LOS ANGELES - Apple Inc. has begun selling downloads of tracks from 16 of John Lennon's post-Beatles albums, including "Working Class Hero" and "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band," on iTunes, the company said Tuesday.
The albums represent Lennon's recording output while he was with Capitol Records, a unit of Britain's EMI Group PLC.
While many of the late singer-songwriter's solo recordings have been available for download commercially elsewhere, this marks the first time they have been available on Apple's market-leading online music service.
Songs on two albums - "Lennon Legend" and "Acoustic" - were being made available for download exclusively on iTunes, the company said.
Video content was also being included with the purchase of some of the albums for a limited time.
The Lennon tracks will also be available without copy-protection restrictions and in higher-quality audio for $1.29 each. Regular versions are priced at 99 cents each.
"John would have loved the fact that his music will now be available in a format suited to a new generation of listeners," Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, said in a statement released by Apple.
