Fans of the late rock star John Lennon, a member of the iconic British band The Beatles, are gathering in New York City to celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday.
Lennon was shot and killed in 1980 outside his New York apartment.
Thousands of people are marking his birthday in Central Park's Strawberry Fields, an area designated to honor the musician. The memorial to the slain rock star and peace activist is named after the Beatles' song Strawberry Fields Forever. A plaque there lists more than 120 countries that have endorsed Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace.
To mark Lennon's 70th birthday, all of his solo albums are being re-released. Also, a new film that chronicles Lennon's early years is coming out, called Nowhere Boy.
Fans began celebrating Lennon's birthday Friday in Britain.
Internet search engine Google honored the musician with an animated doodle on its home page set to his popular solo song Imagine. Video-sharing website YouTube also created a tribute page, which includes a video of Lennon's widow Yoko Ono urging viewers to think, act, spread and imagine peace.
The Beatles rose to fame in the 1960s, releasing a string of number one hits and becoming one of the most popular and influential bands in history. The band of four, including Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, inspired a phenomenon of unprecedented crowds and mass hysteria that became known as "Beatlemania."
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
