Yoko Ono
For the Die Ärzte song, see Yoko Ono (song)
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Yoko Ono. |
Yoko Ono Lennon (born February 18, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese-born American musician and artist. She currently resides in New York City.
In Japanese, her name is written 小野 洋子 (Ono Yōko).
Born into a privileged background, she was the oldest child of Isoko Isuda, a member of one of Japan's wealthiest
banking families, and Eisuke Ono, who sacrificed a career as a classically-trained pianist to work as a banker. She attended the exclusive
Gakushuin academy in Tokyo from
primary school to the
college division. Ono has mentioned in interviews that her parents left the upbringing of her and her younger brother to nannies; her parents were often distant, emotionally and physically.
During
World War II, the Ono family survived the bombing of Tokyo in an underground shelter. Ono and her siblings fled to the countryside, and were forced to beg for food while pulling their belongings in a
wheelbarrow. It was during this period in her life she developed what some would refer to as her "aggressive" attitude; local children taunted the once well-to-do Yoko and her brother, now reduced to poverty. Determined to protect herself and her brother, she learned to maintain a tough exterior to hide her fear. Her father remained in the city and, unbeknownst to them, was incarcerated in a
prisoner of war camp in
China.
After the war, Ono's family moved to
Scarsdale, New York. She soon enrolled in
Sarah Lawrence College, where she met her first husband. While her parents approved her choice of college, they were dismayed at her lifestyle, and often chastised Ono for befriending people they considered to be "beneath" her. In spite of this, Ono loved meeting artists, poets, and people who represented the "bohemian" freedom she longed for herself. Visiting galleries and art "happenings" in the city whetted her desire to publicly display her own artistic endeavors.
In
1956, she
married composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. They divorced in 1962.
Ono married American Anthony Cox on November 28, 1962. Cox was a
jazz musician,
film producer, and art promoter. Their marriage was
annulled on
March 1,
1963; they re-married on
June 6, and finally divorced on
February 2,
1969. Their daughter,
Kyoko Chan Cox, was born on
August 8,
1963. After a bitter legal battle, Ono was awarded permanent
custody of Kyoko. However in 1971, Cox, who had become a
Christian fundamentalist after his divorce from Ono,
abducted Kyoko and vanished. Ono and her daughter were finally reunited in 1998.
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Ono performing "Cut Piece". |
Ono was an early member of Fluxus, a loose association of avant-garde artists that developed in the early 1960s.
Ono was among the first artists to explore conceptual art and performance art. An example of her performance art is "Cut Piece", during which she sat on stage and invited the audience to use scissors to cut off her clothing until she was naked. An example of her conceptual art includes her book of instructions called Grapefruit. This book, first produced in 1964, includes surreal, Zen-like instructions that are to be completed in the mind of the reader, for example: "Hide and Go Seek Piece: Hide until everyone forgets about you. Hide until everyone dies." The book was published several times, most widely distributed by Simon and Schuster in 1971, and reprinted by them again in 2000.
Ono was also an experimental filmmaker. She made sixteen films between 1964 and 1972, and gained particular renown for a 1966 film called simply No. 4, but often referred to as "Bottoms". The film consists of a series of close-ups of human buttocks as the subject walks on a treadmill. The screen is divided into four almost equal sections by the elements of the gluteal cleft and the horizontal gluteal crease. The soundtrack consists of interviews with those who are being filmed as well as those considering joining the project. In 1996, the watch manufacturing company Swatch produced a limited edition watch that commemorates this film.
Ono's work may best be appreciated by an open mind. She has been described as "the world's most famous unknown artist: everybody knows her name, but nobody knows what she does."
Ono has sometimes been maligned and vilified by critics who condemn her art. For example, Brian Sewell, art critic for the London Evening Standard and television personality, said: "She's shaped nothing, she's contributed nothing, she's simply been a reflection of the times...I think she's an amateur, a very rich woman who was married to someone who did have some talent and was the driving force behind the Beatles. If she had not been the widow of John Lennon, she would be totally forgotten by now...Yoko Ono was simply a hanger-on. Have you seen her sculpture or paintings? They're all awful."
