This is an article about the Japanese multimedia artist and peace activist. For the Japanese judoka, see Yoko Ono (judoka). For the song, see Yoko Ono (song).

The native form of this personal name is Ono Yōko. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Yoko Ono

小野 洋子 オノ・ヨーコ

Ono in 2016

Born (1933-02-18) February 18, 1933 (age 92) Tokyo, Japan

Other names Yoko Ono Lennon

Alma mater Gakushuin University Sarah Lawrence College

Occupations • Artist • singer • songwriter • musician • peace activist

Spouses • Toshi Ichiyanagi (m. 1956; div. 1963) • Anthony Cox (m. 1962; ann. 1963) • John Lennon (m. 1969; died 1980)

Children 2, including Sean Ono Lennon

Musical career Genres • Avant-garde • Neo-Dada • downtown • performance art • experimental • rock • pop • electronic • noise • abstract

Instruments • Vocals • piano • percussion

Works Full list

Years active 1961–2021

Labels • Apple • Geffen • Polydor • Rykodisc • Twisted • Manimal Vinyl • Astralwerks • Chimeras • Secretly Canadian

Formerly of Plastic Ono Band

Website imaginepeace.com

Musical artist Signature

Yoko Ono (Japanese: 小野 洋子, romanized: Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana as オノ・ヨーコ; born February 18, 1933) is a retired Japanese artist, musician, and activist whose multifaceted career has profoundly influenced the realms of visual art, music, and social activism. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. [1]

Ono's formative years were spent in Tokyo, a city she left in 1952 to reunite with her family in New York City. It was in the vibrant cultural landscape of New York that she became deeply involved with the downtown artists' scene of the early 1960s, a period that saw her align with the experimental Fluxus group. Her profile rose dramatically beyond the fine art world in 1969 when she married English musician John Lennon of the Beatles. Their union marked the beginning of a significant artistic and personal partnership, leading to collaborative recordings under the banner of the Plastic Ono Band. Their honeymoon became a public stage for their commitment to peace, famously staging a week-long bed-in to protest the Vietnam War. The couple remained married until Lennon's tragic murder on December 8, 1980, outside their Manhattan apartment building, The Dakota. Together, they had one son, Sean, who would later follow in his parents' footsteps as a musician.

Ono's foray into popular music began in earnest in 1969, culminating in the formation of the Plastic Ono Band with Lennon. The 1970s saw her release a series of avant-garde music albums, pushing the boundaries of sonic expression. A significant commercial and critical milestone arrived in 1980 with the release of Double Fantasy, a collaboration with Lennon that topped the charts and, tragically, was released just three weeks before his death. The album earned Ono the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. To date, she has amassed an impressive twelve number-one singles on the US Dance charts, and in 2016, Billboard magazine recognized her as the 11th most successful dance club artist of all time. Her impact as an artist, muse, and icon has been acknowledged by numerous musicians, including Elvis Costello, who recorded his rendition of "Walking on Thin Ice" for the tribute album Every Man Has a Woman, and bands such as the B-52's, Sonic Youth, and Meredith Monk. [3] [4] [5]

As the widow of John Lennon, Ono has dedicated herself to preserving his artistic legacy. She was instrumental in funding the Strawberry Fields memorial in [Manhattan]'s [Central Park], [6] the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland, [7] and the John Lennon Museum in [Saitama], Japan, which, though it closed in 2010, stands as a testament to her efforts. Her philanthropic endeavors extend to significant contributions to the arts, peace, and disaster relief initiatives in Japan and the [Philippines], [9] [10] among other charitable causes. In 2002, she established the biennial LennonOno Grant for Peace, offering $50,000 to individuals and groups dedicated to fostering peace. Her commitment to human rights was recognized in 2012 with the Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Human Rights Award, and in the same year, she co-founded the advocacy group Artists Against Fracking.

Biography

Early life and family

Yoko Ono was born in Tokyo City on February 18, 1933. Her mother, Isoko Ono (小野 磯子, Ono Isoko) (1911–1999), hailed from a prominent family, her adoptive maternal grandfather being Zenjiro Yasuda (安田 善次郎, Yasuda Zenjirō), an influential figure connected to the Yasuda clan and its powerful zaibatsu. Yoko's father, Eisuke Ono (小野 英輔, Ono Eisuke), was a wealthy banker and a former classical pianist. Her maternal uncle, Toshikazu Kase, a diplomat, was present at the signing ceremony of the Japanese surrender, marking the end of WWII. Eisuke's lineage traced back to a long tradition of samurai warrior-scholars. The kanji for Yōko (洋子) translates to "ocean child," a fitting appellation given her global trajectory. [15] [17]

Two weeks prior to Yoko's birth, Eisuke was transferred to San Francisco, California, by his employer, the Yokohama Specie Bank. The family soon followed, and Yoko first encountered her father when she was two years old. [3] Her younger brother, Keisuke, was born in December 1936. [citation needed]

The family returned to Japan in 1937, and Ono was enrolled in Tokyo's prestigious Gakushūin (the Peers School), renowned as one of Japan's most exclusive educational institutions. [18] From the age of four until she was twelve or thirteen, Ono received piano lessons. [19] She was also exposed to the rich traditions of Japanese performing arts, attending kabuki performances with her mother, who was skilled in shamisen, koto, otsuzumi, kotsuzumi, and nagauta, and could read Japanese musical scores. [citation needed]

The family's relocation to New York City occurred in 1940. The following year, Eisuke was reassigned from New York to Hanoi in French Indochina, prompting the family's return to Japan. Ono was then enrolled in Keimei Gakuen, an elite Christian primary school affiliated with the Mitsui family. She remained in Tokyo throughout World War II, enduring the fire-bombing of March 9, 1945. During this harrowing period, she, along with other family members, sought refuge in a specialized bunker in Tokyo's Azabu district, shielded from the intense aerial bombardment. Following the war, the family relocated to the Karuizawa mountain resort. [18]

The post-war era in Tokyo was marked by widespread starvation. Ono described this period as formative for her "aggressive" attitude. Her mother's resourcefulness in acquiring food through barter is recounted in anecdotes, such as trading a German-made sewing machine for 60 kilograms (130 lb) of rice to sustain the family. [18] During this time, her father, who had been in Hanoi, was believed to be held in a prisoner of war camp in China. Ono later shared with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! on October 16, 2007, that her father had been in Saigon, Vietnam, and was held in a concentration camp. [20]

After the war's conclusion in 1945, Ono remained in Japan while her family moved to the United States, settling in Scarsdale, New York, an affluent suburb north of midtown Manhattan. By April 1946, Gakushūin had reopened, and Ono resumed her studies there. The school, situated near the Tokyo Imperial Palace, had escaped wartime damage. During her time at Gakushūin, Ono found herself a classmate of Prince Akihito, who would later become the emperor of Japan. [15] [16] At the age of fourteen, she began vocal training in lieder-singing. [citation needed]

College and downtown beginnings

Ono graduated from Gakushūin in 1951 and was admitted to Gakushuin University's philosophy program, becoming the first woman to enter the department. However, she withdrew after only two semesters. [18]

In September 1952, Ono joined her family in New York, [21] enrolling at Sarah Lawrence College. While her parents supported her college choice, they disapproved of her bohemian lifestyle and her association with individuals they deemed socially inferior. In 1956, Ono left Sarah Lawrence to elope with the Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi, [16] [22] a prominent figure in Tokyo's experimental music scene who was then studying at Juilliard. [23]

At Sarah Lawrence, Ono pursued studies in poetry with Alastair Reid, English literature with Kathryn Mansell, and music composition with the Viennese-trained André Singer. [19] Ono cited the twelve-tone composers Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg as her heroes during this period, expressing fascination with their compositional techniques. She recalled, "I wrote some twelve-tone songs, then my music went into an area that my teacher felt was really a bit off track, and... he said, 'Well, look, there are people who are doing things like what you do, and they're called avant-garde.'" Singer introduced her to the works of Edgar Varèse, John Cage, and Henry Cowell. Ono left college and moved to New York in 1957, supporting herself through secretarial work and traditional Japanese arts instruction at the Japan Society. [24]

Ono's association with the Fluxus group, a loose collective of Dada-inspired avant-garde artists founded in the early 1960s by Lithuanian-American artist George Maciunas, is significant. Maciunas actively promoted her work, featuring Ono in her first solo exhibition at his AG Gallery in New York in 1961. Although she declined his formal invitation to join Fluxus, preferring to maintain her independence, she collaborated with Maciunas, [26] Charlotte Moorman, George Brecht, and the poet Jackson Mac Low, among others associated with the group. [27]

112 Chambers Street, the location of Ono's 1960s loft where Fluxus events took place, pictured in 2011.

Ono's introduction to John Cage came through his student, Toshi Ichiyanagi, in Cage's experimental composition class at the New School for Social Research. [28] She gained firsthand exposure to Cage's unconventional neo-Dadaism and its influence through his New York City protégés, including Allan Kaprow, Brecht, Mac Low, Al Hansen, and the poet Dick Higgins. [27]

Following Cage's departure from the New School in the summer of 1960, Ono was driven to establish a space for presenting her own work and that of other avant-garde artists in the city. She secured an inexpensive loft at 112 Chambers Street in downtown [Manhattan], utilizing it as both a studio and living space. The loft also served as a venue for composer La Monte Young to organize concerts. [27] Ono and Young jointly presented a series of events there from December 1960 through June 1961, attracting notable attendees such as Marcel Duchamp and Peggy Guggenheim. [29] Both Ono and Young claimed curatorial leadership of these events, with Ono asserting that she was eventually relegated to a secondary role by Young. [30] Ono herself presented work only once during this series. [24]

In 1961, Ono held her first significant public performance in a concert at the 258-seat Carnegie Recital Hall, featuring radical experimental music and performances. [31]

The Chambers Street series showcased some of Ono's earliest conceptual artworks, including Painting to Be Stepped On. This piece, a scrap of canvas placed on the floor, transformed into a completed artwork as viewers left footprints upon it. With this work, Ono challenged the traditional notion of art being confined to walls and rendered inaccessible. She exhibited this and other instructional works again at Maciunas's AG Gallery in July 1961. [29] After Ono set a painting ablaze during a performance, Cage advised her to treat the paper with flame retardant. [16] In 1962, she was credited with the album cover art for Toshiro Mayuzumi's album Nirvana Symphony, released by Time Records.

