Yoko Ono (オノ/ヨーコ) Lennon is a Japanese artist and musician. She is known for her work as an avant-garde artist and musician, and her marriage and works with world famous English musician John Lennon.
Gave birth to Sean Taro Ono Lennon (aka Sean Lennon ) on 9 October 1975.
Gave birth to Kyoko Chan Cox (aka Kyoko Ono Cox ) on 3 August 1963.
Won the Grammy Award in the Album of the Year category for "Double Fantasy" with John Lennon and Jack Douglas.
Avant-garde poet, performance artist, composer, and vocalist.
In 1959, she moved to join her family in Scarsdale, New York, where she attended Sarah Lawrence College.
Mother of Kyoko Ono Cox and Sean Lennon.
Her name translates into English as "Ocean Child".
Before meeting John Lennon , Yoko claimed that the only Beatle Ono knew by name was Ringo, as the word means "apple" in Japanese. In spite of this claim, there is a wealth of evidence that she was very familiar with the Beatles and fan. McCartney has said that she approached him before she ever met Lennon, and Lennons wifes reported that Yoko pursued Lennon.
After her husband John Lennon was fatally shot, she took a photograph of his bloodstained eyeglasses laying on the pavement. In 2002, this photo sold for thousands of dollars.
Returned to music in 1995 with her son Sean Lennon and his band Ima Rising.
Played her first public concert at the age of four, and her first composition "Secret Piece" was in 1955.
As a child she attended the prestigious Jiyu-gakuen Music School in Japan, the training school for many Japanese composers. She was taught piano and composition, as well as voice training in both opera and German Lied singing.
Owns the copyrights and masters to her Apple Records releases, including "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions", recorded with John Lennon ; with none of the records initially selling well, Lennon had to pay Apple for them, as part of the Beatles partnership settlement. In the 1990s, with interest regenerated, Ono re-released her music through Ryko, after turning down another label that only wanted her albums with Lennon.
Ranked #84 on VH1s 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll
The term "Yoko factor", referring to the influence of wives or girlfriends on a bands politics or business, comes from her constant presence (and kibitzing) at latter-day Beatles recording sessions. (Lennon broke the longstanding no-wives-or-girlfriends rule the Beatles had in the studio, to bring her there.).
In 2003, at the age of 70, she topped the US dance music charts with a reworking of "Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him", a song she co-wrote with John Lennon , to support gay marriage: "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him". She also recorded a lesbian version of the song.
Elton John is the godfather of her son Sean Lennon
Some time after her husbands murder, Ono began a relationship with antiques dealer Sam Havadtoy, which lasted until 2001. They were never legally married.
Appointed Honorary Ambassador of Peace for the Harvey Ball Foundation along with Jackie Chan , Brooke Shields , A.V.T. Shankardass , Jerry Lewis , Prince Albert of Monaco , Jack Nicklaus , Greg Norman , Phil Collins , Jimmy Buffett , Dale Earnhardt Jr. , Darrell Waltrip , Heather Mills , Patch Adams , Sergei Khrushchev and Winnie Mandela.
Has a stunning amount in common with Linda McCartney , Paul McCartney s late wife. Both women were raised in extremely wealthy environments. Both attempted to make it on their own (McCartney as a photographer, Ono as an actress and artist), only to later be accused of marrying their husbands for their money despite their families wealth. Both attended Sarah Lawrence College (at different times) and left without finishing degrees. Both married a frontman for the Beatles, and these weddings took place eight days apart in March 1969 (the McCartneys were first). Both women were pregnant at their weddings (Ono later suffered a miscarriage, McCartney later gave birth to Mary McCartney ). Both had a daughter from a previous marriage. Both had mentally unstable former husbands (Onos later kidnapped their daughter and took her to a fundamentalist Christian commune; McCartneys committed suicide in 2000). Both were accused of playing a major role in the Beatles breakup. Both suffered personal attacks by fans and by the press. Both suffered attacks on their musical talent (particularly vocal) by fans and the press. Both were older than their husbands. Both were activists.
Is portrayed by Linda Ko in The Linda McCartney Story .
Is portrayed by Mariko Takai in Chapter 27 .
Took out a full-page ad in The New York Times that read simply "IMAGINE PEACE" (5 January 2008).
Supports same-sex marriage.
Has been good friends with many noted people in the New York art world including Peggy Guggenheim , Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
Stepmother of Julian Lennon.
Gave birth to her first child at age 30, a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox on August 3rd, 1963. Childs father is her ex-husband Anthony Cox.
Gave birth to her second child at age 42, a son, Sean Taro Ono Lennon,on October 9th, 1975. Childs father is her deceased husband John Lennon.
Release of her book, "Memories of John Lennon".
Longtime friend and next-door neighbor at Manhattans Dakota apartment building is Roberta Flack.
She is the titular subject in Barenaked Ladies "Be My Yoko Ono.".
If John was still alive we would have retired to Cornwall. He said we,would be sitting in rocking chairs together, waiting for a postcard to,come from Sean.
I thought art was a verb, rather than a noun.
(about her relationship with the Beatles) It was like, I went to bed,with this guy I liked, and when I woke up, there were these three faces,staring at me.
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.
Write down everything you fear in life. Burn it. Pour herbal oil with a sweet scent on the ashes.
Art is my life and my life is art.
You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.
Imagine the clouds drippingDig a hole in your garden to put them in,You are waterI’m waterwe’re all water in different containersthat’s why it’s so easy to meetsomeday we’ll evaporate together.
I think that all women are witches, in the sense that a witch is a magical being. And a wizard, which is a male version of a witch, is kind of revered, and people respect wizards. But a witch, my god, we have to burn them. It’s the male chauvinistic society that we’re living in for the longest time, 3,000 years or whatever. And so I just wanted to point out the fact that men and women are magical beings. We are very blessed that way, so I’m just bringing that out. Don’t be scared of witches, because we are good witches, and you should appreciate our magical power.
When all that hate energy was focused on me it was transformed into a fantastic energy. It was supporting me. If you are centered and you can transform all this energy that comes in it will help you. If you believe it is going to kill you it will kill you.
My husband John Lennon was a very special man. A man of humble origin, he brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music.
When you go to war, both sides lose totally.
People make music to get a reaction. Music is communication.
I see so many activists. . . who are artists because they feel that they have the power of communication.
Losing my daughter was a very serious pain. There was always some empty space in my heart.
Many incredible artists die before they were famous.
Events are the best teacher for us. You try to learn from people, there is always some bend to it.
Healing yourself is connected with healing others.
DJs are in incredible competition, musically. And they are the most musically creative and sensitive people in all the music charts. I am amazed how they are.
People think that their world will get smaller as they get older. My experience is just the opposite. Your senses become more acute. You start to blossom.
I was being hated for about 40 or 50 years by the whole world, but it did not destroy me, and it did not ruin my health. And the reason is because I just did not answer them. I had my own life.
We live too long for one marriage.
I trust myself. You need that to survive.
Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.
The nice thing about the gallery shows is that without having to pay any money you can just go and see it.
After my husband John Lennon passed away, I tried to smile for my health.
Sometimes I am happy and sometimes not. I am, after all, a human being, you know. And I am glad that we are sometimes happy and sometimes not. You get your wisdom working by having different emotions.
This society is driven by neurotic speed and force accelerated by greed and frustration of not being able to live up to the image of men and woman we have created for ourselves the image has nothing to do with the reality of people.
You change the world by being yourself.
If your life changes, we can change the world, too.
Being alone is very difficult.
Every drop in the ocean counts.
