Tributes were paid to former Beatle, John Lennon, to mark the 30th anniversary of his murder. On Wednesday, fans gathered at a memorial garden in Central Park, New York, opposite the apartment block where he was shot dead. A vigil was also be held in Liverpool at a monument dedicated to the singer, where fans lit candles and sang his songs. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, has urged people to remember him with "deep love and respect." "On this tragic anniversary, please join me in remembering John," she said. "In his short-lived life of 40 years, he has given so much to the world. The world was lucky to have known him. We still learn so much from him today," she added.
Ono was with Lennon when he was killed by crazed fan, Mark Chapman, outside the Dakota building in Manhattan, where the couple lived. "I remember I was on my way to work when I heard," she recalled of December 9 1980, the morning after Lennon was shot. "I can remember sitting on the bus and had tears rolling down my cheeks. "Somebody had a radio and it was announced that he had died." Another fan, Jim Collins, from Liverpool, said, "It was a bit like the night we found out Kennedy had been shot, the same sort of experience in terms of shock. "Like all the Beatles, he made us proud to be Liverpudlians at a bad time for Liverpool in terms of depression and everything. But not only that, I think everybody loves his music."
A vigil was held in the city's Chavasse Park on Wednesday. Yesterday, the charity concert Lennon Remembered-The 9 Faces of John, featured the Liverpudlian's friends and bandmates from his first band, The Quarrymen, who performed his most famous songs. Ono led the tributes at a charity concert she organised in Japan called Dream Power John Lennon Super Live, which raised money for schools for deprived children all over the world. Events also took place across Liverpool, Lennon's home city, to remember the singer.