learned about John Lennon's shooting from "Monday Night Football", but rapidly changed channels to see what other networks were saying. If my memory serves me correct, NBC cut-off (a rerun of) "The Tonight Show" at 12 Midnight EST for a news special hosted by John Chancellor, and ABC switched "Nightline" (starting at 12:30 A.M. EST instead of the usual 11:30 due to the game ending around Midnight EST) from a program on Poland to the breaking news on Lennon.

[@TheOusooner56]

Even though Howard Cosell delivered the news, it was Gifford who just a moment before during commercial convinced Cosell to break the news. A very tragic but important moment in TV history! Thanks for posting!

[@007ndc]

They both knew John

[@TheOusooner56]

@@007ndc Yes...in an era long before social media and common use of cell phones...guy from ABC just happened to be @ same hospital as the deceased Lennon.

[@richardgelber2740]

@@TheOusooner56 Well, Roosevelt Hospital is about 15 blocks from the Dakota and 8 blocks from WABC-TV.

[@TheOusooner56]

@@richardgelber2740 Well I can tell I’m not gonna win on this one

[@drgwhatsthetruth3783]

Man, I remember it like it was yesterday...getting ready for work the day after the news came over the radio. I couldn't believe it and it drove me crazy. It didn't take long to confirm it, It was on every station.

[@nickfromCO]

even when cosell is off the air he talks like he in commentating the game lol

[@extanegautham8950]

imagine the pelotas of an ER doc, being able to take someones heart in their hand and massage it...

[@elwin38]

I remember this like yesterday! I was 12yrs old, watching the Patriots-Dolphins game. I was getting ready for school the next day and there was a timeout and coming back from the timeout Howard Cosell announced John Lennon was shot. I wasn't a Beatle fan at the time so i dismissed it and kept watching the game. Somebody called a timeout and after the timeout(and commercials) Howard announced John was dead...TOTAL SHOCK!! My local news(Memphis) did their telecast and Nightline came on and did a special broadcast about John Lennon(i stayed up for it and didnt go to bed until late. The next morning, all the major networks dedicated their morning shows to John Lennon and the Beatles. I had to get ready for school. Later on that day, i watched the CBS Evening news with Walter Cronkite and they did a special on John again. Ironically, it took the death of John for me to become a die hard Beatle fan. While the world was memorializing John, i started learning and listening to their music. I didnt realize at the time it was more than She Loves You, i realized there was Sgt Pepper, MMT, Abbey Road. I'm from the hood, or inner city and i would get teased for playing Beatles music. My own wife hates them. What they dont understand is these guys made music that changed the world! They influenced generations. There are billions of stories around the world about 4 guys from a port city somewhere in England.

[@dennetlane2870]

I sometimes wonder what the music industry would have been like had we never had The Beatles. I'm not sure half of my favourite groups would have even existed. They took inspiration from so many greats who came before them and then created magic together that changed everything. I wasn't born till after John was murdered but they have impacted my life so much. It's great how they reached so many different people, regardless of race, nationality, generation, everyone. The greatest.

[@jeaninepanzone6477]

35 years!!! Rip John 💐📺

[@maazkalim]

"Rolling Stone® is a rip-off"??? 😏

[@fanoflakespeed9460]

Howard Cosell was the best with Mahamed Ali, good friends and actually Funny together. I miss them both. RIP and Thank you.

[@lisadarcelwicks]

I was 18 years old.. I was watching that game and I was just done after Cosell made that announcement

[@jonathanxhyop1494]

Woaw

[@dchang11]

I was watching the Pro Bowl yesterday, and received the text alert of Kobe’s passing. I looked at the screen and immediately thought of Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football, bracing for the incoming announcement that’ll shake the world.

[@lucita311]

I can't believe it, I just watched this video and it made me cry so much! :"(

[@rorymartin5207]

....He HELD John Lennon's HEART. in his HAND. good holy damn lord.

[@joshowenby6408]

As of this past weekend it has now been 38 years. A wound that time still hasn't healed.

[@applepitz]

*43 years ago today this very minute John was pronounced dead... still shocks and stirs after all these decades... FACT*

[@davidchristensen242]

I was watching this game, I’ll never forget the sadness that washed over the world.

[@howardford6991]

I was watching this game when the announcement was made. I will never forget that night.

[@garykay7418]

listening to this has made me feel sick and sad. what a terrible waste.

[@mcgurkryans]

Kudos to Frank Gifford. All these years, and I never knew about that exchange. Fascinating archival stuff...

[@trubiz4u]

Howard referred to him as Giff lol

[@supermassivebends]

While I have a lot of respect and admiration for John as a musician and activist, the way he treated Julian was deplorable

[@daniellinehan63]

Yes

[@joe7346]

It just goes to show he was human after all

[@brianhurley3197]

40 years ago today...so sad.

[@youtoo2233]

I was only 11 but remember it well, but still too young to know the deep importance of it.

[@exhalejackie]

I had just turned 20. i was a huge Beatle fan. My mother had taken me to see the Beatles at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1965. I was 5 then. I remember Dec 8 1980 very vivdly. There was no cable news or internet. I recall staying up all night til dawn listening to my little transistor radio beside my head on my pillow....it was surreal.......taken from us way too soon......

[@eddiel2531]

I remember this like yesterday, brings tears again watching

[@jasonfischer8946]

Watching this at 11:00 PM on December 8, 2020 right after an unusual Tuesday night NFL game where this was mentioned. This is the first time I heard about the MNF link.

[@sx20Ramar]

His music will be played 1,000,000 years from now!

[@1burnman]

It most certainly will what a legacy his music is

[@cdrepaircd5598]

and 90000000000000000000 also

[@jamessmethurst3537]

@@massdebated maybe on a new exo planet dude?

[@tonypascale5317]

Probably totally forgotten in another 30-50 years.

[@thecawdsquad875]

The human race will have long died out by then.

[@richardpoplis6777]

Everyone hated howard... he was as true professional on how he handled this... a superstar Howard ... rip

[@Bsimmonsnw]

Howard was awkward, true. But he was true to how he felt to the end.

[@Dave-nj4go]

My dad was watching this game at the time, I just turn 3 years old a few week ago. This was before the internet, twitter, and facebook.

[@calchick82]

This was how I found out the news, through one of my brothers who was watching(although it could have been my dad, who told my brother to come tell me)MNF that night. He just said one of the Beatles had been shot, but I didn't believe him, especially because I heard nothing on the radio. Reason I didn't hear anything was because I was listening to a taped program & they hadn't interrupted yet. I finally heard for myself the sad truth minutes later when I switched radio stations:(

[@raulmacias1311]

I watched this "Live" as it happened. I was living in Northridge, California at the time. I couldn't believe it.

[@QBAN2010]

I was in the Orange Bowl listening to the local broadcast on the radio. As the FG was blocked a strange buzzing sound filled the stadium. Not cheering, not booing....just 80,000 people buzzing!!!!!