--- description: The radio interview was recorded on the day he died title: Listen to Footage From John Lennon's Final Interview image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fb7c94d157a1e7/698874758e0601bf08463aac/gettyimages-107715151.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Listen to Footage From John Lennon's Final Interview by [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/) and [Anne Most](/author/anne-most/) Dec 8, 2015 9:52 PM CUT  Portrait of British musician John Lennon (1940 - 1980) (center) and his wife, artist and musician Yoko Ono (extreme left) as they attend an unspecified rally in Hyde Park, London, England, 1975\. (Photo by Rowland Scherman/Getty Images) Portrait of British musician John Lennon (1940 - 1980) (center) and his wife, artist and musician Yoko Ono (extreme left) as they attend an unspecified rally in Hyde Park, London, England, 1975\. (Photo by Rowland Scherman/Getty Images)Rowland Scherman—Getty Images by [Joyce Lee](/author/joyce-lee/) and [Anne Most](/author/anne-most/) Dec 8, 2015 9:52 PM CUT The day John Lennon died 35 years ago was also the day he gave his final interview, with Westwood One News. The radio interview was recorded a few hours before Mark David Chapman fatally shot the musician on Dec. 8, 1980, outside of Lennon’s apartment building in New York City. In the interview, the former Beatle spoke of his desire for happiness and his creative process while recording “Double Fantasy” with his wife Yoko Ono. “I would like to be a happy, contented person,” Lennon said. “I don’t want to have to sell my soul again to have a hit record.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4141255/john-lennon-final-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4141255/john-lennon-final-interview/"},"headline":"Listen to Footage From John Lennon's Final Interview","datePublished":"2015-12-08T21:52:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:56:17.138Z","description":"The radio interview was recorded on the day he died","url":"https://time.com/4141255/john-lennon-final-interview/","keywords":["Music","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fb7c94d157a1e7/698874758e0601bf08463aac/gettyimages-107715151.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joyce Lee","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joyce-lee/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Anne Most","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/anne-most/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08fb7c94d157a1e7/698874758e0601bf08463aac/gettyimages-107715151.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John & Yoko In Hyde Park","caption":"John & Yoko In Hyde Park","creditText":"Rowland Scherman—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4141255/john-lennon-final-interview/","name":"Listen to Footage From John Lennon's Final Interview"}}]}] ```