After several years of separation, Ono and Ichiyanagi filed for divorce in 1962. Ono returned to live with her parents and, experiencing clinical depression, was briefly institutionalized in a Japanese mental institution. [15] [32]

Early career and motherhood

On November 28, 1962, Ono married Anthony Cox, an American film producer and art promoter who had played a crucial role in her release from the mental institution. [16] Ono's second marriage was annulled on March 1, 1963, due to her failure to finalize her divorce from Ichiyanagi. Following the finalization of that divorce, Cox and Ono remarried on June 6, 1963. Two months later, on August 8, 1963, she gave birth to their daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox. [15]

The marriage deteriorated rapidly, yet the couple continued to collaborate professionally. They performed at Tokyo's Sogetsu Hall, with Ono lying atop a piano played by John Cage. The couple soon returned to New York with Kyoko. During the early years of their marriage, Ono largely entrusted Kyoko's upbringing to Cox, while she focused intently on her artistic pursuits. Cox also managed her public relations.

Ono held a second engagement at the Carnegie Recital Hall in 1965, where she debuted Cut Piece. [33] In September 1966, Ono traveled to London to attend Gustav Metzger's Destruction in Art Symposium. She was the sole female artist selected to perform her own events and one of only two invited speakers. [34] In 1967, she premiered The Fog Machine during her Concert of Music for the Mind at the Bluecoat Society of Arts in Liverpool, England. [35]

Ono and Cox divorced on February 2, 1969, and she married John Lennon later that same year. During a contentious custody battle in 1971, Cox vanished with their eight-year-old daughter. He was granted custody after successfully arguing that Ono was an unfit mother due to her drug use. [32] Ono's ex-husband subsequently changed Kyoko's name to "Ruth Holman" and raised her within an organization known as the Church of the Living Word. [36] Ono and Lennon searched for Kyoko for years without success. She would not be reunited with her daughter until 1998. [32]

Relationship with John Lennon

Ono and John Lennon when they married, March 1969

Ono's initial contact with any member of the Beatles occurred when she visited Paul McCartney at his London residence to obtain a Lennon–McCartney song manuscript for a book John Cage was compiling, titled Notations. [37] McCartney declined to provide any of his manuscripts but suggested that Lennon might be more amenable. [37] Lennon later presented Ono with the original handwritten lyrics to "The Word". [38]

Ono and Lennon first met on November 7, 1966, at the Indica Gallery in London, where Ono was preparing Unfinished Paintings, her conceptual art exhibition featuring interactive painting and sculpture. They were introduced by the gallery owner, John Dunbar. [39] One piece, Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting, comprised a white ladder topped with a magnifying glass. When Lennon climbed the ladder, he peered through the magnifying glass to discover the word "YES" written in miniature. He was deeply impressed by this positive and accessible message, a stark contrast to much of the conceptual art he had encountered at the time, which he often found to be nihilistic. [40]

Lennon was also intrigued by Ono's Hammer a Nail, an interactive piece inviting viewers to hammer a nail into a white wooden board. Although the exhibition had not yet officially opened, Lennon expressed a desire to hammer a nail into the pristine board, but Ono intervened. Dunbar inquired, "Don't you know who this is? He's a millionaire! He might buy it." Ono, feigning ignorance of the Beatles (despite her prior attempt to obtain a song score from Paul McCartney), relented on the condition that Lennon pay her five shillings. Lennon responded, "I'll give you an imaginary five shillings and hammer an imaginary nail in." [40] [41]

In a 2002 interview, Ono remarked, "I was very attracted to him. It was a really strange situation." [42] Ono began corresponding with Lennon, sharing her conceptual artworks, and their correspondence soon evolved into a deeper connection. In September 1967, Lennon sponsored Ono's solo exhibition, Half-A-Wind Show, at Lisson Gallery in London. [43] When Lennon's wife, Cynthia, questioned him about Ono's frequent phone calls to their home, he dismissed them as attempts to solicit funds for her "avant-garde bullshit." [44]

During the Beatles' 1968 pilgrimage to India, Lennon composed the song "Julia", incorporating a reference to Ono with the line "Ocean child calls me," which alluded to the meaning of Yoko's Japanese name. [17] In May 1968, while his wife was vacationing in Greece, Lennon invited Ono to join him. They spent the night recording a series of avant-garde tape loops, [43] after which, Lennon stated, they "made love at dawn." [45] The recordings from this session formed their first collaborative album, the musique concrète work Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. Upon his wife's return, she found Ono wearing her bathrobe and sharing tea with Lennon, who casually remarked, "Oh, hi." [46]

On September 24 and 25, 1968, Lennon wrote and recorded "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", [47] which contained explicit sexual references to Ono. Ono became pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage of a male child on November 21, 1968, a few weeks after Lennon's divorce from Cynthia was finalized. [48] [49] On December 12, 1968, Lennon and Ono participated in the BBC documentary about The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, alongside numerous other prominent musicians. Lennon performed his Beatles composition "Yer Blues" towards the end of the program, with an improvised vocal performance by Ono concluding the set. [50] The film remained unreleased until 1996, partly due to the death of The Rolling Stones' founding member Brian Jones shortly after its filming.

Early collaborations, marriage and "bed-ins"

• Main articles: Bed-in, Give Peace a Chance, Bagism, and Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins

Lennon and Ono at a bed-in at Hilton Amsterdam, March 1969

During the Beatles' final two years, Lennon and Ono actively engaged in public protests against the Vietnam War. Their artistic collaboration intensified with a series of avant-garde recordings, commencing in 1968 with Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins. This album is infamously recognized for its unretouched cover image of the couple in the nude. In the same year, the pair contributed an experimental sound collage titled "Revolution 9" to The Beatles' self-titled "White Album". Ono also provided additional vocals on "Birthday" [51] and a single lead vocal line on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", marking the only instance of a woman singing lead vocals on a Beatles recording. [52]

On March 20, 1969, Lennon and Ono were married in a registry office ceremony in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam staging a week-long bed-in to advocate for peace. Their plan for a subsequent bed-in in the United States was thwarted when they were denied entry. [53] They proceeded to hold one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, where they recorded their iconic anthem, "Give Peace a Chance". [54] [55] Lennon later expressed regret for not crediting Ono as co-writer on this independent single, stating, "I felt guilty enough to give McCartney credit as co-writer on my first independent single instead of giving it to Yoko, who had actually written it with me." [54] The couple frequently fused their advocacy with performance art, exemplified by "bagism". Introduced during a Vienna press conference, this concept involved them wearing bags over their entire bodies to satirize prejudice and stereotyping. Lennon chronicled this period in the Beatles' song "The Ballad of John and Yoko". [56]

During a press conference for the Amsterdam Bed-In, Yoko generated controversy within the Jewish community by stating, "If I was a Jewish girl in Hitler's day, I would approach him and become his girlfriend. After 10 days in bed, he would come to my way of thinking. This world needs communication. And making love is a great way of communicating." [57]

On April 22, 1969, Lennon legally changed his name via deed poll, replacing Winston with Ono as his middle name. While he subsequently used the name John Ono Lennon, official documents listed him as John Winston Ono Lennon. [58] The couple established their residence at Tittenhurst Park in Sunninghill, Berkshire, southeast England. [59] Following an injury Ono sustained in a car crash, Lennon arranged for a king-sized bed to be brought into the recording studio as he worked on the Beatles' final album, [Abbey Road]. [60]

The Plastic Ono Band

• Main articles: Plastic Ono Band and Live Peace in Toronto 1969

Lennon and Ono recording "Give Peace a Chance", at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, 1969

Following "The Ballad of John and Yoko," Lennon and Ono decided to form their own musical entity to release their more personal and representative artistic expressions, rather than integrating them with the Beatles' output. [61] To this end, they established the Plastic Ono Band, a name derived from their 1968 Fluxus conceptual art project of the same name. [62] Ono had initially conceived of the Plastic Ono Band in 1967 as an idea for an exhibition in Berlin, [63] but the concept was physically realized in 1968 by John Lennon as a multimedia machine maquette, also titled The Plastic Ono Band. [62] In 1968, Lennon and Ono embarked on a personal and artistic partnership, deciding to credit their future endeavors under the Plastic Ono Band name. Under this moniker, Ono and Lennon collaborated on various art exhibitions, concerts, happenings, and experimental noise music recording projects. This included a sound and light installation in the Apple press office, featuring four perspex columns, each representing a member of the Beatles. One column housed a tape recorder and amplifier, another a closed-circuit TV and camera, a third a record player and amplifier, and the fourth a miniature light show and loudspeaker. Soon thereafter, the Plastic Ono Band name was also applied to recordings and releases of more conventional rock-based albums.

