More popular than Jesus don't believe in Jesus", but also sang that he did not believe in the Bible, Buddha, the "Gita", and the Beatles. Critics of Lennon's lyrics have also focused on the line "Imagine there's no heaven" from his 1971 song "Imagine". Lennon was murdered on 8 December 1980 by Mark David Chapman, who had become a born-again Christian in 1970 and was incensed by Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remark, calling it blasphemy. He later stated that he was further enraged by the songs "God" and "Imagine", even singing the latter with the altered lyric: "Imagine John Lennon dead". Notes Citations
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert aside, the production was genuinely thrilling, taking chances with the staging of a classic but controversial Broadway show, much more daring than previous live musical broadcasts like "The Sound of Music" or "Peter Pan"." Offering similar acclaim, "The Hollywood Reporter"s David Rooney said, "But here's the thing: This was a phenomenally balanced production of "Jesus Christ Superstar", in which star power was equaled by depth of feeling and characterization in all the principals. And the immediacy of television, with close-ups capable of bringing us in tight on the performers' faces, gave Jesus and Mary Magdalene a complexity that often is