More popular than Jesus  "More popular than Jesus" is part of a remark made by John Lennon of the Beatles in a March 1966 interview, in which he argued that the public were more infatuated with the band than with Jesus, and that Christian faith was declining to the extent that it might be outlasted by rock music. His opinions drew no controversy when originally published in the London newspaper "The Evening Standard", but drew angry reactions from Christian communities when republished in the United States that July. Lennon's comments incited protests and threats, particularly throughout the US Bible Belt. Some radio stations stopped playing Beatles songs, records were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled, and the Ku Klux Klan picketed concerts. The controversy coincided with the band's 1966 US tour and overshadowed press coverage of their newest album "Revolver". Lennon apologised at a series of press conferences and explained that he was not comparing himself to Christ. The controversy exacerbated the band's unhappiness with touring, which they never undertook again. Lennon also refrained from touring in his solo career. In 1980, he was murdered by Mark David Chapman, a born-again Christian who was motivated partly by Lennon's remarks on religion and "more popular than Jesus" quote. In March 1966, London's "Evening Standard" ran a weekly series titled "How Does a Beatle Live?" that featured John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. The articles were written by Maureen Cleave, who knew the group well and had interviewed them regularly since the start of Beatlemania in the United Kingdom. She had described them three years earlier as "the darlings of Merseyside", and in February 1964 had accompanied them on their first visit to the United States. She chose to interview the band members individually for the lifestyle series, rather than as a group. Cleave carried out the interview with Lennon in February at his home, Kenwood, in Weybridge. Her article portrayed him as restless and searching for meaning in his life; he discussed his interest in Indian music and said he gleaned most of his knowledge from reading books. Among Lennon's many possessions, Cleave found a full-sized crucifix, a gorilla costume, a medieval suit of armour and a well-organised library with works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Another book, Hugh J. Schonfield's "The Passover Plot", had influenced Lennon's ideas about Christianity, although Cleave did not refer to it in the article.