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One of Ono's works, which reads "A Box of Smile" on the lid and contains a mirror on the inside. |
However, the more common critical opinion is that Ono's work has been misunderstood and that it deserves attention and respect. Many scholars, art critics and members of the media have begun to reassess her art and to examine it seriously. In the past few years, Ono's work has regularly received recognition and acclaim. For example, Matthew Teitelbaum, director of the Art Gallery of Ontario, believes that "Yoko Ono is one of the world's most original and inspirational visual artists." Michael Kimmelman, the chief Art critic of the New York Times, wrote: "Yoko Ono's art is a mirror—like her work 'a Box of Smile,' we see ourselves in our reaction to it—a tiny prod toward personal enlightenment, very Zen."
In 2001, YES YOKO ONO, a forty-year retrospective of Ono's work received the prestigious International Association of Art Critics USA Award for Best Museum Show Originating in New York City. (This award is considered one of the highest accolades in the museum profession.) In 2002 Ono was awarded the Skowhegan Medal for work in assorted media. And in 2005 she received a lifetime achievement award from the Japan Society of New York.
Ono received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Liverpool University in 2001; in 2002 she was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts from Bard College. Scott MacDonald, visiting professor of film at Bard, said: "She is to be congratulated for the body of work she has made, and celebrated for what she has come to represent, within media history and throughout the world: courage, resilience, persistence, independence, and, above all, imagination, and a belief that peace and love remain the way toward a brighter, ever-more-diverse human future."
Ono is perhaps best known for marrying
The Beatles'
John Lennon. They first met when Lennon visited a preview of an exhibition of Ono's in
London in
1966. He was taken with the attitude and
interactivity of her work, such as a
ladder leading up to the word "Yes" written on the ceiling, an instruction to hammer a nail into a panel of wood, and a
decomposing apple. They began an
affair two years later, eventually resulting in Lennon divorcing his first wife, Cynthia. They married on
March 20,
1969 on the
Rock of Gibraltar. Their son,
Sean, was born on Lennon's 35th birthday, on
October 9,
1975.
Lennon referred to Ono in many of his songs. While still a Beatle he wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko," and also implicitly mentions her in "Julia," a song dedicated to his mother, with the lyrics: "Ocean child calls me, so I sing a song of love" (The
kanji 洋子 ("Yoko") mean "ocean child.") Other Lennon songs about Ono include: "Oh Yoko!," and "Dear Yoko."
Ono and Lennon collaborated on many albums, beginning in
1968 when Lennon was still a Beatle, with
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, an album of experimental and difficult
electronic music. That same year, the couple contributed an experimental piece to
The White Album called "
Revolution No. 9," which is to this day a love/hate phenomenon among fans. Many of the couple's later albums were released under the name the
Plastic Ono Band.
In
1969, the Plastic Ono Band's first album,
Live Peace In Toronto, was recorded during the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival. In addition to Lennon and Ono, this first incarnation of the group consisted of guitarist
Eric Clapton, bass player
Klaus Voorman, and drummer
Alan White. The first half of their performance consisted of rock standards, but during the second half, Ono took the microphone and along with the band performed what may be one of the first expressions of the
avant garde during a rock concert. The set ended with music that consisted mainly of
feedback, while Ono screamed and sang.
Ono released her first solo album,
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band in
1970, as a companion piece to Lennon's better-known
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The two albums have almost identical covers, and both explore
primal scream vocalizations. However, while Lennon's utilized mostly conventional songwriting, Ono's was an all-out screaming assault on the ears - an album including raw and quite harsh vocals that were possibly influenced by Japanese
opera. Perhaps, the most (in)famous song on
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is "Why", which features Ono screaming the word "Why" for five minutes. Some critics were receptive of the work, however, declaring her voice "the most interesting instrument since the
Moog". It peaked at #183 on the US charts, but this may be because people mistook it for Lennon's release.
1971 saw the follow-up release,
Fly - a double album, which included a
poster and a
postcard to order Ono's book,
Grapefruit. On this release Ono explored slightly more conventional
punk rock with tracks like "Midsummer New York" and "Mind Train." She also received minor airplay with the
ballad "Mrs. Lennon". Perhaps the most famous track from the album is "Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)", an ode to Ono's kidnapped daughter. Ono later released two
feminist rock albums—
1972's
Approximately Infinite Universe and
1973's
Feeling The Space—which received little attention. Today, they are recognized with much critical respect, particularly for tracks such as "Move on Fast," "
Yang Yang" and "Death of Samantha."
