John Lennon was killed 27 years ago and the world gently wept. Although the revolutionary artist has been gone for some time, his music and its meaning, live on through the musicians that honor his work. Below are some of the greatest covers of John Lennon's songs.
1. In 2009 Lady Gaga was asked to perform "Imagine" at the Human Rights Campaign in Washington D.C. She altered the lyrics from, "Above us only sky," to "And only Matthew in the sky," in honor of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard. Shepard was murdered in 1998 by two men who did not agree with his sexuality. Lady Gaga paid homage to the martyr who inspired the Matthew Shepard Act; an act that expands the federal hate crime law to incorporate crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
2. Eddie Veder's cover of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," for soundtrack to the film, I Am Sam. In 2014, Pearl Jam honored John Lennon's birthday by covering some of his songs; such as Imagine and You've Got to Hide Your Love Away,
3. Sir Tom Jones's cover of "(Just Like) Starting Over." Although Sir Tom Jones and John Lennon did not get along due to their differentiating views on the Vietnam War, the British artist paid tribute to the late John Lennon by covering '(Just Like) Starting Over' for his album Fever!
4. Ozzy Osbourne's cover of "How?" Ozzy Osbourne has always been a big John Lennon and Beatles fan, saying that when he was younger his whole bedroom was covered in Beatles posters. Osbourne told BBC 1 Radio that, "The world stopped for me when Sharon told me that John Lennon had been shot in New York. I can't even describe how I felt. If he was a politician, a soldier, anything else, it would be, 'Oh yeah, well he is in that kind of business,' but the amount of joy and hope that he gave people was just remarkable."
5. Green Day's rendition of "Working Class Hero." The Grammy winning band covered the song for the Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur; a combination of artists that including The Black Eyed Peas, Willie Nelson, and The Cure that cover John Lennon songs.
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6. In connection to Green Day's collaboration with Instant Karma, in 2006 The Back Eyed Peas, Mary J Blige, and John Legend performed "Power to the People" to bring awareness to the genocide occurring in Sudan.