John Lennon – The John Lennon Collection

"The John Lennon Collection" is a retrospective compilation album of John Lennon's solo music, released November 1, 1982 by Parlophone in the UK, through EMI and by Geffen Records in the US on November 8, 1982. It was the first Lennon album to be issued following the singer's death in 1980. The album includes most of Lennon's hit singles and various selections from the majority of his solo albums recorded with EMI from 1970–75, as well as all but one of his tracks from his final album "Double Fantasy", which was initially distributed by Geffen Records in the US and EMI in the UK. (EMI acquired the distribution rights to "Double Fantasy" in 1989, and EMI released "The John Lennon Collection" on compact disc worldwide that year.)

In the United States, the album was issued with a slightly different track listing, with "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Stand By Me" excluded. In 1989, after EMI acquired the rights to the "Double Fantasy" material, "The John Lennon Collection" was remastered and reissued worldwide with two bonus tracks for its CD release, "Move Over Ms. L" and "Cold Turkey". In the U.S., the 1989 CD re-issue of The John Lennon Collection not only included the two bonus tracks but also the two songs originally excluded from the U.S. release, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Stand By Me", thereby making the track-listing now identical in both countries.

As Lennon's first posthumous release, "The John Lennon Collection" reached #1 in the UK and peaked at #33 in the US where it would eventually reach triple platinum.

The front and back covers for "The John Lennon Collection" were taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz on December 8, 1980, the day Lennon was murdered.