Yoko Ono and John Lennon first met in London in the late sixties, and were married on this day in 1969, in Gibraltar.
Their romance coincided with the disintegration of the Beatles and Lennon detailed this period in The Beatles in the track ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’, recorded by Lennon and McCartney on April 14, 1969. Paul McCartney famously blamed the Beatles break-up on Ono, while other members attributed it to an inability to co-operate.
Newly-weds Ono and Lennon spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for an international “Bed-In” for peace. They had planned another “Bed-in” in the United States, but were denied entry. The couple took their peaceful protest to Montreal, and during a “Bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’. The track was the first solo single issued by Lennon, released when he was still a member of the Beatles. It became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s and was sung by half a million demonstrators in Washington, D.C at the Vietnam Moratorium Day, on 15 November 1969.
Lennon and Ono would continue to work together creatively throughout their relationship. In 1971 they released ‘Happy Christmas (War is over)’, another anti-war Christmas song written by them both. The single was released by John & Ono/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh release by Lennon outside if his work with The Beatles. That same year the pair permanently moved to New York. During their eleven year marriage, Ono and Lennon were involved in each other careers; both inspiring and collaborating on projects, before Lennon was killed in 1980 outside his home, the Dakota in New York.
Last month a new biopic documenting the Lennon/Ono love story was announced. Currently in production, the yet to be titled film, documenting the lives of late Beatles star John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono will focus on the couple’s love story and anti-war causes. Produced by Ono, Michael De Luca of ‘Captain Philips’ fame, and Josh Bratman, the “story will focus on ripe and relevant themes of love, courage and activism in the US”, according to De Luca.
“I am also honored and privileged to be working with Yoko Ono, Anthony McCarten and Josh Bratman to tell the story of two amazing global icons,” De Luca told the Hollywood Reporter.
Picture Credit: aren roupen ünal
