Tomorrow, Dec. 8, will mark the 34th anniversary of John Lennon's death. The Beatle and iconic pacifist was shot by Mark David Chapman in New York City.
Bandmate Paul McCartney recently reflected on Lennon's death on The Jonathan Ross Show, saying that he and the "Imagine" singer were on good terms prior to the shooting. He also called Chapman the "jerk of jerks" in the interview.
"There was acrimony in The Beatles. But when he got killed we were friends. We used to call each other up and swap bread recipes," McCartney said, The Mirror reported.
"I was at home when he died. I got a phone call. It was so horrific. I could not take it in that he was gone. It was a very big shock. I was so sad that I was not going to see him again," he said.
The cordial McCartney held back on Chapman, though, offering an insult fit for television.
"And the guy who did it was the jerk of jerks. He was not politically motivated," he added.
The music legend also said that reconnecting with Lennon after the end of The Beatles meant a lot to him.
"There was a big business thing and everything got very sour and then that kind of just got boring and I would just ring John and eventually it just got friendly again," he said.
"So now he had a baby and I was bringing up babies so we could talk about that. You could talk about normal stuff so it got very nice and I said, to this day, I'm so glad because it would have been the worst thing in the world to have this great relationship that then soured and he gets killed, so there was some solace in the fact that we got back together. We were good friends."
Chapman's eighth parole application was denied in August. He is up for parole again in 2016.
"At that time, I wasn't thinking about anybody else, just me," Chapman said during the hearing this summer. "But now, you know, obviously through people's letters and through things I hear a lot of people were affected here. I am sorry for causing that type of pain. I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory."
