Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr were among those remembering John Lennon on the 40th anniversary of his tragic death. “A sad sad day,” wrote McCartney, Lennon’s songwriting collaborator, friend, and artistic rival, “but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world.”
“I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser!,” McCartney concludes, using a reference to the nickname for those from Liverpool.
John Lennon was shot on Dec. 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman, who still remains in custody after repeated requests for parole.
Ringo Starr, the only surviving Beatle along with McCartney, tweeted today, “Tuesday, 8 December 1980 we all had to say goodbye to John peace and love John. I’m asking Every music radio station in the world sometime today to play Strawberry Fields Forever. Peace and love.”
Yoko Ono made a plea for peace and gun law reform.
“The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience,” she writes. “After 40 years, Sean, Julian, and I still miss him. ‘Imagine all the people living life in peace.’”
Ono’s tweet also includes the famous photograph she took of Lennon’s blood-splattered eyeglasses, accompanying a message that reads: “Over 1,436,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980.”
