In Pictures: Remembering John Lennon on his 75th birthday

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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.

Image source, Evening Standard/Getty Images
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Singer, guitarist and songwriter John Lennon live on stage at the Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Liverpool in December 1961
Image source, Keystone/Getty Images
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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
Image source, Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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The Beatles - with original drummer Pete Best - perform in a Liverpool club in 1962 prior to signing their first recording contract
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John Lennon and Paul McCartney film a documentary featuring the Beatles in 1963 at the Liverpool waterfront
Image source, Getty Images
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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"
Image source, Evening Standard/Getty Images
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John Lennon in his Triumph Herald convertible car in 1965
Image source, Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images
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John Lennon in 1966 after making a formal apology for his controversial statement that the group were "more popular than Jesus"
Image source, Keystone Features/Getty Images
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John Lennon relaxes with his son Julian at their home in Weybridge in 1968
Image source, Central Press/Getty Images
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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"
Image source, Keystone/Getty Images
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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
Image source, Christopher Field/Getty Images
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John Lennon used to play as a child in Strawberry Field in Liverpool, immortalised by the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever"
Image source, Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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Specially-commissioned artwork of John Lennon by acclaimed Beatles artist Shannon adorns the Hard Days Night Hotel, which opened in Liverpool in 2008
Image source, Christopher Furlong/Getty Images