Dedicated fans of legendary Beatles musician John Lennon gathered Sunday at Strawberry Fields in Central Park to dance, sing and remember the icon's tragic death 44 years ago.
The annual grassroots gathering of Beatles fanatics from around the world was held on a perfectly manicured 2.5-acre lawn named after one of the Beatles' most famous songs.
“For the past 44 years, we've been celebrating the life of John Lennon,” said Quent, a New Yorker who comes to the same location every year on the anniversary of Lennon's murder in front of his home on Dec. 8, 1980.・Kelleher (60) said. It is located a little far from the park.
“My best friend called me that night, and he lives around the corner, and he said, ” [Lennon] I got shot,” Kelleher told the Post. “And we came out here that night, and we continue to come out here. [since]”
“I had binoculars and I saw Yoko Ono looking out the window,” Kelleher said, pointing to the Dakota Apartments on 72nd Street where she and Lennon lived before their deaths. spoke.
Music icon Lennon was shot dead just before 11pm that night by Mark David Chapman under an archway in front of his building, and Chapman later claimed that his quest for fame was “in his heart's content.'' He said he killed 40-year-old Lennon because he harbored evil feelings towards him.
The convict is currently serving a life sentence at Greenhaven Correctional Facility in New York's Hudson Valley.
Kit Stoltz, a 70-year-old Californian, was among about 300 people at Strawberry Fields, who came with his partner Valeria Levett. He can never forget that day. After all, it's his own birthday.
“I'm a huge Lennon fan, so of course I'm very sad,” he said. “He was killed on my birthday, and I thought, 'Here's how to get rid of the stain of that day.'”
“This is my first time [I’ve come] …That makes me very happy. ”
“There are so many different types of people and it’s so diverse,” Levett added. “But just to be a part of this communal celebration of John… it’s so wonderful.”
The party continued late into the day, with people spinning joints, playing instruments, harmonizing to “Imagine” and painting pictures of their long-lost idols.
“The spirit of John Lennon is here!” shouted Randy Cosmic, playing his solar-powered electric guitar and pointing to a hawk soaring overhead.
“This was on my bucket list,” added a man named Pierre, who came from France to attend the rally. “I was watching it on YouTube and thought, 'I have to go!'”
Marty Trent, 64, from New Jersey, has even made the pilgrimage a family tradition.
“When I was 20 years old, John passed away, I was here with some friends and I bought this shirt,” he said, referring to the Beatles shirt he was wearing.
“Do you see this candle?” he continued, holding a two-inch wax stick.
“Forty-four years ago, they handed this out to everyone at the vigil,” he said. “And every year he burns it a little bit. As you can see, it gets a little shorter…My son, he is the keeper of the sacred flame!”
“It was a great time,” he continued. “Everyone's fine. Then we'll go to Chinatown and eat.”
“Today is a day, you know? A day for family.”
