Lennon and Ono co-produced the song and album of the same name with Phil Spector . Recording began at Lennon 's home studio at Tittenhurst Park , England , in May 1971 , with final overdubs taking place at the Record Plant , in New York City , during July . One month after the September release of the LP , Lennon released " Imagine " as a single in the United States ; the song peaked at number three on the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 and the LP reached number one on the UK chart in November , later becoming the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Lennon 's solo career . Although not originally released as a single in the United Kingdom , it was released in 1975 to promote '' Shaved Fish '' , a compilation LP and it reached number six on the chart that year . The photograph on the cover was taken by May Pang in 1974 . The song has since sold more than 1.6 million copies in the UK ; it reached number one following Lennon 's murder in December 1980 . In 1985 , the Central Park Conservancy memorialised a portion of the park in honour of Lennon , called Strawberry Fields , with a mosaic that reads " Imagine "
Lennon 's murder
Murder of John Lennon
Imagine (John Lennon song)