John Lennon's legacy will be celebrated in the coming days via a live tribute on Sirius Satellite Radio to mark the 25th anniversary of his death and a covers project organized by Amnesty International that will feature the Cure, Black Eyed Peas, Snow Patrol, the Postal Service and Avril Lavigne.
Lennon was murdered Dec. 8, 1980, by deranged fan Mark David Chapman outside his New York apartment building as he returned home from a recording session. Chapman fired five shots from a handgun; Lennon died en route to a hospital.
On Thursday (Dec. 8), the Sirius' four-hour "Lennon Live" tribute will feature live performances from Dave Matthews, Paul Weller, Jamie Cullum, Dr. John, Daryl Hall, Stereo MCs and Lulu originating from London's Abbey Road Studios and the Sirius studios in New York.
Two days later on International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), "Make Some Noise" will launch with the digital release of Lennon covers. The the Black Eyed Peas' "Power to the People," the Cure's "Love," Snow Patrol's "Isolation" and the Postal Service's "Grow Old With Me" at Amnesty.org/Noise for $.99 per track.
Additional tracks will become available early next year, including as-yet-unnamed contributions from Lavigne, Duran Duran and other "top artists." A compilation culling all the covers will also be released sometime next year.
The project follows the 2003 donation by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono of the rights to his solo songbook to Amnesty International. "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music which is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," Ono says.
"We're thrilled to be using John Lennon's songs in our human rights work," adds Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan. "After all, human rights are what make music possible -- we wouldn't be able to create music, listen to it or dance to it without freedom of speech, expression and association."
As previously reported, this week marks the debut release of Lennon's solo catalog via digital platforms in the United Kingdom and North America.
Lennon was murdered Dec. 8, 1980, by deranged fan Mark David Chapman outside his New York apartment building as he returned home from a recording session. Chapman fired five shots from a handgun; Lennon died en route to a hospital.
On Thursday (Dec. 8), the Sirius' four-hour "Lennon Live" tribute will feature live performances from Dave Matthews, Paul Weller, Jamie Cullum, Dr. John, Daryl Hall, Stereo MCs and Lulu originating from London's Abbey Road Studios and the Sirius studios in New York.
Two days later on International Human Rights Day (Dec. 10), "Make Some Noise" will launch with the digital release of Lennon covers. The the Black Eyed Peas' "Power to the People," the Cure's "Love," Snow Patrol's "Isolation" and the Postal Service's "Grow Old With Me" at Amnesty.org/Noise for $.99 per track.
Additional tracks will become available early next year, including as-yet-unnamed contributions from Lavigne, Duran Duran and other "top artists." A compilation culling all the covers will also be released sometime next year.
The project follows the 2003 donation by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono of the rights to his solo songbook to Amnesty International. "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music which is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation," Ono says.
"We're thrilled to be using John Lennon's songs in our human rights work," adds Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan. "After all, human rights are what make music possible -- we wouldn't be able to create music, listen to it or dance to it without freedom of speech, expression and association."
As previously reported, this week marks the debut release of Lennon's solo catalog via digital platforms in the United Kingdom and North America.
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