In July 1969, Lennon's first solo single, "Give Peace a Chance" (with Ono's "Remember Love" on the B-side), became the inaugural release credited to the Plastic Ono Band. This was followed in October by "Cold Turkey" (backed by Ono's "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)"). The singles were succeeded in December by the group's debut album, Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded live at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in September. This iteration of the band featured guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The first half of their performance consisted of rock standards. During the second half, Ono took center stage, delivering two original feedback-driven compositions, "Don't Worry Kyoko" and "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)", which constituted the entirety of the live album's second half. [64] [65]

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band and Fly

• Main articles: Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and Fly (Yoko Ono album)

Ono released her first solo album, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, in 1970, conceived as a companion piece to Lennon's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The albums shared complementary cover art: Ono's featured a photograph of her leaning on Lennon, while Lennon's depicted him leaning on Ono. Her album showcased raw, intense vocalizations, drawing parallels to natural sounds (particularly animalistic cries) and employing free jazz techniques characteristic of wind and brass instrumentalists. Collaborators included Ornette Coleman, other prominent free jazz musicians, and Ringo Starr. Some tracks on the album featured wordless vocalizations, a stylistic approach that would later influence Meredith Monk [66] and other artists who incorporated screams and vocal noise into their music. The album reached No. 182 on the US charts. [67]

Yoko Ono and John Lennon, c. 1971

In 1971, when Lennon was invited to perform with Frank Zappa at the Fillmore (then the Filmore West), Ono joined them. [68] Later that year, she released Fly, a double album. This work explored more conventional psychedelic rock with tracks like "Midsummer New York" and "Mind Train," alongside several Fluxus experiments. The ballad "Mrs. Lennon" garnered minor radio airplay. The track "Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" served as an elegy to Ono's estranged daughter, [69] and featured Eric Clapton on guitar. In 1971, while studying with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Mallorca, Spain, Ono's ex-husband Anthony Cox accused her of abducting their daughter Kyoko from kindergarten. An out-of-court settlement was reached, and the charges were dismissed. Cox subsequently relocated with Kyoko. [70] Ono would not see her daughter again until 1998. [32] During this period, she wrote "Don't Worry Kyoko," which also appears on Lennon and Ono's album Live Peace in Toronto 1969, as well as on Fly. Kyoko is also referenced in the opening line of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" as Yoko whispers, "Happy Christmas, Kyoko," followed by Lennon's whisper, "Happy Christmas, Julian." [71] The song reached No. 4 in the UK, where its release was delayed until 1972, and has periodically re-charted. Initially conceived as a protest song about the Vietnam War, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" has since become a Christmas standard. [72] [73] In August of that year, the couple performed at a benefit concert in Madison Square Garden alongside Roberta Flack, Stevie Wonder, and Sha Na Na for mentally disabled children, an event organized by WABC-TV's [Geraldo Rivera]. [74]

In a 2018 issue of Portland Magazine, editor Colin W. Sargent recounted an interview with Yoko Ono during her 2005 visit to Portland, Maine. She spoke of driving along the coast with Lennon, expressing a shared dream of purchasing a house in Maine. "We talked excitedly in the car. We were looking for a house on the water… We did examine the place! We kept driving north along the water until I don't really remember the name of the town. We went quite a ways up, actually, because it was so beautiful." [75]

In 1973, Ono recorded a single, "Joseijoi Banzai, Parts 1 and 2," with musicians billed as the Plastic Ono Band and Elephants Memory, released exclusively in Japan. This release marked a new direction, with Ono championing feminism by merging lyrics inspired by Japanese war songs with Pop rhythms. [76]

Separation and reconciliation

The Dakota, Ono's residence from 1973 to 2023

Following the Beatles' disbandment in 1970, Ono and Lennon resided in London before relocating permanently to Manhattan to escape the pervasive tabloid racism directed at Ono. [77] Their relationship faced strain due to Lennon's impending deportation from England stemming from drug charges and Ono's painful separation from her daughter. The couple separated in July 1973, with Ono continuing her artistic career and Lennon living between Los Angeles and New York with his personal assistant, May Pang; Ono had given her consent to Lennon and Pang's relationship. [78] [79]

By December 1974, Lennon and Pang were contemplating purchasing a home together, and Lennon had ceased responding to Ono's phone calls. The following month, Lennon agreed to meet Ono, who claimed to have discovered a method to quit smoking. Following this meeting, Lennon failed to return home or contact Pang. When Pang called the next day, Ono informed her that Lennon was unavailable, attributing it to exhaustion after a hypnotherapy session. Two days later, Lennon reappeared at a joint dental appointment with Pang; he seemed disoriented and confused, leading Pang to suspect he had been subjected to brainwashing. He informed her that his separation from Ono was over, although Ono stipulated that he could continue seeing Pang as his mistress, a condition that was not ultimately maintained. [80]

Ono and Lennon's son, Sean, was born on October 9, 1975, marking Lennon's 35th birthday. Following Sean's birth, both Lennon and Ono took a hiatus from the music industry, with Lennon embracing the role of a stay-at-home dad to care for their infant son. Sean has followed in his parents' creative path with a career in music, performing solo work, collaborating with Ono, and forming bands such as The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger and [The Claypool Lennon Delirium]. [81]

Return to music and murder of Lennon

• Main article: Murder of John Lennon

Lennon and Ono in 1980, shortly before his murder

In early 1980, while vacationing in Bermuda, Lennon heard "Rock Lobster" by Lene Lovich and the B-52's. The latter song, in particular, reminded him of Ono's distinctive musical style, prompting him to interpret it as a sign that she had achieved mainstream recognition. [82] (In fact, the band had been influenced by Ono's work.) [83] Ono and Lennon began exchanging songs over the phone, rapidly accumulating enough material for a new album. The emerging record was structured as a dialogue and was intended to be credited to John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a duo. It also signaled Lennon's return to public life after a five-year absence and marked a public reconciliation between Ono and Lennon.

Double Fantasy was released on November 17, 1980. Initial reviews were lukewarm, with much of the criticism focusing on the perceived idealization of Lennon and Ono's marriage and their purported domestic bliss. However, the album's reception and enduring legacy would be irrevocably intertwined with the tragic events that unfolded mere weeks after its release.

On the evening of December 8, 1980, Lennon and Ono were at the Record Plant Studio working on Ono's song "Walking on Thin Ice". Upon returning to their Manhattan residence, The Dakota, Lennon was shot dead by [Mark David Chapman], who had been stalking Lennon for two months. Yoko cradled the critically wounded Lennon in her arms. In the aftermath, she lived in constant fear for her own safety and that of her son, Sean.

Following John's death, interior decorator Sam Havadtoy moved in to provide support. [84] "[Walking on Thin Ice (For John)]" was released as a single less than a month later and achieved Ono's first chart success as a solo artist, peaking at No. 58 and receiving substantial underground radio play. Double Fantasy underwent an immediate critical reappraisal, ultimately becoming a landmark album of the 1980s and earning Ono the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the [24th Annual Grammy Awards].

In 1981, she released the album Season of Glass, which featured a striking cover photograph of Lennon's bloodied spectacles next to a half-filled glass of water, with a window overlooking Central Park in the background. This photograph later sold at a London auction in April 2002 for approximately $13,000. In the liner notes for Season of Glass, Ono explained that the album was not dedicated to Lennon because "he would have been offended—he was one of us." The album garnered highly favorable reviews [3] and resonated with the public mood following Lennon's assassination. [85] [86]

In 1982, she released It's Alright. The album cover depicted Ono wearing her signature wrap-around sunglasses, gazing towards the sun, while on the back cover, the spectral image of Lennon looked over her and their son. The album achieved moderate chart success [87] with the single "Never Say Goodbye". [88]

A tribute album titled Every Man Has a Woman was released in 1984, featuring a selection of Ono's songs interpreted by artists such as Elvis Costello, Roberta Flack, Eddie Money, Rosanne Cash, and Harry Nilsson. [89] Later that year, Ono and Lennon's final album, Milk and Honey, was released, comprising unfinished Lennon recordings from the Double Fantasy sessions and new Ono recordings. [90] It peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 11 in the U.S., [91] achieving gold status in both countries, as well as in Canada. [92] [93] [94]

Ono funded the construction and ongoing maintenance of the Strawberry Fields memorial in Manhattan's [Central Park], directly across from The Dakota, the site of the murder. The memorial was officially dedicated on October 9, 1985, which would have been Lennon's 45th birthday. [95]

Ono's final album of the 1980s was [Starpeace], a concept album intended as a counterpoint to Ronald Reagan's proposed "Star Wars" missile defense system. The album cover features a warm, smiling Ono cradling the Earth in her hand. Starpeace became Ono's most commercially successful effort without Lennon. The single "Hell in Paradise" was a hit, reaching No. 16 on the US dance charts and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The accompanying music video, directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński, received significant airplay on MTV and won "Most Innovative Video" at the Billboard Music Video Awards in 1986. [96]

In 1986, Ono embarked on a goodwill world tour in support of Starpeace, primarily visiting Eastern European nations. [43]

Resurgence and collaborations

In 1990, Ono collaborated with music consultant Jeff Pollack to commemorate what would have been Lennon's 50th birthday with a global broadcast of "Imagine". Over 1,000 radio stations in more than 50 countries participated in the simultaneous broadcast. Ono felt the timing was particularly poignant, given the escalating conflicts in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Germany. [97]

Ono took a hiatus from music following the release of Starpeace, returning to the studio after signing with Rykodisc in 1992. She released the comprehensive six-disc box set [Onobox], [43] featuring remastered highlights from her solo albums and previously unreleased material from the 1974 "lost weekend" sessions. [98] A one-disc sampler of Onobox highlights was also released, titled Walking on Thin Ice. [99] That year, she engaged in an extensive interview with music journalist Mark Kemp for a cover story in the alternative music magazine Option. The article offered a revisionist perspective on Ono's music, resonating with a new generation of fans more receptive to her pioneering role in blending pop and avant-garde genres. [100]

