10 Most Emotional Onstage Moments In Rock
5. John Lennon's Last Show
By the time rock had reached the mid '70s, it was clear that the idyllic dream of the Beatles was officially dead. Even though the raw wounds of the Fab Four's legal disputes were subsiding, the chances of them ever sharing a stage together again were pretty much slim to none. However, it was nice to see the eccentric Beatle actually make an appearance onstage one final time.
When working on his album Walls and Bridges, John Lennon had called Elton John down to play keyboards and contribute backing vocals to Whatever Gets You Thru the Night. Seeing the potential of the song, the glam rock superstar offered a deal to Lennon during the session: if the song went to No. 1, then Lennon would join him onstage for a song or two. Though it was all in jest during the session, that didn't stop the song from becoming the first Lennon song to actually top the charts.
True to his word, Lennon arrived at John's Madison Square Garden gig in 1974 to play through a couple of songs, one of which being the Beatles' classic I Saw Her Standing There. This not only announced the arrival of Lennon back to New York, but also the final time he would make a public appearance like this, as he became a house husband and only made one more album before being murdered in 1980. For as far down the musical rabbit hole as he went, this was a nice way of Lennon making peace with his rock and roll roots.