Devoted fans of legendary Beatles musician John Lennon gathered at Strawberry Fields in Central Park on Sunday to dance, sing and remember the icon’s tragic death 44 years ago.
The grassroots gathering – which attracted Beatlemaniacs from all over the world – took place as it does every year on the 2.5-acre plot of immaculately manicured lawn named after one of the Beatles’ most famous songs.
“For the past 44 years, we’ve been celebrating his life,” said Quent Kelleher, a 60-year-old native New Yorker who comes to the same spot every year on the anniversary of Lennon’s Dec. 8, 1980, murder outside his home. a short distance from the park.
“My best friend called me that night – he lives around the corner – and told me [Lennon] was shot,” Kelleher told The Post. “And we came here that night, and we came here [since].”
“We even had binoculars and saw Yoko Ono looking out the window,” Kelleher said, pointing to the Dakota Apartments on 72nd Street, where she and Lennon lived before his death.
The music icon was fatally shot under an arch in front of his building just before 11pm that evening by Mark David Chapman, who later said he killed the 40-year-old Lennon because he wanted fame and had “evil in my heart”.
The convict is currently serving a sentence of 20 years to life at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Kit Stolz, a 70-year-old Californian who was among about 300 people at Strawberry Fields, came with partner Valeria Levette. He can never forget that day; it is his own birthday after all.
“I’m a big Lennon fan, and that’s obviously very sad,” he said. “He was murdered on my birthday. So I thought, ‘Well, this is a way to take away the taint of the day.’
“This is the first time [I’ve come] … it’s such a joyful occasion.”
“There are so many different types of people, really diverse,” Levette added. “But just to participate in this communal celebration of John… it’s beautiful.”
The party continued late into the day, with people passing by joints, playing instruments, harmonizing to “Imagine” and painting pictures of their long-fallen idol.
“The ghost of John Lennon is here!” Landy Kosmik exclaimed, pointing to a hawk soaring overhead as he rocked back and forth with his solar-powered electric guitar.
“This was on my bucket list,” added a man named Pierre, who came from France to participate in the meeting. “I saw it on YouTube and I said, ‘I have to go there!'”
Marty Trent, a 64-year-old from New Jersey, has even made the pilgrimage a family tradition.
“When I was 20 years old, John passed away, and 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 piece of wax.
“They handed this out to everyone at the vigil 44 years ago,” he said. “And every year we burn it a little bit. As you can see, it is getting a little shorter… my son, he is the keeper of the sacred flame!’
“It was a great time,” he continued. “Everyone is in a good mood. Then we go out in Chinatown and have dinner.”
“It’s a day, you know? A day for the family.”
