Sir Paul McCartney leads tributes for Beatles legend John Lennon on 40th anniversary of his death

Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York apartment complex on December 8 1980 by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman.   Remembering his friend, Sir Paul shared a black and white photo of them together taken by his wife Linda McCartney.   The legendary musician wrote in the caption: ‘A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known and worked with this incredible Scouser!’   Sir Ringo urged radio stations around the world to play Lennon’s 1967 song Strawberry Fields Forever, which was written about a children’s home close to where he grew up in Liverpool.  ‘Tuesday, 8 December 1980 we all had to say goodbye to John peace and love John. I’m asking Every music radio station in the world sometime today play Strawberry Fields Forever. Peace and love,’ the singer said alongside a photo of them sitting on the front of a car smiling.   Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono also paid tribute and used the anniversary of her husband’s death to highlight gun violence in the US. She shared a photo of a pair of blood-stained glasses with the harrowing message: ‘Over 1,436,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980.’   Yoko also tweeted: ‘The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 40 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him. Imagine all the people living life in peace.’  Lennon was father to two sons – Julian from his marriage with Cynthia Lennon, and Sean who he shared with Yoko.   Sir Paul recently opened up about the fan frenzy The Beatles experienced during their heyday – dubbed Beatlemania – and said one of their songs which was written by Lennon, was about their mental health and a ‘cry for help’.   Speaking to The Times, Sir Paul explained: ‘You know, John would. “Help! I need somebody. And I thought, “Well, it’s just a song,” but it turned out to be a cry for help.   ‘Same kind of thing happened with me, mainly after the break-up of the band. All of us went through periods when we weren’t as happy as we ought to be.’   He continued:  ‘Ringo had a major drinking problem. Now he’s Mr Sober of the Year! But you know there were a lot of things we had to work through, but you’re right — you didn’t talk about mental health.  ‘It was something really that, as four guys, you were more likely to make fun of than be serious about. And the making fun of it was to hide from it. But having said all that, we were reasonably well adjusted, I think.’