LimeWire Music Blog

Poor John Lennon. He’s been sitting in purgatory for 28 years now, and all for one little, off-hand comment made in those heady, swinging ’60s. You know the one. That’s right: the fateful day he made the claim that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.”

But it looks like Lennon’s soul may yet get to heaven. L’Osservatore Romano, a publication that NME refers to as a “semi-official Vatican newspaper” has pardoned the late Beatle, writing that Lennon’s comment represented “showing off, bragging by a young English working-class musician who had grown up in the age of Elvis Presley and rock and roll and had enjoyed unexpected success.” Apparently, The Beatles’ music is fine by L’Osservatore, too. The piece conveniently ignores Lennon’s take on religion in general — to put it mildly, he wasn’t for it.

I’m curious to know which famously irreligious performers L’Osservatore will get around to absolving next. Ozzy Osbourne, perhaps? Alice Cooper? Might even Marilyn Manson stand a chance?