Ono is often accused by Beatles
fans of
breaking up the band (although many other Beatles fans argue that she did not); to this day, women who have (intentionally or not) come between high-profile musicians and their bandmates are compared to Ono,
Nancy Spungen and
Courtney Love being just two examples. In a
2003 interview with
Jay Leno, Ono described the disappointment she felt by the breakup of the Beatles and how it affected the lifestyle that she was used to.
There are Lennon fans who, in addition, blame Ono for the experimental phase (considered difficult and bizarre) that Lennon explored in his work immediately before the Beatles' breakup. On the other hand, many fans consider—as Lennon consistently attested—that Ono had a profound and beneficial influence on his body of work.
Ono is also sometimes blamed for Lennon's heroin addiction in the early 1970s, as she is widely believed to have introduced him to the drug. Both suffered from addiction on and off for a few years.
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Yoko Ono and husband John Lennon, exchanging a lighter moment before a concert, 1972. |
From the early 1970s until Lennon's public seclusion upon Sean's birth in
1975, Lennon and Ono produced less music as they became increasingly engaged in
political activism (which possibly was a cause of Lennon's troubles with
U.S. Immigration).
The stress of Lennon's almost-certain expulsion from the U.S., coupled with Ono's unhappy and unsuccessful search for her daughter brought out the worst in the couple. Lennon began drinking heavily, and Ono immersed herself further into her work, becoming emotionally numb to each other. When Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Ono "selected" their secretary
May Pang to be Lennon's lover while they were apart. (Accounts on this vary; Ono herself claimed that Pang was merely sent to be an assistant to Lennon while he was scheduled to work on several projects in Los Angeles.) Lennon carried on several affairs at this time, and after each incident, would call Ono, alternately taunting her with his infidelity and begging her to allow him to return. Ono, who was also re-entering the dating scene, remained adamant that he keep his distance. Lennon returned time and again to Pang, his only source of security then. Lennon and Pang were together until 1975, when he and Ono reconciled. In 2003 Ono courted
controversy by editing herself into the video of the classic song "#9 Dream" for the "Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon" DVD set. There you will find her mouthing the
backup vocals that were sung by
May Pang. Pang claimed, "She is trying to erase everyone who had anything to do with John with her alone. I am definitely upset at her misleading everyone into thinking she is on '#9 Dream.' She had nothing to do with this particular album and it was John's only No.1 album and No. 1 single during his lifetime. Boy, do I understand how Paul [McCartney] feels."
However, some fans argue that Ono's inclusion there is called for. The backup vocals are sung immediately after Lennon sings "two spirits dancing, so strange", and at the time Lennon was both in love with Ono and living with May Pang, the two women in his life, hence "two spirits".
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A still from the "Walking on Thin Ice" video. |
Ono achieved success as a musician in her own right. Indeed, years before meeting Lennon, she had her first major public performance in an all-Ono concert at the Carnegie Recital Hall in 1961. This concert featured radical experimental music and performances.
Ono's music changed after her marriage; while many of her early songs retain the surreal quality of her art and films, her later songs are usually more conventional — for example, the seven pop songs that she contributed to the album, Double Fantasy.
In the spring of 1980, Lennon heard Lene Lovich and the B-52's' "Rock Lobster" in a nightclub, and it reminded him of Ono's musical sound. He ran to a public phone, called Yoko and said "They're finally ready for us, love!" Indeed, many musicians, particularly those of the new wave movement, have paid tribute to Ono (both as an artist in her own right, and as a muse and iconic figure). For example, Elvis Costello recorded a version of Ono's song "Walking On Thin Ice", the B-52's covered "Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)" (shortening the title to "Don't Worry"), and Sonic Youth included a performance of Ono's early conceptual "Voice Piece for Soprano" in their fin de siecle album Goodbye 20th Century. One of Barenaked Ladies's best-known songs is "Be My Yoko Ono," and Dar Williams recorded a song called "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono." The punk rock singer Patti Smith invited Ono to participate in "Meltdown," a two-week music festival that Smith organized in London during June 2005; Ono performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall.
