25 years ago today, John Lennon died in New York City at the age of 40. Rest in Peace.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/08/lennon.tributes/
Liverpool, NYC remember Lennon
(CNN) -- Liverpool and New York -- two cities forever associated with John Lennon -- are the focal points for bittersweet celebrations of the life and death of the former Beatle.
In the English city of his birth, more than 1,000 tributes to the pop icon were attached to balloons and released Thursday to mark the 25th anniversary of his death.
James Andrews, 9, was one of the youngest to pay his respects to Lennon.
"I just wrote 'Merry Christmas John' on my balloon. I love the Beatles and especially John Lennon," he said. "My mom and dad let me take the day off school to come here."
Later, Lennon's image was projected at Liverpool's Albert Docks and flowers were laid at his statue outside the Cavern nightclub, where the Beatles honed their craft and sparked a frenzy that spread around the world.
Across the Atlantic -- in the city Lennon later adopted as his home and where he was shot dead at by a crazed fan on December 8, 1980 -- floral and musical tributes as well as a candle lit vigil are planned.
Many fans will remember Lennon at the "Imagine" mosaic -- named after one of his most famous songs -- that is the centerpiece of "Strawberry Fields" (named in honor of another of his songs), a section of Central Park across the apartment where Lennon lived with his wife, Yoko Ono.
It was at the entrance of that building, the Dakota, where the 40-year-old Lennon was murdered in the presence of Ono by Mark David Chapman. (Chapman, now 50, remains in New York's Attica state prison and has been denied parole on numerous occasions.)
New York mourners are gathering at Strawberry Fields for a special tribute to Lennon at 10:50 p.m. ET (0350 GMT Friday), the time he was shot.
Meanwhile in Japan -- Ono's birthplace and a country she and Lennon often visited -- tributes were paid earlier Thursday. There were radio programs and a concert at John Lennon Museum, which opened in a Tokyo suburb on October 9, 2000 -- what would have been his 60th birthday.
In Liverpool, Lord Mayor Alan Dean said Lennon's "influence on his and future generations is immense."
"Not only did he help change perceptions of Liverpool around the world -- he and the Beatles changed the aspirations of young working class kids all over the world, showing that if you've got ability you can go anywhere," he said.
"Few people in his position used their fame to stand up against injustices and to spread the message of love and peace in the way he did."
Tom Sergeant, 70, added: "I think it is a great thing that he is still held in such high esteem and that people hold events like this to remember just how great his music was."
Friends of Lennon remembered the person, not just the legend.
"You couldn't approach John at the end, and looking back it was from the moment ... he met Yoko Ono," former friend and fellow musician Billy Kinsley told Reuters.
Kinsley, who knew Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s, added:
"It really did make a big impression on me seeing the Beatles on that first night at the Cavern, because it just changed my outlook.
"I thought 'My God, I have just seen the best thing that I could ever see,' and since then it's been downhill because I've never seen anything as good as the Beatles."
Kinsley will perform "Beautiful Boy," which Lennon dedicated to his second son Sean, at a memorial service in Liverpool later on Thursday.
In New York, Ayarton Dos Santos said Thursday's events are "all about peace, love and happiness.
"You come here, you feel his spirit. His spirit is so alive in here," he added.
For Lennon's family, the day is one of mixed emotions.
In a statement on his Web site, his first son Julian said: "I have always had very mixed feelings about Dad. He was the father I loved who let me down in so many ways ... it's painful to think that his early death robbed me of the chance for us to know each other better."
As for Ono, her spokesman Elliot Mintz said she would not be giving any interviews, despite having received more than 500 requests.
"It's just too painful for her to discuss," he said.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/gossip/13359115.htm
Fans mark anniversary of Lennon's murder
PAT MILTON
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Some met John Lennon in person, others knew him from the television, still others never knew him at all. On Thursday, they gathered by the hundreds in Central Park's Strawberry Fields to remember the pacifist rock star murdered 25 years ago by a deranged Beatles fan.
Generations from across the world, if not quite the universe, united to celebrate Lennon's life and his message of peace - playing his music, singing his songs, imagining what might have been if the ex-Beatle had survived the Dec. 8, 1980, shooting outside his Manhattan apartment building.
Yoko Ono was among those at Strawberry Fields, walking through a horde of hundreds of Lennon fans before stopping at a flower-covered mosaic paying tribute to Lennon with its one-word message: "IMAGINE."
"His message is still the same: peace and love and live the best you can," said Martha Wagner, who came into Manhattan from Dover, N.J., with a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings about Lennon. She remembered hearing news of the slaying on television: "My heart stopped. I screamed."
