Music magazine Q will mark what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday with four tribute covers, two using previously unpublished shots provided by Yoko Ono and David Bailey.
Lennon would have been 70 on 9 October. The November issue of the Bauer Media-owned monthly title goes on sale this Thursday with four covers featuring rare or unpublished photos of the former Beatle from different eras of his career.
One cover features Lennon in Hamburg in 1960; the second a previously unpublished shot from 1965 taken by Bailey; the third is a picture of Lennon and Ono in 1969 taken from the latter's private archive; and the fourth is a shot of Lennon in New York from 1973.
"We have been collaborating exclusively for some time with Yoko Ono to deliver this genuine collector's issue," said the Q editor-in-chief, Paul Rees.
The magazine features a letter by Ono welcoming readers to the collectors issue. The 27-page special also contains previously unseen shots from Ono's archive from the 1970s.
Other content includes testimonials from his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney, Bono, Jay-Z and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. DJ Andy Peebles will recount the last interview with Lennon, recorded for Radio 1, shortly before he was shot and killed in New York by Mark Chapman on 8 December 1980.
Subscribers to the magazine will get an exclusive version of the Bailey photograph as their cover. Q readers will also have the opportunity to order a cover of their choice or the set of four for £9.99 online from www.qthemusic.com.
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