Lennon's son unveils monument | Stuff.co.nz

Lennon's son unveils monument | Stuff.co.nz

John Lennon's son Julian and first wife Cynthia unveiled a monument to the late singer Saturday, the 70th anniversary of his birth, and said the time for mourning the former Beatle was over.

The presentation of a £219,000(NZ$462,798), 18-foot structure, designed to promote peace, was one of several events being held around the world to celebrate one of pop music's most influential singers and songwriters who was murdered in New York in 1980 at the age of 40.

Internet search site Google paid tribute to Lennon with a hand-drawn logo and mini-video based on his hit Imagine.

Manhattan planned a benefit concert and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono was to perform alongside their son Sean as the Plastic Ono Band in Reykjavik.

Cynthia, 71, and Julian Lennon, 47, looked on in Lennon's birthplace Liverpool as a choir performed his music. A crowd of several hundred people gathered in Chavasse Park for the event.

"I think the mourning is over for John," said Cynthia, who was married to Lennon between 1962 and 1968. "I think it's time to celebrate, which is what we're doing."