Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon

1997 greatest hits album by John Lennon
Lennon Legend:
The Very Best of John Lennon
Greatest hits album by
John Lennon
Released27 October 1997 (1997-10-27)
RecordedJune 1969 – Late 1980
GenreRock
Length77:39
LabelParlophone
ProducerJohn Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector, Jack Douglas
John Lennon chronology
Lennon
(1990) 		Lennon Legend:
The Very Best of John Lennon
(1997) 		John Lennon Anthology
(1998)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
MusicHound[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon is the third official compilation album of John Lennon's solo career, coming after 1975's Shaved Fish and 1982's The John Lennon Collection. Because neither collection spanned Lennon's releases up to and including 1984's Milk and Honey, Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon – considered the definitive Lennon retrospective – was compiled. It was released in the UK in 1997 through Parlophone and early 1998 in the US by EMI Records.

Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and certified 2× Platinum by the BPI in May 1998. The album has also certified Platinum in the US and Canada as of December 2008. In the history of Japanese Oricon chart, Lennon Legend has been one of the longest charting albums that failed to reach top 40, selling more than 190,000 copies up to late 2006.

The album re-entered the UK Chart on 18 June 2007, almost ten years after its release, at number 30. The album also appeared in a commercial for Apple's iPod Touch. A DVD with the same name was also released in 2003 as a series of remastered, remixed & new music videos with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio mixes.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by John Lennon, except where noted.

  1. "Imagine" – 3:02
  2. "Instant Karma!" – 3:20
  3. "Mother" * – 3:53
  4. "Jealous Guy" – 4:14
  5. "Power to the People" – 3:17
  6. "Cold Turkey" – 5:01
  7. "Love" – 3:23
  8. "Mind Games" – 4:11
  9. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" – 3:19
  10. "#9 Dream" – 4:46
  11. "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) – 3:27
  12. "(Just Like) Starting Over" – 3:55
  13. "Woman" – 3:26
  14. "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" – 4:00
  15. "Watching the Wheels" – 3:31
  16. "Nobody Told Me" – 3:33
  17. "Borrowed Time" – 4:30
  18. "Working Class Hero" – 3:49
  19. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (Yoko Ono, John Lennon) – 3:33
  20. "Give Peace a Chance" – 4:52

* US single version, issued in December 1970, for the first time released on CD.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1997) Position
Australian Albums Chart[4] 37
Austrian Albums Chart[5] 5
Belgian Albums Chart(Flanders)[6] 94
Belgian Albums Chart(Wallonia)[7] 48
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[8] 86
Dutch Albums Chart[9] 85
Finnish Albums Chart[10] 22
French SNEP Compipation Albums Chart[11] 7
German Albums Chart[12] 11
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[13] 46
Mexican Albums Chart[14] 62
New Zealand Albums Chart[15] 21
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[16] 39
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 28
Swiss Albums Chart[18] 13
UK Albums Chart[19] 4
US Billboard 200[20] 65
US Catalog Albums[20] 8

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
German Albums Chart[21] 80


Certifications

‹See Tfd›‹See Tfd›
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[22] Gold 30,000^
Australia (ARIA)[23] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[24] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[25] Platinum 100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[26] Gold 250,000‡
Japan (RIAJ)[27] Gold 192,300[28]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[29] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[30] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[31] 3× Platinum 900,000*
United States (RIAA)[33] Platinum 1,875,000[32]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[34] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon at AllMusic
  2. ^ Gary Graff & Daniel Durcholz (eds), MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ISBN 1-57859-061-2), p. 667.
  3. ^ "John Lennon: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  4. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Australian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  5. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Austrian Charts (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  6. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  7. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 66, No. 15". RPM. 15 December 1997. Archived from the original (PHP) on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  9. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  10. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Finnish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé". InfoDisc (in French). Archived from the original (PHP) on 20 August 2008. Find "John LENNON" on the drop-down menu to see results.
  12. ^ "Lennon Legend / Lennon, John / Longplay". offiziellecharts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  13. ^ "レノン・レジェンド～ザ・ヴェリー・ベスト・オブ・ジョン・レノン／ジョン・レノン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Lennon Legend by John Lennon]. oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  14. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)". Mexican Charts. Hung Medien. Archived from the original (ASP) on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  15. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). New Zealand Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  16. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Norwegian Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  17. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Swedish Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  18. ^ "John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of John Lennon (Album)" (ASP). Swiss Charts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  19. ^ "John Lennon > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  20. ^ a b "Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon – John Lennon". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  21. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  22. ^ "Argentinian album certifications – John Lennon – Lennon Legend: The Very Best of J. Lennon". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers.
  23. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  24. ^ "Austrian album certifications – John Lennon – Lennon Legend" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  25. ^ "Canadian album certifications – John Lennon – Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon". Music Canada.
  26. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (John Lennon; 'Lennon Legend')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  27. ^ "RIAJ > The Record > February 1999 > Certified Awards (December 1998)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  28. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  29. ^ Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados. Solo Exitos 1959–2002 Ano A Ano. ISBN 8480486392.
  30. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Legend')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  31. ^ "British album certifications – John Lennon – Lennon Legend – The Very Best of". British Phonographic Industry.
  32. ^ Grein, Paul (7 December 2010). "Chart Watch Extra: John Lennon, 30 Years Later". Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Lennon, John – Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon". Recording Industry Association of America.
  34. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1998". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
  • v
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with Yoko Ono
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  • Shaved Fish
  • The John Lennon Collection
  • Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
  • Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits
  • Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon
  • Power to the People: The Hits
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