The Beatles' John Lennon posed for a photo on the cover of Rolling Stone hours before his death in 1980.
On December 8 nearly 42 years ago, Lennon and Yoko Ono welcomed photographer Annie Leibowitz into their home, where they held a photoshoot for the magazine's cover.
The rare photo in question shows the naked The Beatles late member as he curled up next to Ono on their bed. The magazine released copies of it on Jan. 22, 1981 - weeks after a deranged fan shot him dead.
On December 5 at 9:00 a.m. ET, Rolling Stone opened an auction for one copy signed by its founder, Jann Wenner. The rare copies were recently found in the Penske Media Archive, and Rolling Stone decided to hold it up for auction, with its net proceeds going directly to gun violence prevention efforts.
The bidding price starts at $1,000, and there are already two bids as of press time. This makes its current value $1,100.
The next bidder can place $1,200 or more, following the increments of $100.
It will run until December 16, 5:00 p.m. EST.
"Pulled from the Penske Media Archive vault, the preserved Rolling Stone magazine, Issue 335, featuring Yoko Ono and John Lennon is stored in a climate-controlled environment, and has light wear and tear damage, along with a lightly bent lower right-hand corner from the original shipping back in 1981," the description added.
What made the photo more special was the fact that it was taken hours before his death.
John Lennon's Death: Suspect Admitted That Killing Him Was Evil
Lennon died after his fan and murderer, Mark David Chapman, waited for him outside a Manhattan apartment building. Soon after spotting him, the fan approached him and shot him four times at the close range.
Instead of running away, the suspect remained at the scene and told the police that he killed Lennon after commenting that "The Beatles were more popular than Jesus" in one of his interviews.
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Chapman added that he planned the murder for months and plotted everything based on the book, "The Catcher in the Rye."
In the past years, he applied for parole 12 times, but all his requests got rejected.
According to the man who shot Lennon, he knew it was wrong to kill Lennon. However, he reportedly had evil in his heart and was seeking fame at that time.
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