4 Touching Tribute Songs Released After the Death of John Lennon
The death of John Lennon remains incomprehensible some 45 years after it occurred. You can imagine how dumbfounded people were in the immediate wake of that tragedy. Still, some artists were able to rise up from their sadness and deliver fitting tributes to him.
The four artists included on this list include two who were in the same band as Lennon and another who collaborated with him on a No. 1 single. As for the fourth, he, like everybody else, was just trying to make sense of it all.
Harrison was able to get his tribute to Lennon out the fastest of this bunch because he already had much of the framework of the song in place, right down to the title. He had written it originally for Ringo Starr to record, but Starr struggled with the vocals and decided against recording it. Upon Lennon’s death, Harrison adjusted the lyrics to pay tribute to his friend. Starr plays drums, while Paul and Linda McCartney sing backing vocals, making this a semi-reunion. But the observations of Harrison take center stage. His candor is balanced out by his genuine emotion: Living with good and bad / I always looked up to you. “All Those Years Ago” gave Harrison a comeback hit, although he’d quickly back away from the spotlight again after its release.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
