The Cure, Avril Lavigne and the Black Eyed Peas and others to cover John Lennon songs

Imagine: Artists including The Cure, Avril Lavigne and the Black Eyed Peas are to cover songs by John Lennon as part of a fundraiser for human rights group Amnesty International.

Amnesty said Thursday that the first four tracks would be released on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day. They include the Black Eyed Peas' version of "Power to the People," The Cure's take on "Love," "Isolation" performed by British band Snow Patrol and "Grow Old With Me" by The Postal Service.

More songs, including one by Lavigne, are due for release in the new year as part of Amnesty's Make Some Noise campaign. A compilation album also will be released next year. Amnesty Secretary-general Irene Khan said the campaign aimed to "bring an awareness of human rights to a new generation."

The former Beatle was shot dead by Mark David Chapman outside his New York apartment building on Dec. 8, 1980. His widow, Yoko Ono, donated the rights to his solo songbook to Amnesty in 2003, the AP reports. The tracks will be available as downloads from www.amnesty.org/noise for a cost of US$0.99 each, or the equivalent in local currency.

A.M.