In 1994, Ono produced her own off-Broadway musical titled [New York Rock], which featured Broadway arrangements of her songs. [101]

Ono released [Rising] in 1995, a collaboration with her son Sean and his then-band, Ima. Rising spawned a world tour that encompassed Europe, Japan, and the United States. The following year, she collaborated with various alternative rock musicians for an EP titled [Rising Mixes]. [102] Guest remixers of Rising material included Cibo Matto, Ween, Tricky, and Thurston Moore. [103]

In 1997, Rykodisc reissued Ono's catalog of solo recordings on CD, spanning from Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band to Starpeace. [43] Ono and her engineer Rob Stevens personally remastered the audio, and several bonus tracks were included, such as outtakes, demos, and live recordings. [104] [105] [106] In the same year, Ono and the BMI Foundation established an annual music competition program for songwriters of contemporary genres to honor John Lennon's memory and his extensive creative legacy. [107] Over $350,000 has been awarded through BMI Foundation's John Lennon Scholarships to talented young musicians in the United States, making it one of the most respected accolades for emerging songwriters. [citation needed]

In 2000, Ono founded the John Lennon Museum in [Saitama], Japan, which housed over 130 pieces of Lennon and Beatles memorabilia from Ono's personal collection. The museum closed in 2010. [8]

Ono's feminist concept album [Blueprint for a Sunrise] was released in 2001. [108] A month after the 9/11 attacks, Ono organized the concert "Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music" at Radio City Music Hall. Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey and featuring Lou Reed, Cyndi Lauper, and [Nelly Furtado], the event raised funds for September 11 relief efforts [42] and was broadcast on TNT and the WB. [109]

Later life and dance chart hits

Universal Music Group's [Svoy] and Yoko Ono at BMI, NYC, in 2004.

In 2002, Ono joined the B-52's in New York for their 25th anniversary concerts, performing an encore of "Rock Lobster" with the band. [83] In March 2002, she attended the unveiling of a seven-foot statue of Lennon with Cherie Blair to commemorate the renaming of Liverpool airport to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. [42]

Beginning in 2003, various DJs began remixing Ono's songs for dance clubs. For this project, she adopted the moniker "ONO," a response to the persistent "Oh, no!" jokes that had plagued her throughout her career. Ono achieved considerable success with new versions of "Walking on Thin Ice," remixed by prominent DJs and dance artists including Pet Shop Boys, [110] Orange Factory, [111] [Peter Rauhofer], and [Danny Tenaglia]. [112] In April 2003, Ono's Walking on Thin Ice (Remixes) reached No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play chart, marking her first number-one hit. She secured a second number-one hit on the same chart in November 2004 with "Everyman... Everywoman...", a reinterpretation of her song "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him".

During the [Liverpool Biennial] in 2004, Ono displayed two images on banners, bags, stickers, postcards, flyers, posters, and badges throughout the city: one of a woman's naked breast, and the other of the same model's [vulva]. While in Lennon's birthplace, she expressed her "astoundment" at the city's renaissance. [113] The artwork, titled My Mummy Was Beautiful, was dedicated to Lennon's mother, Julia, who died when he was a teenager. [114] According to Ono, the work was intended to be innocent rather than shocking, aiming to evoke the perspective of a baby viewing its mother's body as its initial introduction to humanity. [115]

Ono performed at the opening ceremony for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in [Turin], Italy, [116] wearing white to symbolize the winter snow, as did many other performers. She recited a free verse poem calling for world peace [117] as an introduction to Peter Gabriel's performance of "Imagine." [118] [119]

On December 13, 2006, one of Ono's bodyguards was arrested after allegedly being taped attempting to extort $2 million from her. The recordings revealed threats to release private conversations and photographs. [120] His bail was revoked, and he pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted grand larceny. [121] On February 16, 2007, a plea agreement was reached where extortion charges were dropped, and he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in the third degree, a felony, receiving a sentence of 60 days, which he had already served. After delivering an unapologetic statement, he was handed over to immigration officials due to his overstaying his business visa. [122]

Ono at the radio station [Echo of Moscow], 2007

Ono released the album [Yes, I'm a Witch] in February 2007, a compilation of remixes and covers from her back catalog by various artists, including The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Anohni, DJ Spooky, Porcupine Tree, and Peaches, alongside a special edition of Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. [123] Yes, I'm a Witch received critical acclaim. [124] A similar compilation of Ono dance remixes, titled [Open Your Box], was also released in April. [125]

On June 26, 2007, Ono appeared on [Larry King Live] alongside McCartney, Starr, and [Olivia Harrison]. [126] She headlined the [Pitchfork Music Festival] in Chicago on July 14, 2007, delivering a full set that blended music and performance art. Accompanied by Thurston Moore, she performed "Mulberry," a song recounting her experiences in the Japanese countryside following the collapse of Japan in World War II, for only the third time in her career; she had previously performed it with John and with Sean. On October 9 of that year, the [Imagine Peace Tower] on [Viðey Island] in [Iceland], dedicated to peace and Lennon, was illuminated with Ono, Sean, Ringo, and Olivia in attendance. [127] Each year between October 9 and December 8, the tower projects a vertical beam of light into the sky.

Ono at the [Seeds of Peace] in 2008

Ono returned to Liverpool for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial, where she unveiled Sky Ladders within the ruins of the [Church of St Luke, Liverpool] (largely destroyed during World War II and now standing roofless as a memorial to those killed in the [Liverpool Blitz]). [128] Two years later, on March 31, 2009, she attended the inauguration of the exhibition "Imagine: The Peace Ballad of John & Yoko" to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Lennon-Ono Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada, which took place from May 26 to June 2, 1969. The hotel had maintained steady business with the room they occupied for over 40 years. [129] That year, Ono became a grandmother with the birth of Emi to her daughter Kyoko. [130]

Ono continued to achieve number-one hits on the Dance/Club Play chart with "[No No No]" in January 2008, and "Give Peace a Chance" the following August. In June 2009, at the age of 76, Ono scored her fifth number-one hit on the Dance/Club Play chart with "[I'm Not Getting Enough]". [3]

In May 2009, she designed a T-shirt for the second Fashion Against AIDS campaign and collection, a collaboration with HIV/AIDS awareness organization Designers Against AIDS and [H&M]. The T-shirt featured the statement "Imagine Peace" in 21 languages. [131] Ono appeared onstage at Microsoft's June 1, 2009, [E3 Expo] press conference alongside Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr to promote the Beatles: Rock Band video game, [132] which received universal critical acclaim. [133] [134] Ono contributed to the Basement Jaxx album [Scars], featuring on the single "Day of the Sunflowers (We March On)." [135] In the same year, she became an honorary patron of [Alder Hey Charity], [136] and created an exhibit titled "John Lennon: The New York City Years" for the NYC [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame] Annex. The exhibit utilized music, photographs, and personal items to depict Lennon's life in New York. A portion of the ticket proceeds was donated to the Spirit Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Lennon and Ono. [137] [138] [139]

The new Plastic Ono Band

Ono appears at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards, spring of 2011

In 2009, Ono recorded [Between My Head and the Sky], her first album released as "Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band" since the 1973 album [Feeling the Space]. The revamped Plastic Ono Band lineup included Sean Lennon, [Cornelius], and [Yuka Honda]. [140] [141] On February 16, 2010, Sean organized a concert at the [Brooklyn Academy of Music] called "We Are Plastic Ono Band," where Yoko performed her music with Sean, Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and [Jim Keltner] for the first time since the 1970s. Guests, including [Bette Midler], [Paul Simon] and his son [Harper], and principal members of Sonic Youth and the [Scissor Sisters], interpreted her songs in their own styles. [142]

On April 1, 2010, she was named the inaugural "Global Autism Ambassador" by the [Autism Speaks] organization. The previous year, she had created an artwork for [autism awareness] and allowed it to be auctioned in 67 parts to benefit the organization. [143] In April 2010, [RCRD LBL] offered free downloads of [Junior Boys]' remix of "Give Me Something," a single originally released ten years prior on Blueprint for a Sunrise. [144] That song and "[Wouldnit (I'm a Star)]", released September 14, [145] charted on Billboard's end-of-year list of favorite Dance/Club songs at No. 23 and No. 50, respectively. [146] [147]

Ono performed with Starr on July 7 at New York's Radio City Music Hall in celebration of Starr's 70th birthday, performing "[With a Little Help from My Friends]" and "Give Peace a Chance." [148] On September 16, she and Sean attended the opening of Julian Lennon's photo exhibition at the Morrison Hotel in New York City, [149] appearing for the first time in photographs with Cynthia and Julian. [150] She also promoted his work on her website. [151] On October 1 and 2, Sean served as musical director for two subsequent shows at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles, featuring Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band with Perry Farrell, Cornelius, Carrie Fisher, Vincent Gallo, Yuka Honda, Haruomi Hosono, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, RZA, Harper Simon, Tune-Yards, Nels Cline, Iggy Pop, Mike Watt, Lady Gaga, Kim Gordon, and Thurston Moore. [152] She performed 'It's Getting Very Hard' with [Lady Gaga], whom she greatly admires. [153]

Ono performing at the [2011 Iceland Airwaves]

On February 18, 2011 (her 78th birthday), Ono placed a full-page advertisement in the UK free newspaper [Metro] for "Imagine Peace 2011." The ad took the form of an open letter, inviting people to contemplate and wish for peace. [154] With her son Sean, she organized a benefit concert on March 27 in New York City to aid relief efforts for earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Japan. [155] The initiative raised a total of $33,000. [155] In the same year, "[Move on Fast]" became her sixth consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and her eighth number-one hit overall. [156] She also collaborated with The Flaming Lips on an EP titled [The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band].

