NEW YORK — Thirty years have passed since John Lennon was shot. John Lennon’s fans gathered around the “Imagine” mosaic, which is located in Strawberry Fields and known as a memorial to Lennon in Central Park, on the 30th anniversary of John Lennon’s death on Wednesday.

Outside of his NY apartment, the incident happened when John Lennon, the former Beatle as well as “Imagine” singer, was 40 on December 8th, 1980. Mark David Chapman, who shot Lennon, ended up serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life.

Yoko Ono tweeted and shared some story with Lennon, “‘Yoko, Yoko, you’re supposed to first put the tea bags in, and then the hot water.’we both cracked up. That was in 1980. Neither of us knew that it was to be the last year of our life together.”

Imagine this: John Lennon’s 70th birthday is coming up this Saturday. The fans will be gathering around the globe in special tributes planned for his birthday. The events are being planned in New York, England and throughout the world to honor the music that he created and the man that he was

In Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool, the Peace Monument will be unveiled on his birthday.

In New York, fans will gather, as they usually do every year on his birthday and on the anniversary of his death, at Strawberry Fields to sing and remember Lennon. Strawberry Fields is the 2.5-acre memorial is in New York’s Central Park, across the street from the Dakota, the building where Lennon before his death, in 1980.

During the evening, there will be a free Central Park screening of “LENNONYC,” a new film by Michael Epstein with concert footage and home movies documenting Lennon’s life in New York after the breakup of the Beatles. The film will air nationally on PBS as part of the American Masters series on November 22.

This year is considered as a big one for Beatles fans as well. It’s been 50 years since the band was formed, 40 years since they split up, 70 years since Lennon was born and 30 years since he was assassinated.

According to ABC news, Lennon’s wife and artist herself, Yoko Ono, 77, commented regarding the Lennon’s death and his legacy, “Well, it was very hard because it was a sudden thing that happened, he wasn’t ill for a long time or anything, it’s just, we were talking before that you know, and, it was very hard. I think I am getting over it in a kind of way, in my own unique way, but it’s still lingering. It’s very interesting, you know, that songs like ‘Gimme Some Truth’ mean a lot now, and of course ‘Give Peace a Chance’. … ‘Imagine’. All his political songs really have a lot of meaning right now for people.”

Both “Rolling Stone” and “Time” magazine have touted The Beatles as the most influential music group of the 20th century. The truth is that every person America hears a Beatles song almost every day, even if they aren’t conscious that the fab four were the ones who penned the tune. In honor of the release of Beatles Rock Band, Blast has put together a list of the 10 Best Beatles Songs of All Time. With 13 albums containing the highest number of Billboard Hot 100 singles in history, picking 10 was like pulling teeth or choosing a favorite child, but we tried our best. Taking from most notable, to critically acclaimed and a smidgen of personal preference here is our list, but don’t hesitate to comment with your own.

10 “" “Let It Be” The title track from the last of the Beatles studio albums. Paul came up with the song after a dream he had a dream about his mother visiting him. Hence “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me speaking words of wisdom, “Ëœlet it be’ and in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me/”

9 “" “All You Need is Love” Possibly one of the most commercialized songs in the history of the world. Sure, most of the younger generations associate this song with Chevrolet, they still know the words. “All You Need is Love” represents the poppier side of The Beatles catalog but a classic nonetheless and a good message, “There’s nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time. It’s easy. All you need is love, all you need is love. Love, love is all you need.” If only life were really that simple, huh?

8 “" “Yellow Submarine” There might be an argument that this might actually be the worst song The Beatles wrote, but here at Blast we think Paul never got enough credit for writing this. Okay, so it’s on the simple side, and doesn’t really make sense but you can blame the acid for that. “Yellow Submarine” never fails to put us in a good mood thus it makes the list.

7 “" “In My Life” Rumor has it that John Lennon wrote “In My Life” about his childhood after a journalist’s suggestion. Paul added to the song afterward and it became one of the songs they argued over rights to when the band split up in 1970. Despite the controversy over it later, it is lines like “Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before, I know I’ll often stop and think about them. In my life I love you more” that put “In My Life” on our list.