Kim Polson, 50, of Manhattan, recalled seeing Lennon in an Upper West Side coffee shop four months before the shooting. She was late for work that day, hanging around and listening to Lennon's conversation.
"I'll be late for work again today," said Polson, one of the early arrivals at Strawberry Fields on the anniversary - a bitterly cold day. "John Lennon made me late again."
The scene was much the same in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool, England, where scores of fans from around the world remembered him with white balloons, flowers and prayers. The balloons, carrying written tributes to Lennon, were released into the sky.
"I just wrote 'Merry Christmas John' on my balloon," said James Andrews, a 9-year-old from Bournemouth, England. "I love the Beatles, and especially John Lennon."
A short service was also held beside a statue of Lennon on Liverpool's Mathew Street, where the Beatles played early in their career at the Cavern Club.
Lennon's songwriting partner, Paul McCartney, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Lennon was "one of the great men of the 20th century ... I will always feel some kind of link with John."
In New York, locals and tourists stood side-by-side near the Lennon-inspired Central Park mosaic. One man played Beatles' music on an acoustic guitar, as visitors piled off tour buses to stop at Strawberry Fields. They brought flowers, candles and bittersweet memories.
"He entered people's hearts, and made us softer toward each other," said Cummings Dass, 65, who came to Manhattan from Trinidad for the anniversary. "When he died, a part of the music died with him."
If Lennon were alive, he would have turned 65 in October.
Across the street at the Dakota, the apartment house where Lennon was killed, fans walked respectfully past police and security guards. Traditionally, Ono lights a candle in her apartment window in the evening as a show of solidarity with the crowd gathered in the park.
Lennon, who had turned 40 just two months before, was returning with Ono from a recording studio when he was gunned down at about 10:50 p.m. - the time that a moment of silence was planned in Central Park.
A second moment of silence was planned for 11:15 p.m., the approximate time of Lennon's death. City officials planned to close the park at 1 a.m., as they have for several years over the objection of fans who want an all-night vigil.
Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, comes up for parole next year. His bids for freedom have already been rejected three times.
For 16-year-old Sarah Koflan, of Bernardston, Mass., her Thursday trip to Central Park was as close as she would ever get to Lennon. Although born nearly a decade after his death, the teen still considers Lennon a role model.
"John Lennon is my hero," she said. "He's the coolest guy. ... Just being here today, with everyone who loves him, is awesome. It's a beautiful feeling."
Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...
Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...
Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.
*******************************************************
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http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/08/lennon.tributes/
Liverpool, NYC remember Lennon
(CNN) -- Liverpool and New York -- two cities forever associated with John Lennon -- are the focal points for bittersweet celebrations of the life and death of the former Beatle.
In the English city of his birth, more than 1,000 tributes to the pop icon were attached to balloons and released Thursday to mark the 25th anniversary of his death.
James Andrews, 9, was one of the youngest to pay his respects to Lennon.
"I just wrote 'Merry Christmas John' on my balloon. I love the Beatles and especially John Lennon," he said. "My mom and dad let me take the day off school to come here."
Later, Lennon's image was projected at Liverpool's Albert Docks and flowers were laid at his statue outside the Cavern nightclub, where the Beatles honed their craft and sparked a frenzy that spread around the world.
Across the Atlantic -- in the city Lennon later adopted as his home and where he was shot dead at by a crazed fan on December 8, 1980 -- floral and musical tributes as well as a candle lit vigil are planned.
Many fans will remember Lennon at the "Imagine" mosaic -- named after one of his most famous songs -- that is the centerpiece of "Strawberry Fields" (named in honor of another of his songs), a section of Central Park across the apartment where Lennon lived with his wife, Yoko Ono.
It was at the entrance of that building, the Dakota, where the 40-year-old Lennon was murdered in the presence of Ono by Mark David Chapman. (Chapman, now 50, remains in New York's Attica state prison and has been denied parole on numerous occasions.)
New York mourners are gathering at Strawberry Fields for a special tribute to Lennon at 10:50 p.m. ET (0350 GMT Friday), the time he was shot.
Meanwhile in Japan -- Ono's birthplace and a country she and Lennon often visited -- tributes were paid earlier Thursday. There were radio programs and a concert at John Lennon Museum, which opened in a Tokyo suburb on October 9, 2000 -- what would have been his 60th birthday.
In Liverpool, Lord Mayor Alan Dean said Lennon's "influence on his and future generations is immense."
"Not only did he help change perceptions of Liverpool around the world -- he and the Beatles changed the aspirations of young working class kids all over the world, showing that if you've got ability you can go anywhere," he said.
"Few people in his position used their fame to stand up against injustices and to spread the message of love and peace in the way he did."
Tom Sergeant, 70, added: "I think it is a great thing that he is still held in such high esteem and that people hold events like this to remember just how great his music was."