Ono in September 2011

In July 2011, she visited Japan to support earthquake and tsunami victims and promote tourism to the country. During her visit, Ono delivered a lecture and performance titled "The Road of Hope" at Tokyo's [Mori Art Museum], where she created a large calligraphy piece named "Dream" to help raise funds for the construction of the Rainbow House, an institution for orphans of the Great East Japan earthquake. [157] She also received the 8th Hiroshima Art Prize for her contributions to art and peace, awarded the previous year. [158]

In January 2012, a [Ralphi Rosario] remix of her 1995 song "Talking to the Universe" became her seventh consecutive No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. [159] In March of the same year, she was awarded the 20,000-euro ($26,400) [Oskar Kokoschka] Prize in Austria. [160] From June 19 to September 9, her work To the Light was exhibited at the [Serpentine Gallery] in London. [161] This exhibition was part of the [London 2012 Festival], a 12-week UK-wide celebration featuring internationally renowned artists from [Midsummer's Day] (June 21) to the final day of the [Paralympic Games] on September 9. [162] The album [Yokokimthurston] was also released in 2012, featuring a collaboration with Thurston Moore and [Kim Gordon] of [Sonic Youth]. [AllMusic] described it as "focused and risk-taking" and "above the best" of the duo's experimental music, with Ono's voice characterized as "one-of-a-kind." [163]

On June 29, 2012, Ono received a lifetime achievement award at the Dublin Biennial. During this, her second trip to Ireland (the first being with John before their marriage), she visited the crypt of Irish leader [Daniel O'Connell] at [Glasnevin Cemetery] and [Dún Laoghaire], the departure point for Irish emigrants heading to England to escape the famine. [164] In February 2013, Ono accepted the Rainer Hildebrandt Medal at Berlin's [Checkpoint Charlie Museum], awarded to her and Lennon for their lifelong dedication to peace and human rights. [165] The following month, she posted an anti-gun message on Twitter, using the Season of Glass image of Lennon's bloodied glasses on what would have been their 44th anniversary, noting that guns had claimed over 1 million lives since Lennon's death in 1980. [166] She also received a Congressional citation from the Philippines for her financial contributions to victims of [typhoon Pablo], [167] as well as her aid to disaster relief efforts following [typhoon Ondoy] in 2009 and her support for Filipino schoolchildren. [168]

In 2013, she and the Plastic Ono Band released the LP [Take Me to the Land of Hell], which featured numerous guest artists, including Yuka Honda, Cornelius, Hirotaka "Shimmy" Shimizu, Yuko Araki of mi-gu, [Wilco]'s [Nels Cline], [Tune-Yards], [Questlove], [Lenny Kravitz], and [Ad-Rock] and [Mike D] of the [Beastie Boys]. In June 2013, she curated the [Meltdown] festival in London, where she performed two concerts: one with the Plastic Ono Band, [169] and another providing backing vocals during [Siouxsie Sioux]'s rendition of "Walking on Thin Ice" at the Double Fantasy show. [170] In July, OR Books published Ono's sequel to her 1964 book Grapefruit, another collection of instruction-based 'action poems' titled Acorn.

Her online video for "Bad Singer," released in November 2013 and featuring some of these guest artists, was well-received by the press. [171] [172] By the end of the year, she had secured two songs in the Top 20 Dance/Club charts and achieved two consecutive number-one hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Charts. Buoyed by the singles "[Hold Me]" (featuring [Dave Audé]) and "Walking on Thin Ice," the then-80-year-old artist surpassed [Katy Perry], [Robin Thicke], and her friend Lady Gaga in chart performance. [110]

In 2014, "Angel" became Ono's twelfth number one on the US Dance chart. [173] Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band continued to perform live into 2015.

Ono in February 2016

On February 16, 2016, [Manimal Vinyl] released [Yes, I'm a Witch Too], featuring remixes by [Moby], [Death Cab For Cutie], [Sparks (band)], and [Miike Snow]. Like its predecessor, Yes, I'm a Witch Too garnered critical acclaim. On February 26, 2016, Ono was hospitalized after rumors circulated about a possible stroke. It was later confirmed that she was experiencing severe symptoms of [the flu]. [174] On September 6, 2016, [Secretly Canadian] announced the reissue of eleven of Ono's albums from 1968 to 1985, encompassing Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins through Starpeace. [175] [176] In December 2016, [Billboard magazine] named her the 11th most successful dance club artist of all time. [2]

In October 2018, Ono released [Warzone], which included new versions of previously recorded tracks, including "Imagine." [177]

In a 2021 New Yorker piece, it was noted that Ono had "withdrawn from public life," with her son Sean now acting as the primary public representative for the family's interests in the Beatles' business affairs. [178]

Artwork

Instructions for Paintings, 1961–62

• Main article: Instructions for Paintings

A conceptual artwork comprising 22 instructions for paintings, meticulously handwritten in Japanese by Ono's then-husband, the avant-garde composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. The work consists solely of these written directives, with no accompanying visual representations of the paintings themselves.

Cut Piece, 1964

• Main article: Cut Piece 1964

Ono was a pioneering figure in conceptual art and performance art. A seminal performance work is Cut Piece, first presented in 1964 at the Yamaichi Concert Hall in Kyoto, Japan. The performance involved Ono, dressed in her finest suit, kneeling on a stage with a pair of scissors placed before her. She invited audience members to join her on stage and cut pieces from her clothing. Confronting themes of gender, class, and cultural identity, Ono remained silent throughout the performance, which concluded at her discretion. [179] The piece was subsequently performed at the Sogetsu Art Centre in Tokyo later that year, at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1965, and at London's Africa Centre as part of the [Destruction in Art Symposium] in 1966. [180] Jon Hendricks, writing in the catalogue for Ono's Japan Society retrospective, described the piece: "[Cut Piece] unveils the interpersonal alienation that characterizes social relationships between subjects, dismantling the disinterested Kantian aesthetic model... It demonstrates the reciprocity between artists, objects, and viewers and the responsibility beholders have to the reception and preservation of art." [179]

Other performers of Cut Piece have included Charlotte Moorman and Jon Hendricks. [179] Ono reprised the piece in Paris in 2003, during the sensitive post-9/11 period between the US and France, stating her hope to demonstrate that this was "a time where [sic] we need to trust each other." [16] In 2013, the Canadian singer Peaches performed it at the Meltdown festival at the [Southbank Centre] in London, curated by Ono. [181]

Grapefruit book, 1964

• Main article: Grapefruit (book)

Ono's concise book, Grapefruit, is another pivotal work of conceptual art. First published in 1964, the book presents a series of instructions intended to be completed either literally or imaginatively by the viewer-participant, thereby constituting the artwork. An example instruction is: "Hide and Seek Piece: Hide until everybody goes home. Hide until everybody forgets about you. Hide until everybody dies." Grapefruit has been reissued multiple times, with its most widely distributed edition published by [Simon & Schuster] in 1971, followed by a reprint in 2000. [David Bourdon], art critic for [The Village Voice] and [Vogue], lauded Grapefruit as "one of the monuments of conceptual art of the early 1960s." He noted that Ono's conceptual approach gained greater acceptance when male artists like [Joseph Kosuth] and [Lawrence Weiner] produced work that was "virtually the same," while also highlighting the poetic and lyrical qualities that distinguished her work from that of other conceptual artists. [182]

Ono enacted many of the book's scenarios as performance pieces throughout her career, which formed the foundation for her art exhibitions. These included the highly publicized [retrospective exhibition], This Is Not Here, in 1971 at the [Everson Museum] in [Syracuse, New York]. [183] This exhibition faced near closure when it was overrun by enthusiastic Beatles fans, resulting in damage to several artworks and plumbing issues. [184] It was her last major exhibition until the 1989 retrospective, Yoko Ono: Objects, Films, at the [Whitney Museum] in New York. [182]

Nearly fifty years later, in July 2013, she released Acorn, a sequel to Grapefruit, featuring another collection of instructional pieces, published by [OR Books]. [185]

Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting, 1966

• Main article: Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting

This artwork was showcased at Ono's autumn 1966 exhibition, Unfinished Paintings and Objects By Yoko Ono, at the [Indica Gallery] in London. [John Lennon] viewed the piece during the preview night.

Do It Yourself Fluxfest, 1966

A collection of 20 pieces that combine short instructional texts by Ono with Maciunas' graphic illustrations. First published in the February 1966 issue of the Fluxus magazine cc V TRE as "3 newspaper events for the price of $1," the compilation underscores the Fluxus principle that art can be created by anyone. These engaging pieces derive meaning from the humorous interplay between Ono's instructions and Maciunas' skillful integration of text with pictorial motifs. [186]

Experimental films, 1964–1972

Ono was also an accomplished [experimental filmmaker], creating 16 films between 1964 and 1972. She gained particular recognition for her 1966 Fluxus film, simply titled No. 4, often referred to as Bottoms. [187] [188] This 80-minute film presents a series of close-up shots of human buttocks walking on a treadmill. The screen is divided into four nearly equal sections by the elements of the [gluteal cleft] and the [horizontal gluteal crease]. The soundtrack features interviews with participants and individuals considering joining the project. In 1996, the watch manufacturer [Swatch] produced a [limited edition] watch commemorating this film. [189] She also collaborated with Lennon on the film [Fly] (1970), the soundtrack of which was featured on her 1971 album [Fly], and on Up Your Legs Forever, a conceptual sequel to No. 4. [190]

In March 2004, the [ICA London] presented most of her films from this period in their exhibition The Rare Films of Yoko Ono. [187] She also appeared as an actress in the obscure 1965 [exploitation film] [Satan's Bed]. [188]

