Forty-eight hours before he was murdered, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, taped a three-hour interview with Andy Peebles in New York for BBC Radio One. This is the verbatim transcript of that memorable occasion.

It was the first time for over five years that John had agreed to face a radio microphone. What was expected to be a routine half-hour chat about his and Yoko's latest LP, Double Fantasy, turned magically into a long, deep and candid discussion about his life and work.

John Lennon talked about the Beatles, the break-up, his first meeting with Yoko, feminism, heroin, drink, music-making, songwriting, his feelings for his past and his hopes for the future.