BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On the 40th anniversary of the night of John Lennon’s untimely death, IU Auditorium will host Remembering John Lennon 40 Years Later with Glenn Gass on Tuesday, December 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT. The live event can be viewed on Zoom and the IU Auditorium Facebook page and will later be archived at IUauditorium.com/Livestreams. The event will feature a conversation with Gass on the impact John had and continues to have on music and the world.

 

Gass, who retired from instructing classes in May, is the Provost Professor and Rudy Professor Emeritus of Music at IU’s Jacobs School of Music. Spending almost 40 years teaching at IU, Gass created the first rock history classes ever offered by a school of music. The classes became so popular that Gass has taught more than 60,000 students and was often voted the most popular professor at IU Bloomington.

 

He also developed courses on the history and origins of rock music and created specialized courses on The Beatles and Bob Dylan. The success of his classes led to the eventual creation of a certification program at IU and also inspired other colleges and universities to follow suit by adding rock history courses to their offerings.

 

During his career at IU, Gass had a handful of rock’s biggest names stop by his classes, including John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, Bo Diddley, Neil Young, and Booker T. Jones. However, it was The Beatles who ignited Gass’ passion and inspired him to begin his journey of teaching rock history.

 

Gass taught an initial class on The Beatles at Collins Living-Learning Center in the fall of 1982 and in the following spring semester. This was his first History of Rock ‘n’ Roll Music class. From there, things took off for his courses, and now, 10 different rock history courses are offered at IU for credit.

 

Gass also took IU students across the pond to England almost every summer to study The Beatles, literally on location, where the band made its mark on the world.

 

For a complete retrospective on Gass’ career, visit this IU Studios story from last spring.

 

This special event is being presented with support from Campus Tutoring Service and Fred and Beth Cate, along with our season partners Curry Auto Center and Cook.