Friends of Lennon remembered the person, not just the legend.
"You couldn't approach John at the end, and looking back it was from the moment ... he met Yoko Ono," former friend and fellow musician Billy Kinsley told Reuters.
Kinsley, who knew Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s, added:
"It really did make a big impression on me seeing the Beatles on that first night at the Cavern, because it just changed my outlook.
"I thought 'My God, I have just seen the best thing that I could ever see,' and since then it's been downhill because I've never seen anything as good as the Beatles."
Kinsley will perform "Beautiful Boy," which Lennon dedicated to his second son Sean, at a memorial service in Liverpool later on Thursday.
In New York, Ayarton Dos Santos said Thursday's events are "all about peace, love and happiness.
"You come here, you feel his spirit. His spirit is so alive in here," he added.
For Lennon's family, the day is one of mixed emotions.
In a statement on his Web site, his first son Julian said: "I have always had very mixed feelings about Dad. He was the father I loved who let me down in so many ways ... it's painful to think that his early death robbed me of the chance for us to know each other better."
As for Ono, her spokesman Elliot Mintz said she would not be giving any interviews, despite having received more than 500 requests.
"It's just too painful for her to discuss," he said.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/gossip/13359115.htm
Fans mark anniversary of Lennon's murder
PAT MILTON
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Some met John Lennon in person, others knew him from the television, still others never knew him at all. On Thursday, they gathered by the hundreds in Central Park's Strawberry Fields to remember the pacifist rock star murdered 25 years ago by a deranged Beatles fan.
Generations from across the world, if not quite the universe, united to celebrate Lennon's life and his message of peace - playing his music, singing his songs, imagining what might have been if the ex-Beatle had survived the Dec. 8, 1980, shooting outside his Manhattan apartment building.
Yoko Ono was among those at Strawberry Fields, walking through a horde of hundreds of Lennon fans before stopping at a flower-covered mosaic paying tribute to Lennon with its one-word message: "IMAGINE."
"His message is still the same: peace and love and live the best you can," said Martha Wagner, who came into Manhattan from Dover, N.J., with a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings about Lennon. She remembered hearing news of the slaying on television: "My heart stopped. I screamed."
Kim Polson, 50, of Manhattan, recalled seeing Lennon in an Upper West Side coffee shop four months before the shooting. She was late for work that day, hanging around and listening to Lennon's conversation.
"I'll be late for work again today," said Polson, one of the early arrivals at Strawberry Fields on the anniversary - a bitterly cold day. "John Lennon made me late again."
The scene was much the same in Lennon's hometown of Liverpool, England, where scores of fans from around the world remembered him with white balloons, flowers and prayers. The balloons, carrying written tributes to Lennon, were released into the sky.
"I just wrote 'Merry Christmas John' on my balloon," said James Andrews, a 9-year-old from Bournemouth, England. "I love the Beatles, and especially John Lennon."
A short service was also held beside a statue of Lennon on Liverpool's Mathew Street, where the Beatles played early in their career at the Cavern Club.
Lennon's songwriting partner, Paul McCartney, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Lennon was "one of the great men of the 20th century ... I will always feel some kind of link with John."
In New York, locals and tourists stood side-by-side near the Lennon-inspired Central Park mosaic. One man played Beatles' music on an acoustic guitar, as visitors piled off tour buses to stop at Strawberry Fields. They brought flowers, candles and bittersweet memories.
"He entered people's hearts, and made us softer toward each other," said Cummings Dass, 65, who came to Manhattan from Trinidad for the anniversary. "When he died, a part of the music died with him."
If Lennon were alive, he would have turned 65 in October.
Across the street at the Dakota, the apartment house where Lennon was killed, fans walked respectfully past police and security guards. Traditionally, Ono lights a candle in her apartment window in the evening as a show of solidarity with the crowd gathered in the park.
Lennon, who had turned 40 just two months before, was returning with Ono from a recording studio when he was gunned down at about 10:50 p.m. - the time that a moment of silence was planned in Central Park.
A second moment of silence was planned for 11:15 p.m., the approximate time of Lennon's death. City officials planned to close the park at 1 a.m., as they have for several years over the objection of fans who want an all-night vigil.
Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, comes up for parole next year. His bids for freedom have already been rejected three times.
For 16-year-old Sarah Koflan, of Bernardston, Mass., her Thursday trip to Central Park was as close as she would ever get to Lennon. Although born nearly a decade after his death, the teen still considers Lennon a role model.
"John Lennon is my hero," she said. "He's the coolest guy. ... Just being here today, with everyone who loves him, is awesome. It's a beautiful feeling."
Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...
Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...
Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.
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