NEW YORK -- Tuesday marks the anniversary of the murder of one of Britain’s greatest musical icons. Thirty-five years after John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment building, fans gathered at the nearby memorial to remember the life and legacy of the former Beatle. Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980, gunned down outside the Dakota building. Opposite the residence (where his widow, Yoko Ono, still lives) sits Strawberry Fields, a permanent tribute to the musician and campaigner on the west side of Central Park.
Lennon, who did more than most to define the Sixties and Seventies as an era, was shot at 10.50pm on that cold December evening. Despite being rushed to the nearby Roosevelt Hospital, the singer and peace campaigner was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival. He was just 40-year-old. His killer, John Mark Chapman, received 20 years to life in prison. He has been denied several attempts at parole, the most recent in August 2014.
Speaking to the parole board last year, the Chapman said: "I am sorry for causing that type of pain. I am sorry for being such an idiot and choosing the wrong way for glory." It’s a murder that still resonates in Lennon’s adopted city and around the world. Below are pictures of people who visited Strawberry Fields on Tuesday to celebrate Lennon’s message. At the centre of the memorial is one world: Imagine…