McCartney Fondly Remembering Lennon

LONDON (AP) â€” Sir Paul McCartney said Thursday he'll spend the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death ``making music'' and fondly remembering his Beatles bandmate. <br><br>Lennon was

Friday, December 8th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) â€” Sir Paul McCartney said Thursday he'll spend the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death ``making music'' and fondly remembering his Beatles bandmate.

Lennon was fatally shot by Mark David Chapman on Dec. 8, 1980, outside the New York apartment where he lived with wife Yoko Ono and their young son, Sean.

``It is shocking to think that John was killed 20 years ago,'' McCartney said in a statement. But he added that Lennon would be ``chuffed'' to learn about the enduring popularity of the Beatles' music.

The group's greatest hits album, ''1,'' is approaching the million sales mark in Britain, just a month after its release.

``On Friday, I'll be doing what we always enjoyed best together â€” making music,'' McCartney said. ``What else would you want to do?''

``I'll be thinking of all the great times that we had together, and I'll be remembering him with all the love in my heart,'' McCartney added.

The approaching anniversary also prompted Lennon's 37-year-old son to write about the breakdown of his relationship with his father.

A statement on Julian Lennon's Web site â€” www.julianlennon.com â€” says he lived with his father for only a few years and, after that, saw the ex-Beatle only a ``handful of times before he was killed.''

``Sadly, I never really knew the man,'' the younger Lennon wrote.

``Although he was definitely afraid of fatherhood, the combination of that and his life with Yoko Ono led to the real breakdown of our relationship,'' Julian Lennon wrote. ``I just wanted to say that wherever he is I hope he realizes the mistakes he's made as I realize them and hope never to repeat them.''