On the night of December 8, 1980, Lennon and Ono were in the studio working on Ono's song "Walking On Thin Ice." When they returned to The Dakota, their home in New York City, Lennon was murdered at age 40 by a deranged fan, Mark David Chapman. "Walking on Thin Ice (For John)" was released as a single less than a month later, and became Ono's first chart success, peaking at No. 58 and gaining major underground airplay. In 1981, she released the album Season of Glass with the striking cover photo of Lennon's shattered, bloody spectacles next to a half-filled glass of water, with a window overlooking Central Park in the background. This led some critics to accuse her of being tasteless and exploitative. However, Ono said that she chose such a provocative image because she wanted to remind people that Lennon hadn't just died, but had been murdered. (This photograph sold at an auction in London in April 2002 for about $13,000.) In the liner notes to Season of Glass, Ono explained that the album is not dedicated to Lennon because "he would have been offended - he was one of us."
1982 saw the release of
It's Alright (I See Rainbows), a more positive album as Ono began the healing process following the loss of her husband. The cover featured Ono in her famous wrap-around
sunglasses, looking boldly towards the sun, while on the back the ghost of Lennon looks over Ono and Sean. The album has been described as Ono's pop sensibilites and avant-garde influences meeting each other halfway. It scored minor chart success and airplay with the singles "
My Man" and "
Never Say Goodbye."
In 1984, a tribute album entitled
Every Man Has A Woman was released, featuring Ono classics performed by artists such as
Elvis Costello,
Roberta Flack,
Eddie Money,
Roseanne Cash and
Harry Nilsson. It was one of Lennon's projects that he never got to finish. Later that year, Ono and Lennon's final album
Milk And Honey was released in unfinished demo state.
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The program from Ono's 1986 "Starpeace" world tour. |
Ono's final album of the
1980s was
Starpeace, a
concept album glowing with positivity that was intended as an antidote to
Ronald Reagan's "
Star Wars" missile defense system. On the cover, a warm, smiling Ono holds the Earth in the palm of her hand. Despite almost unanimous critical praise for the album,
Starpeace received little commercial attention. The single "
Hell in Paradise" was a hit, however, reaching No. 16 on the US dance charts.
In 1986 Ono set out on a goodwill world tour for
Starpeace, mostly visiting
Eastern European countries that she felt were in need of her message of
peace. The media were largely unfair in their coverage of the tour, accusing Ono of "ego-tripping" and ridiculing her for underselling venues. In one case, a photo of Ono rehearsing to an empty hall before the show was printed as if nobody had come to the actual concert. A
German DJ was also encouraging people to turn up and throw glass bottles at her. Despite the bad press, however, the fans loved the shows, critics unanimously praised her for her performances, and she filled a venue of 15,000 in
Budapest.
Ono went on hiatus until signing with
Rykodisc in
1992 to release the comprehensive 6-disc box set
Onobox. It included remastered highlights from all of Ono's solo albums, as well as unreleased material from the
1974 "lost weekend" sessions. There was also a one-disc "greatest hits" release of highlights from Onobox, simply titled
Walking on Thin Ice. In
1994, Yoko produced her own
musical entitled
New York Rock, featuring
Broadway renditions of her songs.
1995 saw Ono's comeback with the release of
Rising, a collaboration with her son
Sean Lennon and his band Ima. It received wide critical praise and is often considered one of her best albums.
Rising spawned a world tour that traveled through Europe,
Japan and the
United States. The following year, she collaborated with various
alternative rock musicians for an EP entitled
Rising Mixes. Guest remixers of
Rising material included
Cibo Matto,
Ween,
Tricky, and
Thurston Moore.
In 1997, as public interest was growing in Ono's work,
Rykodisc reissued all her solo albums on CD, from
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band through
Starpeace. Ono and her engineer John Stevens personally remastered the audio, and various bonus tracks were added including outtakes, demos and live cuts.
