If John Lennon were still alive, the legendary songwriter would be turning 70 this Saturday (October 9). If you have stepped foot in a record store in the last few days, chances are you have already seen the massive new set of reissues, featuring remastered versions of eight albums, plus a handful of compilations. These albums are only the beginning of the hoopla that has been planned for the singer's birthday.
Tonight (October 8), starting at 9 p.m., YouTube will pay tribute to Lennon with a homepage spotlight featuring Yoko Ono, asking fans around the world to post their tributes to the late icon to YouTube.com/JohnLennon.
If you decide to submit a video, you will be joining already-confirmed participants like Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, D.M.C. (of Run-D.M.C.), Aerosmith, George Stroumboulopoulos, David Gray, Tony Hawk and many more.
"Today is John's 70th birthday. I hope you'll join me and a family of peace around the world to celebrate this very special day," Yoko Ono said in her own video (below). "Send in your own video tribute to YouTube, and we will share in keeping his memory alive."
In other Lennon birthday news, Google will be unveiling a new video logo, showing a doodle of Lennon accompanied by an audio clip of "Imagine."
While tributes to Lennon burn up the Web, Yoko Ono will be paying tribute to Lennon in Iceland on Saturday, relighting the Imagine Peace Tower at exactly 2:45 p.m. EST. To coincide with the event, Ono is hoping to get one million wishes for peace on Twitter, all beginning "@IPTower I wishâ¦" The Imagine Peace Tower was built as a memorial to the former Beatle back in 2007.
October 9 will also be the day the John Lennon time capsule will be sealed, containing tributes that won't be seen until October 9, 2040 - his 100th birthday.
In perhaps the strangest piece of birthday news, a set of Lennon's fingerprints that were due to go up for auction were seized by the FBI. The FBI seized the item because it was unclear how a government document had come to be in a private collection, Reuters reports. They were part of Lennon's 1976 application for U.S. citizenship.
Tonight (October 8), starting at 9 p.m., YouTube will pay tribute to Lennon with a homepage spotlight featuring Yoko Ono, asking fans around the world to post their tributes to the late icon to YouTube.com/JohnLennon.
If you decide to submit a video, you will be joining already-confirmed participants like Ringo Starr, Brian Wilson, D.M.C. (of Run-D.M.C.), Aerosmith, George Stroumboulopoulos, David Gray, Tony Hawk and many more.
"Today is John's 70th birthday. I hope you'll join me and a family of peace around the world to celebrate this very special day," Yoko Ono said in her own video (below). "Send in your own video tribute to YouTube, and we will share in keeping his memory alive."
In other Lennon birthday news, Google will be unveiling a new video logo, showing a doodle of Lennon accompanied by an audio clip of "Imagine."
While tributes to Lennon burn up the Web, Yoko Ono will be paying tribute to Lennon in Iceland on Saturday, relighting the Imagine Peace Tower at exactly 2:45 p.m. EST. To coincide with the event, Ono is hoping to get one million wishes for peace on Twitter, all beginning "@IPTower I wishâ¦" The Imagine Peace Tower was built as a memorial to the former Beatle back in 2007.
October 9 will also be the day the John Lennon time capsule will be sealed, containing tributes that won't be seen until October 9, 2040 - his 100th birthday.
In perhaps the strangest piece of birthday news, a set of Lennon's fingerprints that were due to go up for auction were seized by the FBI. The FBI seized the item because it was unclear how a government document had come to be in a private collection, Reuters reports. They were part of Lennon's 1976 application for U.S. citizenship.