John Lennon Would Have Been 86 Today, And A Tower Of Light In Iceland Will Shine In His Name

John Lennon was born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940. He spent much of his 40 years asking the world to imagine something better. Today would have been his 86th birthday. It is also the 51st birthday of his son Sean, who was born on the very day his father turned 35.

The date will be marked the way it has been for years. According to Imagine Peace, the website of his widow Yoko Ono, the Imagine Peace Tower on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland, will be lit today. The column of light will keep shining through December 8, the anniversary of his death in 1980. Ono, who is 93, created the tower in his memory. Sean has taken on the work of looking after his father’s music. Last year, for the 85th birthday, he produced a box set called Power to the People, and American Songwriter reported that fans around the world tuned in for a listening party.

What John Lennon Still Means To Those Who Knew Him

The Imagine Peace Tower was first unveiled on October 9, 2007, which would have been Lennon’s 67th birthday. Rather than a conventional monument, Ono created an enormous column of light rising from a stone wishing well, with the words “Imagine Peace” inscribed in 24 languages. The monument was inspired by her earlier Wish Tree art project, which invited people around the world to write down their hopes for peace. Those wishes became part of the tower’s foundation, turning Lennon’s memorial into something people could participate in rather than simply observe.

This year’s lighting ceremony was particularly special because it marked the 20th time the tower had been illuminated. Visitors gathered on Viðey Island for guided tours, cultural activities, and live music before the ceremonial lighting at 8 p.m. Reykjavík time. The program included a performance by Icelandic singer Árný Margrét and remarks from Reykjavík Mayor Hildur Björnsdóttir, with Lennon’s “Imagine” accompanying the illumination. The tower’s light can be watched by fans around the world through a livestream on its official website.

Sean Lennon’s career and recent success

Sean has also built an impressive musical career of his own while helping preserve his father’s legacy. In 2024, he won an Academy Award for the animated short film ‘War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko,’ which uses his parents’ antiwar message as its foundation. A year later, he earned a Grammy for producing an expanded edition of Lennon’s 1973 album Mind Games. The projects have introduced his father’s work to new generations while giving Sean an opportunity to contribute his own creative vision.

Sean’s arrival in 1975 changed everything for Lennon. He stepped away from the music business for five years to stay home and raise his boy, and he returned in November 1980 with Double Fantasy. He was killed outside his New York home just weeks later. The love has not faded among the people who shared a stage with him. Late last month Paul told a Los Angeles audience, “I loved John and love him to this day and always will,” according to Variety. Ringo Starr said recently that the Beatles would have reunited if John and George Harrison had lived. Fans have long gathered on this day at Strawberry Fields, his memorial in Central Park. Somebody always starts ‘Imagine,’ and everybody knows the words.