John Lennon Goes Digital

John Lennon's complete solo catalog will become available in digital format for the first time ever on December 6th -- two days before the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death -- through various digital sites.

Until then, the former Beatle's new greatest hits album, Working Class Hero, is the first selection of his music to go digital -- this week -- with some tracks to be made available as cell-phone downloads in coming weeks.

While there has long been talk of putting the Beatles online, Lennon's music is among the first of Beatles-affiliated material to go digital: While Paul McCartney and George Harrison's solo recordings are not online, Ringo Starr's solo albums are currently available through the iTunes music store.

"I am very happy that John's music is now available to a new generation of music fans," said Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. "New technology is something he always embraced, and this is something he would have loved."

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Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »

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