Full Name: Yoko Ono Lennon
Profession: Artist and Musician

Biography: The second wife of John Lennon, from 1969 until his death, was initially criticized for her influence over Lennon and his music, and blamed for the breakup of the Beatles.

Public opinion of her shifted over time, thanks in large part to her significant philanthropic contributions and her role in peace and feminist movements.

Ono was involved in conceptual and avant garde visual and performance art in NYC in the early 1960s. While visiting England, she first solicited Paul McCartney for a contribution to a salute to composer John Cage, and later met John Lennon at a gallery show of her visual art.

She and Lennon became a couple, leading to his divorce from his wife Cynthia. As the Beatles broke up, Lennon began performing and recording with Ono, who provided lyric ideas and wailing vocals. Ono continued making art, adding film to her portfolio. After a separation at her insistence, from mid-1973 until 1975 (known as Lennon's "Last Weekend"), they had a son, Sean. John stepped away from music and became a house-husband while Yoko tended to the couple's business.

In 1980, they went to a recording studio in NYC to studio to make an album with individual songs, hers being more accessible than some earlier endeavors. The result was the "Double Fantasy" album. He was killed shortly after the album's release.

Since his death, Ono has continued cultivating Lennon's legacy. She also continues as an activist for peace, women's rights, and environmental causes.

Born: February 18, 1933
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 91 years old

Generation: Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Rooster
Star Sign: Aquarius

Career Highlights

• 1966-11-07 John Lennon meets Yoko Ono at an avante-garde art exposition at Indica Gallery in London
• 1967-10-11 "Yoko Plus Me" art exhibition by Yoko Ono opens in London (the "Me" is John Lennon)
• 1968-06-15 John Lennon and Yoko Ono plant two acorns for peace, at Coventry Cathedral, Conventry, England
• 1968-08-31 Private Eye magazine reports a John Lennon and Yoko Ono album will have a picture of them nude on the cover
• 1968-10-18 Police find 219 grains of cannabis resin in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's apartment, they are fined £150 for marijuana possession
• 1968-10-25 Yoko Ono announces she is having John Lennon's baby; she later suffers a miscarriage
• 1968-11-29 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their 1st album "Two Virgins" in UK
• 1968-12-12 Rolling Stones film TV show "Rock and Roll Circus"- guest performers include The Who, Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono; the program never airs aired
• 1969-01-03 John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Two Virgins" album declared pornographic in New Jersey
• 1969-03-25 Beatle John Lennon and new wife Yoko Ono stage their 1st bed-in for peace, at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1969-05-26 John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their 2nd bed-in for peace at Hotel La Reine Elizabeth, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• 1969-05-31 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace a Chance" in a Montreal hotel, during their second 'bed-in' for peace; other performers include Tommy Smothers, Petula Clark, Timothy Leary, and Dick Gregory
• 1969-06-04 Beatles release "The Ballad Of John & Yoko" (recorded by just John and Paul), backed with George Harrison's song, "Old Brown Shoe" in the US
• 1969-06-11 "The Ballad Of John & Yoko" by The Beatles hits #1 in UK; recording involved only John (guitars, vocals, percussion) and Paul (bass, drums, piano, backing voice)
• 1969-06-14 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on David Frost's British TV Show
• 1969-07-01 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are admitted to hospital after he crashes his car near Durness in the Scottish Highlands
• 1969-08-22 The Beatles last official group photo session, at John & Yoko's home 'Tittenhurst Park', near Ascot
• 1969-09-13 Plastic Ono Band's 1st live performance, featuring John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Eric Clapton, at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival
• 1969-11-07 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release their second album "Wedding Album" in UK
• 1969-12-15 John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Plastic Ono Band, play their only European gig - appearing in UNICEF charity concert at London's Lyceum Ballroom, band is augmented by Bonnie & Delaney Bramlett, guitarists George Harrison and Eric Clapton, and keyboardist Billy Preston
• 1969-12-16 "War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" posters begin appearing
• 1970-01-05 John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono give a press conference in Aalborg, Denmark, revealing that they were only visiting
• 1970-04-01 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release hoax they are having dual sex change operations
• 1971-01-20 John Lennon meets Yoko Ono's parents in Japan
• 1971-06-06 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear for an unannounced performance, joining Frank Zappa on stage at Fillmore East in NYC
• 1971-09-09 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on Dick Cavett Show (ABC-TV)
• 1971-10-14 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on "Dick Cavett Show"
• 1971-10-28 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record the single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in NYC
• 1971-12-01 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in the US
• 1972-02-14 John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-host the syndicated TV show "The Mike Douglas Show" for an entire week, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 1972-02-16 American guitar legend Chuck Berry and former Beatle John Lennon perform together, with Yoko Ono, on 'The Mike Douglas Show' TV program
• 1972-02-18 John Lennon and Yoko Ono end a week of co-hosting the syndicated "The Mike Douglas Show", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 1972-03-16 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers by US Immigration Department
• 1972-06-12 Apple Records releases John Lennon and Yoko Ono's political album "Sometime in NYC" in US; includes studio recordings of songs "Woman is the Nigger of the World", "Attica State" and "Luck of the Irish"; and some live tracks from 1971 concert with Frank Zappa
• 1972-08-30 John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "One on One" benefit shows (matinee and evening) for children at Madison Square Garden, New York, his final full concert performance
• 1972-09-04 John Lennon and Yoko Ono perform three songs ("Imagine"; "Now Or Never"; "Give Peace A Chance") on Jerry Lewis' 7th Muscular Dystrophy telethon at the Americana Hotel, NYC
• 1972-09-15 Apple Records releases John Lennon and Yoko Ono's political album "Sometime in NYC" in UK, delayed by publishing rights dispute; includes some live tracks from 1971 concert with Frank Zappa
• 1973-03-23 Yoko Ono is granted permanent residence in USA
• 1973-04-01 John Lennon and Yoko Ono form a new country with no laws or boundaries, called Nutopia, its national anthem is silence
• 1980-08-07 John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin recording sessions for their "Double Fantasy" album at the Hit Factory, NYC
• 1980-09-22 John Lennon and Yoko Ono sign a recording contract with Geffen Records
• 1980-11-17 Geffen Records releases John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album "Double Fantasy"
• 1980-11-21 John Lennon and Yoko Ono pose nude for photographer Allan Tannenbaum
• 1984-01-27 Geffen Records releases "Milk & Honey" album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, featuring un-released recordings made during the 1980 "Double Fantasy" sessions, including "Grow Old With Me"
• 1986-06-15 Amnesty International "Conspiracy of Hope" tour concludes with mega-concert at Giants Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey; participants include: U2; Sting; Bryan Adams; Peter Gabriel; Lou Reed; Neville Brothers; Joan Baez; Joan Armatrading; Joni Mitchell; The Police; Jackson Browne; Yoko Ono; Miles Davis; Peter, Paul & Mary; and The Hooters

Personal Life

• 1962-11-28 Japanese artist and peace activist Yoko Ono (30) weds (her second time) American musician and film producer Anthony Cox (26-ish); annulled and remarried in 1963, divorce in 1969
• 1969-03-20 British Beatle John Lennon (28) weds Japanese artist Yoko Ono (36) in Gibraltar, near Spain (his second marriage, her third), until his death in 1980

References

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sLrToaCsnJGue6S7zGinnqegobJwxc6kpmannqQ%3D