John Lennon discography
John Lennon was an English musician, best known as the co-founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. After three experimental albums with Yoko Ono, using tape loops, interviews, musique concrète, and other avant-garde performance techniques, Lennon's solo career properly began with the 1969 single "Give Peace a Chance". Lennon then released two more singles, "Cold Turkey" and "Instant Karma!", and a live album, Live Peace in Toronto, before the official break-up of the Beatles.
Lennon's first solo album after the Beatles' break-up was Plastic Ono Band, released simultaneously with Ono's album of the same name. He released the album Imagine the following year, which became his most critical and commercial success. His 1972 political themed album Some Time in New York City received scathing reviews and performed poorly commercially. Lennon's next two albums, Mind Games and Walls and Bridges were better received and had more commercial success. In 1975, Lennon released his covers album Rock 'n' Roll before retiring from music to focus on raising his newborn son Sean. He returned to the music industry in 1980 with the album Double Fantasy, but was murdered three weeks after its release. Following his death, the 1984 album Milk and Honey was posthumously released.
In 2020, to celebrate what would have been Lennon's 80th birthday, Ono and her son Sean released the box set Gimme Some Truth. The Ultimate Mixes, which contained newly remixed versions of 36 of Lennon's songs. In 2018, 2021 and 2024, super deluxe box-sets of Imagine, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Mind Games were released.
Lennon had 25 number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart as a writer, co-writer or performer.
As session musician and producer
| Year | Album/single | Collaborator | Comment |
| 1962 | B-side: "I've Just Fallen for Someone" | Johnny Gentle | uncredited co-writer |
| 1965 | "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" | The Silkie | producer |
| 1967 | "We Love You" | The Rolling Stones | backing vocals, tambourine, handclaps |
| 1970 | "Down in the Alley" | Ronnie Hawkins | spoken introduction |
| 1970 | Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band | Yoko Ono | producer, guitar |
| 1971 | "God Save Oz" / "Do the Oz" | Bill Elliot and the Elastic Oz Band | writer of both songs, lead vocals on "Do the Oz" |
| 1971 | Fly | Yoko Ono | producer, guitar, piano, organ |
| 1972 | The Pope Smokes Dope | David Peel and The Lower East Side | producer |
| 1972 | Elephant's Memory | Elephant's Memory | producer, guitar, backing vocals |
| 1973 | Approximately Infinite Universe | Yoko Ono | producer, guitar, backing vocals |
| 1973 | Ringo | Ringo Starr | writer, piano and harmony vocals on "I'm the Greatest" |
| 1973 | Feeling the Space | Yoko Ono | producer, guitar on "She Hits Back" and "Woman Power" |
| 1973 | "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)" | Mick Jagger | producer |
| 1974 | Pussy Cats | Harry Nilsson | producer, co-writer of "Mucho Mungo/Mt. Elga" |
| 1974 | Caribou | Elton John | Tambourine on "The Bitch Is Back" |
| 1974 | Goodnight Vienna | Ringo Starr | writer/vocals/piano on title song, guitar on "All by Myself" and "Only You " |
| 1974 | "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" / "One Day (At a Time)" | Elton John | guitar, backing vocals |
| 1974 | John Dawson Winter III | Johnny Winter | writer of "Rock and Roll People" |
| 1975 | Two Sides of the Moon | Keith Moon | writer of "Move Over Ms. L" |
| 1975 | Young Americans | David Bowie | vocals, guitar, backing vocals on "Across the Universe" and "Fame" |
| 1976 | Ringo's Rotogravure | Ringo Starr | writer/piano on "Cookin' " |
| 1980 | John Lennon for President | David Peel and the Lower East Side | producer |
| 1981 | "Walking on Thin Ice" | Yoko Ono | producer, guitar |