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The cover of ONO's successful "Walking on Thin Ice" 2003 remix single. |
2001 saw the release of the critically successful
feminist concept album Blueprint for a Sunrise. Starting in
2002, cutting-edge
DJs began
remixing other Ono songs for
dance clubs. For the remix project, she dropped her first name and became known as simply "ONO", as a response to the "Oh, no!" jokes that dogged her throughout her career. ONO had great success with new versions of "Walking on Thin Ice", remixed by top DJs and dance artists including
Pet Shop Boys,
Orange Factory,
Peter Rauhofer, and
Danny Tenaglia. In April
2003 ONO's
Walking On Thin Ice (Remixes) was rated No. 1 on
Billboard Magazine's "Dance/Club Play Chart", gaining ONO her first number one hit. On the 12" mix of the original
1981 version of "Walking on Thin Ice", Lennon can be heard remarking "I think we've just got your first No.1, Yoko."
During her career, Ono has collaborated with a diverse group of artists and musicians including
John Cage,
David Tudor,
George Maciunas,
Ornette Coleman,
Charlotte Moorman,
George Brecht,
Jackson Mac Low,
Jonas Mekas,
Yvonne Rainer,
La Monte Young,
Richard Maxfield,
Zbigniew Rybczyński,
Yo La Tengo, and
Andy Warhol. (In
1987 Ono was one of the speakers at Warhol's funeral.)
Since the 1960s, Ono has been a consistent and outspoken supporter of peace and human rights. After their wedding, Lennon and Ono held a "
Bed-In for Peace" in their honeymoon suite at the
Amsterdam Hilton Hotel in March
1969. The press fought to get in, presuming that the two would be having sex for their cameras, but they instead found a pair of newlyweds wearing pajamas and eager to talk about and promote
world peace. Another
Bed-In in May
1969 in Montreal, Canada, resulted in the recording of their first single, "Give Peace A Chance," a Top 20 hit for the newly-christened Plastic Ono Band. Other demonstrations with John included
Bagism. Introduced in Vienna, Bagism encouraged a disregard for physical appearance in judging others.
In 2002, Ono inaugurated her own peace award by giving $50,000 (£31,900) prize money to artists living "in regions of conflict."
Israeli and
Palestinian artists were the first recipients.
In 2003, Ono turned 70, a milestone of sorts. In 2004 Ono remade her song "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" to support same-sex marriage, releasing remixes that included "Every Man Has a Man Who Loves Him" and "Every Woman Has a Woman Who Loves Her."
Ono has had a turbulent relationship with Beatle
Paul McCartney. The dispute has centered on, among other issues, the writing credits for many Beatles songs. While the Beatles were still together, every song written by Lennon or McCartney was credited to
Lennon-McCartney regardless of whether the song was a collaboration or a solo project. After Lennon's death, McCartney attempted to change the order to "McCartney-Lennon" for songs, such as "Yesterday," that were solely or predominantly written by him, but Ono would not allow it. She felt this broke an agreement that the two had made while Lennon was still alive. However, McCartney has stated that no such agreement ever existed. The two other Beatles agreed that the credits should remain as they always had been and McCartney withdrew his request.
Despite their differences, in 1995 McCartney and his family collaborated with Ono and Sean Lennon to create the song "Hiroshima Sky is Always Blue," which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the dropping of an
atomic bomb on the
Japanese city. Of Ono, McCartney stated: "I thought she was a cold woman. I think that's wrong ... she's just the opposite ... I think she's just more determined than most people to be herself."
Recently, accepting an award at the
2005 Q Awards, Ono made a controversial commment that the media have interpreted as an insult to Paul McCartney's songwriting. She mentioned that Lennon had once felt insecure about his songwriting, and asked her why other musicians "always cover Paul's songs, and never mine". Ono then responded "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". [
1] Whether she honestly meant this as an insult is debatable.
Heather McCartney, when asked about her husband's thoughts on the subject, said "He doesn't even know yet. Look at how successful Yoko's music is compared to Paul's. Speaks for itself".
