John Lennon people attended the "John Sinclair Freedom Rally", a protest and benefit concert with contributions from Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, and others. Lennon and Ono, backed by David Peel and Rubin, performed an acoustic set of four songs from their forthcoming "Some Time in New York City" album including "John Sinclair", whose lyrics called for his release. The day before the rally, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that significantly reduced the penalties for possession of marijuana and four days later Sinclair was released on an appeal bond. The performance was recorded and
John Brown Lennon confidant, opposed the effort. That year he ran for mayor of Bloomington, Illinois on the Labor Party ticket, narrowly losing the election by 286 votes to Republican and incumbent mayor, Edward Jones. John Brown Lennon died on January 18, 1923. He is buried in Park Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, Illinois. John Brown Lennon John Brown Lennon (October 12, 1850 - January 18, 1923) was an American labor union leader and general-secretary of the Journeyman Tailors Union of America (JTU). In 1890, he was elected treasurer of the American Federation of Labor and served in that capacity until he was defeated