Paul McCartney remembers John Lennon at March for Our Lives

March 24 (UPI) -- Rock 'n' roll icon Paul McCartney said he attended Saturday's March for Our Lives protest in New York, in part, because his close friend and former Beatles bandmate John Lennon was shot to death.

McCartney was wearing a shirt that said, "We can end gun violence," when he told CNN he was at the rally "just to support the people."

"This is what we can do, so I'm here to do it," the 70-year-old musician said in Manhattan. "One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here. So, it's important to me."

Mark David Chapman is serving a prison sentence of 20 years to life for gunning down Lennon, 40, in 1980 outside his New York apartment building. Chapman repeatedly has been denied parole, most recently in 2016.

Student activists gathered for March for Our Lives rallies around the country Saturday to push for an end to gun violence.