Wish Tree, 1996–present

• Main article: Wish Tree (Yoko Ono art series)

Contributions to Yoko Ono's Wish Tree at [Serpentine Galleries], 2012

Another example of Ono's participatory art is her Wish Tree project, which involves installing a tree native to the site of the installation. Her 1996 Wish Piece included the following instructions:

Make a wish Write it down on a piece of paper Fold it and tie it around a branch of a Wish Tree Ask your friends to do the same Keep wishing Until the branches are covered with wishes. [191]

Her Wish Tree installation in the [Sculpture Garden] of the [Museum of Modern Art], New York, established in July 2010, has attracted contributions from around the globe. Other installation locations include [London]; [192] St. Louis; [193] [Washington, D.C.]; San Francisco; [Copenhagen]; [194] the [Stanford University] campus in [Palo Alto, California]; [16] Japan; [195] Venice; [196] Dublin; [164] and Miami at the [Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden] in 2010. [197]

In 2014, Ono's Imagine Peace exhibit opened at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at [Florida SouthWestern State College] in [Fort Myers, Florida]. Ono installed a billboard on [U.S. Route 41] in Fort Myers to promote the show and [peace]. [198] Billboard for Imagine Peace Upon the exhibit's closure, wishes collected from the installed Wish Trees were sent to the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland and added to the millions of wishes already accumulated there. [199] Imagine Peace was also exhibited in Houston in 2011 through the [Deborah Colton Gallery], returning in 2016. [200]

Earth Peace, 2014

One of two pieces Ono installed as part of the 2014 [Folkestone Triennial], Earth Peace originally comprised numerous elements and appeared in various locations and media across [Folkestone], including posters, stickers, billboards, and badges. Three of the pieces remain in Folkestone, on loan to the town and part of the [Creative Folkestone Artworks] collection. These include an inscribed stone, a flag—flown annually on International Peace Day—and a beacon of light installed on the dome roof of The Grand in Folkestone Leas. Ono's beacon flashes a Morse code message, "Earth Peace," across the English Channel. [201] [202]

Skyladder, 2014

The second of Ono's 2014 Folkestone Triennial pieces, now also on loan to the town as part of the Folkestone Artworks collection, Skyladder is displayed in two locations: on a high wall of the Quarterhouse bar and within the staircase of the Folkestone public library. Skyladder takes the form of an artistic 'instruction' or invitation to the people of Folkestone and beyond. The instruction reads: "Audience should bring a ladder they like. Colour it. Word it. Take pictures of it. Keep adding things to it. And send it as a postcard to a friend." [201]

Arising, 2015

In 2015, Ono created the piece Arising in [Venice]. As part of the exhibition Personal Structures, organized by Global Art Affairs, the installation was on view from June 1 through November 24, 2013, at the European Cultural Centre's [Palazzo Bembo]. [203] In this feminist work of art, female [silicon] bodies were burned in the [Venetian lagoon], evoking the imagery of mythical [phoenixes]. When asked about the resemblance between the title of her record Rising and this piece, Ono responded: "Rising was telling all people that it is time for us to rise and fight for our rights. But in the process of fighting together, women are still being treated separately in an inhuman way. It weakens the power of men and women all together. I hope Arising will wake up Women Power, and make us, men and women, heal together." [204]

Skylanding, 2016

Skylanding – Jackson Park, Chicago

In October 2016, Ono unveiled her first permanent art installation in the United States; the collection is located in [Jackson Park, Chicago] and promotes peace. [205] Ono was inspired during a visit to the Garden of the Phoenix in 2013 and feels a strong connection to the city of Chicago. [206]

Refugee Boat, 2019

Participating in Lower Manhattan's River to River Festival in 2019, Ono presented her participatory installation Add Color (Refugee Boat) (1960/2019). The work consists of a white room containing a white rowing boat, both of which were covered with messages and drawings by audience members throughout the festival. Through the participatory nature of the work, the artist emphasized the necessity of solidarity and highlighted the history of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Refugee Boat is part of Ono's Add Color Painting series, first enacted in 1960, which invites the audience to make marks on designated objects, often white. [207]

DREAM TOGETHER, 2020

In 2020, Yoko Ono created DREAM TOGETHER for the [Metropolitan Museum of Art]. This marked the first time the Museum displayed art on its façade, typically reserved for banners. It was intended to convey a "powerful message of hope and unity" during the COVID-19 crisis. The artwork comprised black text on two white banners, with "DREAM" on the south banner and "TOGETHER" on the north banner.

Recognition and retrospectives

John Lennon once described his wife as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does." [208] Her circle of friends in the New York art world included [Kate Millett], [Nam June Paik], [209] [Dan Richter], [Jonas Mekas], [210] [Merce Cunningham], [211] [Judith Malina], [212] Erica Abeel, [Fred DeAsis], Peggy Guggenheim, [213] [Betty Rollin], [Shusaku Arakawa], [Adrian Morris], [Stefan Wolpe], [211] [Keith Haring], and [Andy Warhol] [212] (she was among the speakers at Warhol's 1987 funeral), as well as George Maciunas and La Monte Young. In addition to Mekas, Maciunas, Young, and Warhol, she collaborated with DeAsis, [Yvonne Rainer] [214] and Zbigniew Rybczyński. [215]

In 1989, the [Whitney Museum] hosted a [retrospective] of her work, Yoko Ono: Objects, Films, signifying Ono's return to the New York art scene after a period of absence. At the suggestion of Ono's live-in companion at the time, interior decorator [Sam Havadtoy], she recast her earlier pieces in bronze, despite initial reluctance. "I realized that for something to move me so much that I would cry, there's something there. There seemed like a shimmering air in the 60s when I made these pieces, and now the air is bronzified. Now it's the 80s, and bronze is very 80s in a way – solidity, commodity, all of that. For someone who went through the 60s revolution, there has of course been an incredible change... I call the pieces petrified bronze. That freedom, all the hope and wishes are in some ways petrified." [182]

Over a decade later, in 2001, Y E S YOKO ONO, a 40-year retrospective of Ono's work, received the [International Association of Art Critics] USA Award for Best Museum Show Originating in New York City, considered one of the highest honors in the museum profession. YES refers to the title of a 1966 sculptural work by Yoko Ono, displayed at the Indica Gallery in London: viewers climbed a ladder to read the word "yes" printed on a small canvas suspended from the ceiling. [216] The exhibition's curator, [Alexandra Munroe], wrote that "John Lennon got it, on his first meeting with Yoko: when he climbed the ladder to peer at the framed paper on the ceiling, he encountered the tiny word YES. 'So it was positive. I felt relieved.'" [217] The exhibition toured 13 museums in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Korea from 2000 to 2003. [218] In 2001, she received an honorary [Doctorate of Laws] from [Liverpool University] and, in 2002, was awarded the honorary degree of [Doctor of Fine Arts] from [Bard College] [219] and the Skowhegan Medal for work in assorted media. [220] The following year, she received the fifth MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts from the [Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles]. [221] In 2005, she was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the [Japan Society of New York], which had hosted Yes Yoko Ono [222] and where she had worked in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In 2008, she presented a major retrospective exhibition, Between The Sky and My Head, at the [Kunsthalle Bielefeld] in Bielefeld, Germany, and the [Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art] in Gateshead, England. The following year, she exhibited a selection of new and old works as part of her show "Anton's Memory" in Venice, Italy. [223] She also received a [Golden Lion Award] for lifetime achievement from the [Venice Biennale] in 2009. [224] In 2012, Ono held a significant exhibition of her work, To The Light, at the [Serpentine Galleries], London. [225] She also won the 2012 Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria's highest award for applied contemporary art. [226] In February 2013, coinciding with her 80th birthday, the most extensive retrospective of her work, Half-a-Wind Show, opened at the [Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt] [1] [227] and subsequently traveled to Denmark's [Louisiana Museum of Modern Art], [193] Austria's Kunsthalle Krems, and Spain's [Guggenheim Museum Bilbao]. [227] [228] In 2014, she contributed several artworks to the Folkestone Triennial art festival. In 2015, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City held a retrospective exhibition of her early work, "Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971." [229] In 2015, Yoko Ono received the European Cultural Centre Art Award for her ongoing commitment to promoting "Imagine Peace." [230]

In 2024, the [Tate Modern], London, in collaboration with [Gropius Bau], Berlin, and [Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen], Düsseldorf, organized a retrospective exhibition titled Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind. [231] The exhibition revisited participatory works such as Cut Piece (1964) and Add Color (Refugee Boat). [232] It was exhibited at the Tate Modern (February 15–September 1, 2024), [231] [Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen], Düsseldorf (September 28, 2024 – March 16, 2025), [233] Gropius Bau (April 11–August 31, 2025) [234] and the [Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago] (October 18, 2025 – February 22, 2026). [235] The catalog was edited by Juliet Bingham, Connor Monahan, and Jon Hendricks. [ISBN] 978-0-300-27634-3.

