John Lennon would have turned 75 on Friday. Instead, the former Beatles member and half of the iconic John Lennon and Paul McCartney song writing duo, was gunned down outside his apartment building on Manhattan’s west side, just across the street from Central Park in New York City on December 8, 1980.

On Tuesday, thousands of people joined John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, in Central Park, in an effort to form a peace sign in his memory. They hoped to break a record for the largest group of people to form a peace sign, but they didn’t achieve that goal. They celebrated the life of John Lennon, however, and the hope of peace he so longed to see.

Thousands join Yoko Ono to form human peace sign at NY's Central Park to honor John Lennon. http://t.co/rinGKwxKRS pic.twitter.com/wHMkKkDnxD

— ABC News (@ABC) October 6, 2015

Yoko Ono used some of John Lennon’s most famous lyrics from his song “Imagine” to sum up the coming together of so many in honor of peace and of the late musician.

“Imagine all the people living life in peace,” she said. “This is the best present to John.”

A mother and son attended the peace rally in honor of John Lennon. Both Muslims, the two were spotted kneeling under a tree in Central Park praying.

“To me, peace is something that should stop fighting, you need peace like, as in, if somebody is fighting with you and they act like they’re not your friend – act like you’re their friend,” the boy said. “That’s making peace. If there’s not a solution, then you’re part of the problem.”

“Before we make peace outside ourselves, we have to make peace within ourselves,” the mother shared.

John Lennon would have likely embraced these thoughts.

World's largest Peace sign for John Lennon's birthday, created by Yoko Ono in New York's Central Park. https://t.co/XwCR0XqhcL

— Negar Mortazavi (@NegarMortazavi) October 6, 2015

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,” the lyrics from “Imagine” say.

Yoko Ono has worked hard to keep John Lennon’s legacy of peace alive. On Tuesday in Central Park his light shone bright.