Cut down at 40: John Lennon in 1971
Cut down at 40: John Lennon in 1971 AFP

On this day in 1980, Beatles legend John Lennon was fatally shot outside his New York City apartment building. The singer-songwriter was 40 years old.

Many have taken to social media to pay their respects to the celebrated musician.

Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr shared a photo of himself and Lennon on Twitter, captioning the post “Peace and love my friend.”

Yoko Ono, Lennon’s wife up until his death, also took to Twitter in remembrance of her late husband. She took a different approach, however, in doing so.

“Over 1.5 million people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A. since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980,” Ono tweeted.

The Beatles have found themselves ablaze in the news recently with the release of the critically acclaimed three-part documentary "The Beatles: Get Back." It was directed by Peter Jackson, best known for directing "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

The mini-series, which Jackson described as "a documentary about a documentary," contains three episodes that each run between two and three hours, comprising of a total of almost eight hours of material. It covers three weeks of the band in the studio as they rehearse for an upcoming album.

The miniseries has received critical acclaim.