On the evening of December 8, 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono left the Record Plant studio in New York City. Yoko and producer Jack Douglas had spent the previous four days recording and mixing the song Walking on Thin Ice.
Lennon was very pleased with how Yoko Ono's solo song turned out, and the more he listened to the mix, the more he became convinced that the song had great potential. "From now on, we will move in this direction," John excitedly said.
The recording of the final mix of the song was in John Lennon's hands when he and Yoko got into the limousine. They planned to have dinner at Stage Deli, a diner located just two blocks from Carnegie Hall, but at some point decided to just go home.
When they arrived at the Dakota building around 10:45 PM, Yoko was the first to get out of the car and headed to the entrance. When Lennon exited the limousine, 25-year-old Mark David Chapman stepped toward him and fired five shots at close range from a .38 caliber revolver.
Four of the bullets struck Lennon in the back and shoulders. The police arrived at the scene just a few minutes later, and John was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead half an hour later.
The lyrics of the song Waking on Thin Ice turned out to be tragically prophetic, speaking of the unpredictability of life and death. The song also became the last recording in John Lennon's life. According to critics, the musician's poignant guitar solo was unlike anything he had done before.
As for Chapman, he stated that Lennon was his idol, but later he became disillusioned with him. At some point, he felt that Lennon was the embodiment of the lies that needed to be fought against. For the crime he committed, Chapman was sentenced to life in prison and has been incarcerated ever since, despite numerous petitions for his release.