In 2025, the [Neue Nationalgalerie], Berlin will host an exhibition featuring both her artwork and music. [236]

Political activism, social media and public appreciation

• Main articles: Bed-in, Give Peace a Chance, and Bagism

Ono has been a dedicated activist for peace and human rights since the 1960s. Following her marriage to Lennon in Gibraltar, they conducted a "Bed-in for Peace" in March 1969 from their honeymoon suite at the Amsterdam [Hilton Hotel]. [43] The newlyweds were eager to engage in dialogue and promote world peace, opting to wear pajamas and invite visitors and members of the press into their room. Two months later, Ono and Lennon organized another Bed-in at the Queen Elizabeth [Fairmont] in Montreal, where they recorded their debut single, "[Give Peace a Chance]." [54] The song became a top-20 hit for the newly christened Plastic Ono Band. [237] Other joint performance-demonstrations with John included "[bagism]," iterations of the Bag Piece works she introduced in the early 1960s, [238] which encouraged a disregard for physical appearance in judging others. [15] In December 1969, the couple continued their peace advocacy with billboards displayed in 12 major world cities proclaiming, "WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas from John & Yoko." [239]

During the 1970s, Ono and Lennon forged close relationships with numerous radical counterculture leaders, including [Bobby Seale], [240] [Abbie Hoffman], [Jerry Rubin], [241] [Michael X], [242] [John Sinclair] (for whose rally in Michigan they flew to perform Lennon's song "Free John Sinclair," which effectively secured the poet's release from prison), [243] [Angela Davis], and street musician [David Peel]. [244] Friend and author of Sexual Politics, Kate Millett, stated that Ono inspired her activism. [245] Ono and Lennon hosted [The Mike Douglas Show] for a week. [246] Ono spoke extensively about the injustices of racism and [sexism], remaining a vocal proponent of feminism and openly expressing bitterness over the racist reception she encountered from rock fans, particularly in the UK. [77] Her portrayal in the U.S. media was similarly unflattering; for example, an [Esquire] article from the period was titled "John Rennon's Excrusive Gloupie" [43] and featured a disparaging cartoon by [David Levine]. [247]

Following the [Columbine High School massacre] in 1999, Ono funded billboards displayed in New York City and Los Angeles featuring an image of Lennon's blood-splattered spectacles. [42] In early 2002, [248] she reportedly spent approximately £150,000 ($213,375) [249] for a billboard in [Piccadilly Circus] bearing a line from Lennon's "Imagine": "Imagine all the people living life in peace." [42] Later that year, she established the *LennonOno Grant for Peace*, awarding$50,000 (£31,900) in prize money, initially to artists residing in "regions of conflict." The award is presented biennially in conjunction with the illumination of the Imagine Peace Tower and was first granted to Israeli and Palestinian artists. Its scope has since expanded to include writers, such as [Michael Pollan] and [Alice Walker], activists like [Vandana Shiva] and [Pussy Riot], organizations such as New York's [Center for Constitutional Rights], and even an entire country (Iceland). [250]

On Valentine's Day 2003, the eve of the [Iraqi invasion by the US and UK], Ono learned of a couple, Andrew and Christine Gale, who were holding a "love-in" protest from their small bedroom in [Addingham, West Yorkshire]. She telephoned them, offering her support: "It's good to speak to you. We're supporting you. We're all sisters together." [251] The couple cited songs like "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" as inspirations for their protest. In 2004, Ono re-recorded her song "Everyman..... Everywoman....." in support of [same-sex marriage], releasing remixes that included "Every Man Has a Man Who Loves Him" and "Every Woman Has a Woman Who Loves Her." [252]

In August 2011, she made the documentary film Bed Peace about the Bed-ins available for free viewing on YouTube, [253] and as part of her website "Imagine Peace." [254] In January 2013, the 79-year-old Ono, accompanied by Sean Lennon and [Susan Sarandon], traveled to rural Pennsylvania via bus under the banner of the Artists Against Fracking group, which she and Sean had founded with [Mark Ruffalo] in August 2012, to protest against [hydraulic fracturing]. [255] Other members of the group include Lady Gaga and [Alec Baldwin]. [256]

Ono actively promotes her art and shares inspirational messages and images [257] through a robust presence on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. As of April 2014, her Twitter followers numbered 4.69 million, [258] and her Instagram followers exceeded 99,000. Her tweets often consist of short instructional poems, [259] commentary on media and politics, [260] and updates on her performances. [261]

In 1987, Ono visited [Moscow] to participate in the "International Forum for a Nuclear-free World and for the Survival of Mankind." She also visited [Leningrad], where she met members of the local John Lennon memorial club. Among them was [Kolya Vasin], widely regarded as the most prominent Beatles fan in the [Soviet Union]. [262] [263] [264]

Public appreciation of Ono's work has evolved over time, significantly aided by a retrospective at a Whitney Museum branch in 1989 [265] and the 1992 release of the six-disc [box set] Onobox. [266] Retrospectives of her artwork have also been presented at the Japan Society in New York City in 2001, [267] in [Bielefeld], Germany, and the UK in 2008, as well as in [Frankfurt] and [Bilbao], Spain, in 2013, and at [The Museum of Modern Art] in New York City in 2015. She received a Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement from the Venice Biennale in 2009 and the 2012 Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria's highest award for applied contemporary art.

In January 2021, Ono was among the founders of The Coda Collection, a service launched in the U.S. via Amazon Prime Video Channels on February 18, 2021, Ono's 88th birthday. The Coda Collection features a wide array of music documentaries and concert films. Jim Spinello will manage The Coda Channel. Yoko Ono remarked, "John Lennon was always on the cutting edge of music and culture. The Coda Collection will be a new way for fans to connect on a deeper level." [267] [268]

Public image

For many years, Ono faced considerable criticism from both the press and the public. She was frequently blamed for the breakup of the Beatles [269] [164] and repeatedly criticized for her influence over Lennon and his music. [15] Her experimental art also met with limited popular acceptance. [3] The British press was particularly hostile, prompting the couple's relocation to the United States. [77] As late as December 1999, [NME] referred to her as a "no-talent charlatan." [4]

Relationship with the Beatles

• Main article: Break-up of the Beatles

Lennon and Ono were injured in a car accident in June 1969, during the recording sessions for Abbey Road. According to journalist [Barry Miles], a bed equipped with a microphone was subsequently installed in the studio to allow Ono to offer artistic commentary on the album. [270] Miles believed Ono's constant presence in the studio during the latter stages of the Beatles' career strained Lennon's relationships with the other band members. [George Harrison] reportedly had a heated argument with Lennon after Ono took one of his [chocolate digestive] biscuits without permission. [271]

The English press widely labeled Ono "the woman who broke up the Beatles," [269] a sentiment foreseen by Paul McCartney in 1969 during the group's rehearsals for their film and album [Let It Be]. He quipped, "It's going to be such an incredible sort of comical thing, like, in fifty years' time, you know: 'They broke up 'cause Yoko sat on an amp.'" [178] In an interview with [Dick Cavett], Lennon explicitly refuted the notion that Ono was responsible for the Beatles' breakup. [272] Harrison, in a separate interview with Cavett, stated that the band's internal problems predated Ono's involvement. [273] Ono herself has maintained that the Beatles disbanded independently of her direct influence, adding, "I don't think I could have tried even to break them up." [274]

While the Beatles were together, all songs written by Lennon or McCartney were credited as [Lennon–McCartney], irrespective of whether the song was a [collaboration] or solely written by one of them (with the exception of songs on their debut album, [Please Please Me], which were initially credited to McCartney–Lennon). In 1976, McCartney released a live album, Wings over America, which credited the five Beatles tracks as P. McCartney–J. Lennon compositions, and neither Lennon nor Ono objected. However, after Lennon's death, McCartney again sought to alter the credit order to McCartney–Lennon for songs predominantly or solely written by him, such as "[Yesterday]," [275] [clarification needed], but Ono refused, citing a perceived agreement between the two while Lennon was still alive. The surviving former Beatle argued that such an agreement never existed. A spokesperson for Ono characterized McCartney's action as "an attempt to rewrite history." [276]

In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, Ono highlighted McCartney's role in the band's disintegration. [277] On the 1998 John Lennon anthology, [Lennon Legend], the composer credit for "Give Peace a Chance" was changed from "Lennon–McCartney" to "John Lennon." Although Lennon wrote the song during his time with the Beatles, it was composed and recorded independently of the band and released as Lennon's first solo single under the "Plastic Ono Band" name. Lennon later expressed regret for not crediting Ono as co-writer, acknowledging her contribution to the song's creation. [54] In 2002, McCartney released another live album, [Back in the U.S. Live 2002], featuring 19 Beatles songs described as "composed by Paul McCartney and John Lennon," reigniting the debate over credits with Ono. Her spokesperson, Elliott Mintz, deemed it "an attempt to rewrite history." Nevertheless, Ono did not pursue legal action. [276]

In 1995, following the release of Lennon's "[Free as a Bird]" and "[Real Love]" (based on demos provided by Ono), McCartney and his family collaborated with Ono and Sean to create the song "Hiroshima Sky Is Always Blue," commemorating the 50th anniversary of the [atomic bombing of that Japanese city]. Ono publicly likened Lennon to [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart], while suggesting McCartney more closely resembled his less-talented rival, [Antonio Salieri]. [278] This remark deeply angered McCartney's wife, [Linda], who was then battling breast cancer. Less than a year later, after Linda's death, McCartney did not invite Ono to her memorial service in Manhattan. [42]

While accepting an award at the 2005 [Q Awards], Ono recounted Lennon's past insecurities about his songwriting. She recalled advising him, "You're a good songwriter. It's not June with spoon that you write. You're a good singer, and most musicians are probably a little bit nervous about covering your songs." [279]

In an October 2010 interview, Ono discussed Lennon's "lost weekend" period and their subsequent reconciliation. She credited McCartney with playing a role in saving her marriage to John, stating, "I want the world to know that it was a very touching thing that [Paul] did for John." [280] During a March 1974 visit to Ono, McCartney, upon leaving, asked, "[W]hat will make you come back to John?" McCartney subsequently relayed Ono's response to Lennon while visiting him in Los Angeles. "John often said he didn't understand why Paul did this for us, but he did." In 2012, McCartney revealed that he did not blame Ono for the Beatles' breakup and credited her with inspiring much of Lennon's post-Beatles work. [281]

Relationship with Julian Lennon

• Main article: John Lennon § Julian Lennon

Ono's relationship with her stepson Julian was initially strained but improved over time. He expressed disappointment regarding her handling of Lennon's estate and the disparity in upbringing between himself and Sean, questioning, "when Dad gave up music for a couple of years to be with Sean, why couldn't he do that with me?" [282] Julian was excluded from his father's will and engaged in a protracted legal dispute with Ono, ultimately settling in 1996 for an undisclosed sum, reportedly around £20 million, a figure Julian has since denied. [42]

He has stated he is his "mother's boy," which Ono cited as a reason for their inability to form a closer bond: "Julian and I tried to be friends. Of course, if he's too friendly with me, then I think that it hurts his other relatives. He was very loyal to his mother. That was the first thing that was in his mind." [150] Nevertheless, she and Sean attended the opening of Julian's photo exhibition at the Morrison Hotel in New York City in 2010, [149] appearing together in photographs with Cynthia and Julian for the first time. [150] She also promoted the exhibition on her website.