Franz Ferdinand frontman
Alex Kapranos remarked that "The 'June-spoon-moon' stuff is irrelevant. It was Ono telling the husband she adored that it didn't matter if people didn't want to cover his songs as much as McCartney's, as his work had such phenomenal worth... The irony is that, while Yoko was whispering soothingly in John's troubled ear,
Linda was probably whispering into Paul's." [
2]
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Ono in front of one of the controversial "My Mummy Was Beautiful" posters |
Ono again proved herself to be a provocative and controversial artist with her contribution to the fourth
Liverpool Biennial in
2004. With
banners,
bags,
stickers,
postcards,
flyers,
posters and
badges, she flooded the city with two images: one of a woman's
naked breast, the other of her
pudendum. The piece, titled "My Mummy Was Beautiful," was dedicated to Lennon's mother, Julia, who had died when Lennon was a
teenager. According to Ono the work was meant to be innocent, not shocking. She was attempting to replicate the experience of a
baby looking up at his or her mother's body: the mother's
vagina and
breasts are a child's introduction to
humanity.
Some in Liverpool, including Lennon's half-sister, Julia Baird, found the citywide
installation offensive. Indeed, the
BBC program
North West Tonight invited viewers to phone in their opinion of the piece, and of the 6,000 viewers who responded 92% wanted the images removed.
However, others appreciated the
conceptuality of the work. Chris Brown, of Liverpool's
Daily Post, wrote: "Many have loved the work… and Yoko Ono has again managed to get the eyes of the world looking in our direction."
An editorial in
The Times of London wrote: "Her unmissable contribution to the fourth Liverpool Biennial dominates the event and seems also to symbolise the new international Liverpool… Ono manages successfully to get right up the noses of the locals, as she always has. Brilliant… As always with Ono's art, a simple act has become a radical one."
Some local councillors welcomed the removal of Ono's image from the deconsecrated
Church of St. Luke. "I'm delighted that it has been removed," said Joe Anderson, leader of the Labour Party group. "I find it appalling that the picture was put in a place which offended people. St. Luke's is a war memorial and many people felt it was being desecrated with this picture." (Ono's art was placed there at the invitation of St Luke's Peace Centre in recognition of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's steadfast promotion of peace.) The biennial's chief executive, Lewis Biggs, denied the claim that it was moved due to public pressure: "The banner was taken down to replace the one torn down at the Bluecoat Centre over the weekend. The only banner of the same size was at St. Luke's. If the biennial had the money to replace the one at the church, we would have." He further stated, "There are a great many people who enjoy and support this project."
Paul Domela, deputy chief executive of Liverpool Biennial, said: "We were aware that some would object to it. But, at the same time, we realised that a great many would love it as well… We have got bags, stickers and badges that are so popular we cannot give out enough of them because they are going so quickly." He continued, "In the campaign for the election in the
European Union, there was an image of a woman breast feeding. The campaign was aired across
Europe, including some very Catholic countries. Over here, the difference was that the
nipple was removed. This baby had its mouth open into nothingness. What does that say about the relationship we have in this country to
motherhood? To begin to think about that and talk about it is very important."
In response to the controversy Ono stated, "I wasn't trying to insult Liverpool. In fact, when I thought of the idea and I visualized this beautiful mom's breasts and vagina all around the city I thought, 'Ah, it would be so beautiful', and it's like giving them
love, because we are all
born from [our] mother's body, and that's the first thing that we were
nurtured by—mothers' breasts. Somehow people try to inhibit that memory. Women are put in a position of feeling embarrassed about their bodies. It's so ridiculous, but also astounding—we have to always be apologetic about having created the
human race."
Of her artistic inspiration she said, "I'm always inside myself and listening to what's coming into my head. I'm like a conduit of some message coming through me. I'm interested in everything, equally, every day. I'm in love with life, the world, every moment."
