In Pictures: Remembering John Lennon on his 75th birthday

John Lennon would have been celebrating his 75th birthday on 9 October. The former Beatle was shot dead outside his New York apartment in 1980, aged just 40.

We look back at aspects of his life in pictures.

Singer, guitarist and songwriter John Lennon live on stage at the Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Liverpool in December 1961

John Lennon stands with George Harrison and Paul McCartney outside Paul's Liverpool home in 1960 when The Beatles were starting out as a skiffle beat band. Ringo Starr was not to join the band for another two years

The Beatles - with original drummer Pete Best - perform in a Liverpool club in 1962 prior to signing their first recording contract

John Lennon and Paul McCartney film a documentary featuring the Beatles in 1963 at the Liverpool waterfront

John Lennon with his first wife Cynthia at the Dorchester Hotel in London in 1964 following the publication of his first book "In His Own Write"

John Lennon in his Triumph Herald convertible car in 1965

John Lennon in 1966 after making a formal apology for his controversial statement that the group were "more popular than Jesus"

John Lennon relaxes with his son Julian at their home in Weybridge in 1968

In 1969, John Lennon and his wife of a week, Yoko Ono, stayed in bed for seven days at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam "as a protest against war and violence in the world"

Crowds gathered outside the home of John Lennon in New York in December 1980 after news emerged that he had been shot and killed. A flag was flown at half-mast over the building

John Lennon used to play as a child in Strawberry Field in Liverpool, immortalised by the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever"

Specially-commissioned artwork of John Lennon by acclaimed Beatles artist Shannon adorns the Hard Days Night Hotel, which opened in Liverpool in 2008