Anniversary

Monument Marks Lennon’s 70th Birthday

Liverpool unveils statue 30 years after Beatle’s death.

Liverpool unveiled a new monument honoring John Lennon and his promotion of peace Saturday, on what would have been the Beatle’s 70th birthday. Lennon’s first wife Cynthia and his son Julian attended the ceremony, and Julian urged the audience to not be “morbid,” but instead “enjoy the joy” of his father’s music. The monument is a colorful globe with symbols of peace and music, as well as two hands reaching toward the sky, a keyboard, a white feather, and doves—all symbols of Lennon, his son said. The ceremony kickstarted the city’s two-month-long celebration of Lennon, lasting from his birthday until the anniversary of the day he was shot to death, December 8, 1980.