(with US chart positions)
Albums
Solo
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1970) (#182)
Fly (1971) (#199)
Approximately Infinite Universe (1972) (#193)
Feeling The Space (1973) (did not chart)
Welcome: The Many Sides Of Yoko Ono (1973) (Japanese promo album)
A Story (1974) (Unreleased until 1997)
Season of Glass (1981) (#49)
It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (1982) (#98)
Every Man Has A Woman (1984) (Tribute album with various artists)
Starpeace (1985) (did not chart)
Onobox (1992)
Walking On Thin Ice (1992)
New York Rock (1994) (original cast recording - did not chart)
Rising (1995) (did not chart)
Rising Mixes (1996) (did not chart)
Blueprint For A Sunrise (2001) (did not chart)
with John Lennon
Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (1968) (#124)
Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions (1969) (#174)
Wedding Album (1969) (#178)
Live Peace In Toronto 1969 (1969) (#10)
Sometime In New York City (1972) (#48)
Double Fantasy (1980) (#1)
Milk and Honey (1984) (#11)
Singles
Solo
*"Mrs. Lennon"/"Midsummer New York" (1971) (did not chart)
*"Now or Never"/"Move on Fast" (1972) (did not chart)
*"Mind Train"/"Listen, the Snow is Falling" (1972) (did not chart)
*"Death of Samantha"/"Yang Yang" (1973) (did not chart)
*"Josejoi Banzai" (1973) (Japan-only release, did not chart)
*"Woman Power"/"Men, Men, Men" (1973) (did not chart)
*"Run, Run, Run"/"Men, Men, Men" (1973) (did not chart)
*"
Walking On Thin Ice" (1981) (#58)
*"Goodbye Sadness"/"I Don't Know Why" (promo) (1981)
*"
No, No, No" (1981) (did not chart)
*"
My Man" (1982) (did not chart)
*"
Never Say Goodbye" (1983) (did not chart)
*"
Hell in Paradise" (1985) (#16)
*"Cape Clear"/"Walking On Thin Ice (Re-Edit)" (promo) (1985)
*"
Open Your Box" originally released 1971; (remix) (2001) (did not chart)
*"
Kiss Kiss Kiss" (remix) (2002) (#20)
*"
Yang Yang" (remix) (2002) (#17)
*"
Walking On Thin Ice" (remix) (2003) (#1)
*"Will I"/"Fly" (remix) (2003) (#19)
*"
Hell in Paradise" (remix) (2004) (#4)
*"Everyman... Everywoman" (maxi-single promoting
gay marriage) (2004) (#1)
with John Lennon
*"
Give Peace a Chance"/"Remember Love" (1969) (#14)
*"Cold Turkey" (Lennon)/"Don't Worry, Kyoko" (Ono) (1969) (#30)
*"Instant Karma" (Lennon)/"Who Has Seen the Wind?" (Ono) (1970) (#3)
*"Mother" (Lennon)/"Why" (Ono) (1971) (#43)
*"Power to the People" (Lennon)/"Open Your Box" (Ono) (1971) (#11)
*"Happy Xmas (War is Over)"/"Listen, the Snow is Falling" (1971) (#3)
*"
(Just Like) Starting Over" (Lennon)/"Kiss Kiss Kiss" (Ono)(1980) (#1)
*"Woman" (Lennon)/"Beautiful Boys" (Ono)(1981) (#2)
*"Watching the Wheels" (Lennon)/"Yes, I'm Your Angel" (Ono) (1981) (#10)
*"Nobody Told Me" (Lennon)/"O'Sanity" (Ono)(1984) (#5)
*"I'm Stepping Out" (Lennon)/"Sleepless Night" (Ono)(1984) (#55)
*"Borrowed Time" (Lennon)/"Your Hands" (Ono)(1984) (did not chart)
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart*
Instant Karma, magazine dedicated to John and Yoko. Since 1981.
*
Yoko Ono fluxus debris! @ art / not art
*
: an international network of info and original projects about Yoko from our contributors
*
AIU: A Yoko Ono Box An extensive unofficial Yoko Ono Site
*
LennOno Online News, an extensive unofficial Lennon/Ono Site in German language
*
~ ONOVOX: spam-free discussion listserv with commented daily Yoko news.
*
"Yoko Ono Makes Old Song Gay Friendly",
Associated Press article,
July 8, 2004.
*
Yoko Ono's Snow review by
Tom Johnson Originally published on February 7, 1977
*
1995 Interview with Yoko Ono*
Nippop Profile | Yoko Ono*
Photograph of John Lennon's Bloodied Spectacles *
The Dakota to The Roxy and Back, interview article from
Gay City News Volume 1, Issue 16, 13-19 September, 2002.
