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Published 19 Sep, 2010 12:00am

In the loop: Rock icons will come together to celebrate John Lennon`s 70th birthday

What would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday on October 9th will be celebrated by some of the biggest names in music as a tribute to the former Beatles band member and peace activist. His widow, Yoko Ono's We are Plastic Ono Band will be featuring Lady Gaga and Iggy Pop as a part of tribute shows that will be held for the artiste in Los Angeles. Ono herself will light the Imagine Peace Tower (IPT) located on Viðey Island in Kollafjörður Bay near Reykjavík, Iceland.

The IPT is literally a tall tower of light projected from white stone and has the words “Imagine Peace” carved on it in 24 languages. With the construction of the tower, Ono planned to have the tower lit every year from October 9th to December 8th - from the day Lennon was born to the day he died.

Yoko Ono will also be releasing a set of new music collections titled John Lennon Signature Box along with eight others reissued solo albums.

Musicians Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper, Aimee Mann, Shelby Lynne and Patti Smith will be paying tribute to Lennon at a concert being held in November at the Beacon Theater in New York. Proceeds form the concert will go to the Playing for Change Foundation. The Foundation focuses on promoting peace and education through music in the developing world.

The memory of John Lennon has been thrown into the spotlight this year because of the impending release of the British biopic about the former Beatle's adolescence in a film called Nowhere Boy. Directed by artist Sam Taylor-Wood, Nowhere Boy is due to be released on Lennon's birthday weekend this year. It depicts John Lennon's teenage years, the formation of his first band, The Quarrymen, his first meeting with Paul McCartney and the creation and evolution of The Beatles.

A documentary on the artiste, titled LennonNYC is also due to be released as a part of his birthday celebrations. It shows never-before-seen intimate footage of John Lennon living in New York during the 1970s. “New York became a part of who John and I were,” said Yoko Ono about LennonNYC. “We couldn't have existed the same way anywhere else. We had a very special relationship with the city, which is why I continue to make this my home, and I think this film captures what that time was like for us very movingly.”

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