Details of a new John Lennon tribute event, Dear John, have been announced.

The online event will follow on from the release earlier this year of the ‘Dear John’ tribute album, which featured Lennon covers by a range of artists and raised money for War Child.

A livestream tribute concert will now take place on October 9 to mark what would have been Lennon’s 81st birthday, with the event benefitting War Child once again.

Organised by Blurred Vision frontman Sepp Osley with his partner/singer-songwriter Mollie Marriott, Dear John will be hosted by BBC presenter Bob Harris and feature a host of special guests who perform Lennon and Beatles covers, as well as providing “personal messages of peace and love throughout the night”.

Martin Freeman, Peter Frampton, Matt Lucas, Jack Savoretti, Fearne Cotton, Yola, Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting), fashion designer Pam Hogg, Mark Williams (Harry Potter, Red Dwarf), Joe Brown, Sam Brown, Judie Tzuke, Scott Matthews, Chloe Foy, Baby Sol, Luke Friend, Minh, Jo Harman, Elles Bailey, Jasmine Rodgers, Scott McKeon, Gavin Conder, Laura Evans and more will all take part.

Speaking about the 2021 Dear John concert, Osley – whose band Blurred Vision will provide backing on the night as the ‘house band’ – said: “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the success that this humble event conjured in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. It all began with a simple concept of celebrating the legacy that John Lennon left behind.

“A legacy of peace and unity and love on a global scale, and now to be able to perform these timeless songs with so many heroes and contemporaries of the music world, while raising money for this incredible charity at such a crucial time, is something I could never have conceived or believed when I began my tumultuous journey on this planet.”

A one-off ticketed event, all donations and net proceeds raised from the show will go directly to the War Child charity. You can find tickets for Dear John here.

Noel Gallagher recently revealed that he intends to release his cover of John Lennon‘s ‘Mind Games’, which he recorded to mark the late Beatle’s 80th birthday last year.