Julian and his half-brother Sean maintain a close relationship. [151]

In art and popular culture

[Mary Beth Edelson]'s Some Living American Women Artists/Last Supper (1972) appropriated [Leonardo da Vinci]'s The Last Supper, superimposing the heads of notable women artists over those of Christ and his apostles; Ono was among these featured artists. This image, which addressed the role of religious and art historical iconography in the subordination of women, became "one of the most iconic images of the [feminist art movement]." [283] [284]

The Yugoslav [punk rock] band [Pekinška Patka] recorded the song "Za Yoko Ono" (translated as "For Yoko Ono"), released on their 1980 debut album [Plitka poezija]. [285]

The post-punk rock band [Death of Samantha], formed in 1983, took their name from a song on Ono's 1972 album [Approximately Infinite Universe], also titled "[Death of Samantha]". [286]

Canadian rock band [Barenaked Ladies]' debut single was "[Be My Yoko Ono]", first released in 1990 and later included on their 1992 album [Gordon]. [287] The lyrics are described as "a shy entreaty to a potential girlfriend, caged in terms that self-deflatingly compare himself to one of pop music's foremost geniuses." The song also features "a sarcastic imitation of Yoko Ono's unique vocal style in the bridge." [288]

In 2000, American folk singer [Dar Williams] recorded a song titled "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono." [289] Bryan Wawzenek of the website Ultimate Classic Rock characterized the song as "us[ing] John and Yoko as a starting point for exploring love, and particularly, love between artists." [290]

British band [Elbow] referenced Ono in their song "New York Morning" from their 2014 album [The Take Off and Landing of Everything] ("Oh, my giddy aunt, New York can talk / It's the modern Rome and folk are nice to Yoko"). In response, Ono posted an open letter to the band on her website, expressing her gratitude and reflecting on her and Lennon's relationship with the city. [291] In [Public Enemy]'s song "[Bring the Noise]", [Chuck D] and [Flavor Flav] rap, "Beat is for [Sonny Bono]/Beat is for Yoko Ono!" [292] [293] Ono's name also appears in the lyrics of the [Le Tigre] song "[Hot Topic]" and the [Tally Hall] song "&". [294]

In [The Simpsons] episode 1 of season 5, "[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]", Barney, a member of Homer's band, experiences creative conflicts within the group after falling in love with a Japanese conceptual artist who bears a resemblance to Yoko Ono. [295]

Ono was a central theme in English comedian [James Acaster]'s 2013 show Lawnmower, which was nominated for the [Edinburgh Comedy Award] for Best Show. [296] [297]

Discography

• Main article: Yoko Ono discography

Solo

• Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1970) • Fly (1971) • Approximately Infinite Universe (1973) • Feeling the Space (1973) • Season of Glass (1981) • It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (1982) • Starpeace (1985) • Rising (1995) • A Story (1997) • Blueprint for a Sunrise (2001) • Between My Head and the Sky (2009) • Yokokimthurston (2012) • Take Me to the Land of Hell (2013) • Warzone (2018) [298]

with John Lennon

• Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (1968) • Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions (1969) • Wedding Album (1969) • Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (1969) • Some Time in New York City (1972) • Double Fantasy (1980) • Heart Play: Unfinished Dialogue (1983) • Milk and Honey (1984)

Books and monographs

• Grapefruit (1964) • Summer of 1980 (1983) • ただの私 (Tada-no Watashi – Just Me!) (1986) • The John Lennon Family Album (1990) • Instruction Paintings (1995) • Grapefruit Juice (1998) • YES YOKO ONO (2000) • Odyssey of a Cockroach (2005) • Imagine Yoko (2005) • Memories of John Lennon (editor) (2005) • 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories From the Japan Earthquake (contributor) (2011) • 郭知茂 Vocal China Forever Love Song • Acorn (2013) [299] • " ARISING" This book is the documentation of Personal Structures Art Projects #09. Published by European Cultural Centre.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Runtime	Role	Notes
1964	Aos (アオス）	9 min	Vocals	Directed by Yōji Kuri.
1965	Cut Piece	8:08 min	Self
1965	Satan's Bed	72 min	Actress ("Ito")	Directed by Michael Findlay.
1966	Disappearing Music for Face	11:15 min	Subject	[Fluxfilm] No. 4, directed by Mieko Shimoi. Closeup of Ono's mouth.
1966	One	5:05 min	Director	Fluxfilm No. 14; also called "Match"
1966	Eye Blink	4:31 min	Director/Subject	Fluxfilm No. 15
1966	Four	9:31 min	Director	Fluxfilm No. 16
1967	No. 4	80 min	Director	Expanded version of Four (1966) made in London with Anthony Cox; often called "Bottoms"
1967	Wrapping Piece	20 min	Director/Self	Music by Delia Derbyshire
1968	No. 5	52 min	Director	Also called "Smile". Filmed on the same day as Two Virgins; premiered alongside that film at the 1968 Chicago Film Festival
1968	Two Virgins	19 min	Director/Self	Filmed on the same day as No. 5; premiered alongside that film at the 1968 Chicago Film Festival
1969	Mr. & Mrs. Lennon's Honeymoon	61 min	Director/Self	Documentary of the Amsterdam [Bed-In for Peace]; also known as Honey Moon, Bed-In, and John & Yoko: Bed-In. Premiered alongside Self Portrait at the New London Cinema Club.
1969	Bed Peace	71 min	Director/Self
1969	Self-Portrait	42 min	Director	Premiered alongside Mr. & Mrs. Lennon's Honeymoon at the New London Cinema Club.
1970	Let It Be	80 min	Self
1970	Up Your Legs Forever	70 min	Director/Self	Commissioned and edited by [Jonas Mekas] for a December 1970 film festival in New York.
1970	Fly	25 min	Director	Commissioned by Mekas for a December 1970 film festival in New York
1970	Freedom	1 min	Director/Self	Commissioned by Mekas. Lennon produced an animated film with the same title and runtime.
1971	Apotheosis	17 min	Director/Self	Filmed with Nic Knowland during September 1969; premiered at the [Cannes Film Festival] in May 1971.
1971	Erection	20 min	Music/Supervision	Directed by John Lennon, based on still photographs by Iain McMillan.
1971	The Museum of Modern Art Show	7 min	Director	Audience reactions filmed by Lennon.
2018	Isle of Dogs	101 minutes	Voice Actress ("Assistant-Scientist Yoko-ono")

Television

Year	Title	Runtime	Role	Notes
1969	The David Frost Show		Self
1969	The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus	66 min	Self	Unreleased until 1996.
1969	Rape	77 min	Director	Produced for Austrian television; first of many collaborations with DP Nic Knowland
1971–1972	The Dick Cavett Show		Self (Three episodes)
1971	Free Time		Self
1972	Imagine	70 min	Director/Self/Music	Collaboration with John Lennon.
1972	The Mike Douglas Show		Self/Host (Five episodes)
1973	Flipside	22 min	Self	Guest and musical performer alongside Lennon and Elephant's Memory.
1995	Mad About You	22 min	Self (Episode: "Yoko Said")
2021	The Beatles: Get Back		Producer/Self	Documentary of archival footage

Music videos (as director)

Year	Title	Notes
1981	"Walking on Thin Ice"
1981	"Woman"	Music by John Lennon
1982	"Goodbye Sadness"

Video art

• Sky TV (1966) • Blueprint for the Sunrise (2000, 28 min) • Onochord (2004, continuous loop) [300]

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result
1982	Billboard Music Awards [301]	Herself & John Lennon	Top Billboard 200 Artist	Nominated
		Top Billboard 200 Artist – Duo/Group	Nominated
	Double Fantasy (with John Lennon)	Top Billboard 200 Album	Nominated
	Juno Awards		International Album of the Year	Won
	Grammy Awards		Album of the Year	Won
	"(Just Like) Starting Over"	Record of the Year	Nominated
	"Walking on Thin Ice"	Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female	Nominated
1985	Grammy Awards	Heart Play (Unfinished Dialogue) (with John Lennon)	Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording	Nominated
2001	Grammy Awards	Gimme Some Truth – The Making Of John Lennon's Imagine Album	Best Long Form Music Video	Won
2009	Golden Lion Awards	Herself	Lifetime Achievement	Won
2010	Glamour Awards		Outstanding Contribution	Won
2013	O Music Awards		Digital Genius Award	Won
	ASCAP Awards		ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award	Won
2014	Shorty Awards		Best in Music	Nominated
2015	Observer Ethical Awards		Lifetime Achievement Award	Won
	[Attitude Awards] [302]		Icon Award	Won
2016	NME Awards		NME Inspiration Award	Won
2022	Primetime Emmy Award	The Beatles: Get Back	Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series	Won

See also

• Feminist art movement • List of peace activists • An Anthology of Chance Operations • List of music artists by net worth