6 “" “Helter Skelter” McCartney wanted to experiment with the loudness and symbol sounds on the song after reading a review of a The Who record and wanted to out-do Pete Townsend. As a result “Helter Skelter” became known as one of the greatest guitar pieces in music. The song embodies how The Beatles pioneered new sounds in music with their rabid curiosity and willingness to push “the norm” to new limits.

5 “" “Come Together” “Come Together” is the first song off of 1969′s Abbey Road. Lennon began writing the song as a campaign anthem for Timothy Leary’s California campaign against Ronald Reagan. Lennon was sued by Chuck Berry and his management for stealing lyrics. The court case was settled out of court and Lennon agreed to record three of Morris Levy’s (Berry’s music publisher) on his solo record after the break-up of The Beatles.

4 “" “Yesterday” “Yesterday” is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most covered song in history “" which means that those of us at Blast are not the only ones that love it. The acoustic ballad shows a softer side of The Beatles. In fact, the recording is a McCartney solo piece of work, accompanied only by a string quartet. Since the song relied so much on just one member of the band, The Beatles were hesitant to release it as a single.

3 “" “Hey Jude” “Hey Jude” was written for John Lennon’s older son Julian by Paul McCartney during his parents’ divorce. Originally recorded at over seven minutes, “Hey Jude” spent nine weeks at number one, which is the longest of any Beatles single. It was also the first single released on Apple Records. The song also appeared as #8 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs” list, which helps us think it deserves to be #3 on our list.

2 “" “Strawberry Fields Forever” The song comes from the fab four’s infamous “psychedelic rock” period “" using a mellotron (a tape recorder flute type instrument) to create the dream-live overtones.. Strawberry Fields refers to a Salvation Army children’s home that Lennon used to play at as a child in Liverpool. Though formally credited to the Lennon/McCartney, most sources credit the song solely to Lennon. Central Park thought enough of the song their Lennon memorial after it, and Blast agrees so much that “Strawberry Fields Forever” ranks in at #2 on our top ten Beatles list.

1 “" “Eleanor Rigby” Fun fact about “Eleanor Rigby” is that none of The Beatles played instruments on it. John Lennon and George Harrison performed back-up vocals but the main instrumentation is a string arrangement played by professional studio musicians. “Eleanor Rigby” is at the top of our list because for Blast it represents the middle of the road between the early Beatles pop stages and their later endeavors into psychedelic rock. “Eleanor Rigby” stands out as a purely classic Beatles song.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we incorrectly stated that Ringo write “Yellow Submarine.” It was Paul.

Rumors have persisted for months that perhaps the biggest band in the history of music will be making their way to either the Rock Band or Guitar Hero franchise, finally — the wait is over and we have an answer.
Kind of.

In a teleconference‚ Apple Corps Ltd., Harmonix and MTV Games announced an exclusive partnership to bring the music of The Beatles to the world in a new interactive form sometime in 2009. The currently unnamed title will take players through the band’s storied career, from first album to last. Though it has been confirmed that the title will use interactive instrument peripherals, it was stressed during the teleconference that it is not a Rock Band title.

“Introducing the genius of The Beatles to a whole new generation of music lovers through original and inspired ways is extremely exciting to us at Apple Corps,” stated Jeff Jones, CEO, Apple Corps. “We are truly pleased to be working with the innovative forces at MTV and Harmonix as they embody our mutual passions for music and creativity.”

The new partnership marks the first time that either Apple,‚ EMI Music, Harrisongs Ltd, or Sony/ATV Music Publishing have agreed to present the normally highly protected Beatles music license in interactive format.‚ The game was creatively conceived with input from Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, and enjoys their full blessing. In addition, Giles Martin, co-producer of The Beatles innovative LOVE project, will provide his expertise and serve as Music Producer for this groundbreaking Beatles project.

“The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out,” Sir Paul McCartney said

“It gives me great pleasure to be part of The Beatles / Apple and Harmonix / Rock Band partnership,” said Ringo Starr. “The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that The Beatles’ legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence.”