4 decades ago, John Lennon was shot outside his New York City apartment building.

Flowers, photographs, and candles were placed on the “Imagine” mosaic in Strawberry Fields in Central Park on Wednesday, when admirers of all ages from all over the world went to pay respect to the Beatles great in song.

Strawberry Fields, a 2.5-acre manicured area of the park named after one of The Beatles’ most renowned songs, was dedicated to Lennon by his wife Yoko Ono in 1985.

“Over 1.5 million people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980,” noted Lennon’s wife.

“He was the music god for pop music. He was the man,” said T.J. Bellut, a 23-year-old German, said. “I’m a music producer as well and I think if The Beatles weren’t The Beatles, I think I wouldn’t be a music producer today.”

George Harrison’s estate tweeted from the official account of his former Beatles bandmate: “That was the great thing about John and what I got from him, from all those years. He saw that we are not just in the material world; he saw beyond death, that this life is just a little play that is going on. And he understood that.”

VIDEO. Fans of John Lennon are remembering him at Strawberry Fields in Central Park with a Lennon/Beatles jam session. Lennon was murdered outside his home 41yrs ago. @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/tlm4e3hB1Q

— Peter Haskell (@peterhaskell880) December 8, 2021

Ringo Starr, the drummer for the Beatles, captioned a photo of himself and John Lennon rehearsing, “Peace and love my friend.”

The account for Central Park in New York City, where an Imagine mosaic honors Lennon near his Dakota apartment building, also tweeted.

“December 8th marks the anniversary of John Lennon’s passing. Join us for a commemorative walk to the late Beatle’s living memorial,” it said.

Lennon, along with Harrison, Starr, and Paul McCartney, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1940, and contributed to making The Beatles one of the most famous groups of the 1960s. Many music critics believe the Beatles to be the greatest band of all time, and their fan following continues to grow half a century after their disbandment.

After the Beatles broke up, Lennon and McCartney were well-known for their songwriting collaborations, and both men went on to have successful solo careers.

Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan who had traveled from Hawaii, was the assassin.

Chapman expressed his displeasure with Lennon’s life and public remarks, particularly his claim that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” and the lyrics of his songs “God” and “Imagine.”

Chapman also claimed to have been influenced by J.D. Salinger’s 1951 classic The Catcher in the Rye. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in jail, and in 2020, he was denied parole for the twelfth time.