Paul McCartney And Ringo Starr Honor John Lennon On The 40th Anniversary Of His Death

On December 8, 1980, John Lennon died after being shot in New York City. That was exactly 40 years ago today, and to mark the somber occasion, Lennon’s surviving Beatles bandmates, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, shared some heartfelt messages.

Sharing a photo of himself and Lennon, McCartney wrote, “A sad sad day 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! X love Paul.” Starr’s message called for radio stations to play a song today in Lennon’s honor, saying, “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 play Strawberry Fields Forever. Peace and love. ”

Lennon’s children, Julian Lennon and Sean Ono Lennon, also shared some posts about their father. Julian shared a photo of Lennon and captioned it, “As Time Goes By….,” while Sean shared a childhood photo of himself with his father, mother, and Julian.

Lennon found his way back into the news earlier this year when Gal Gadot and a host of other celebrities decided to cover “Imagine,” an endeavor that was not exactly beloved.