Yoko Ono

November 8, 2018December 8, 2018
music, Theater
Tagged artist, Asian American, Japanese American, musician, Yoko Ono
by mayahiebs

Strictly speaking, Yoko Ono is Japanese rather than Japanese American, but she was married to John Lennon, who was British and spent much of her time living in the U.S. Ono was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933 and remained there until college except for a short amount of time in 1940 when her family relocated to New York. Her childhood was not easy, as she lived through the bombings during WWII and was forced to live in poverty after the war ended. In the late 1940s, Ono moved to the States and enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College. Despite disapproval from her parents, she met up with various artists and visited galleries and art events in the city.

Yoko Ono sitting in the audience during rehearsal for the WPA Theatre’s production of her musical “New York Rock.” (New York)

Apart from her own artistic endeavors, Ono is most well-known for being the wife of John Lennon. According to Lennon, the two met when Ono was in London to compile original musical scores for a book called Notations. From that moment, the two began to keep in touch and Ono was eventually invited to John Lennon’s house while his wife was away on vacation. The two soon became a couple and Lennon mentioned Ono in songs such as “Julia” and “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”.

In terms of Ono’s musical legacy, she not only performed background vocals and some lead vocals, but also started the Plastic Ono Band and released her own solo albums. Her first album was titled Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, which was released in 1970 as a companion piece to Lennon’s album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. In 1971, she released her double album, Fly, which included more psychedelic rock tracks. Some of her well-known songs include “Mrs. Lennon” and “Don’t Worry, Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)”. The latter is referring to her missing daughter who was taken away by her ex-husband.

Yoko Ono, along with her husband, played a very important role for Asian Americans and were very vocal about the Vietnam War. For her honeymoon with John Lennon, Ono went to Amsterdam to campaign with Bed-In For Peace, a non-violent protest against wars modeled after more traditional ‘sit-ins’. Ono has called for peace in her music and artwork, and while at times controversial, she undeniably has made an impact in the world and for other aspiring Asian/Asian American artists.

Sources:

Lifton, Dave. “When John Lennon and Yoko Ono Held a Bed-In for Peace.” Ultimate Classic Rock, 25 Mar. 2016, ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-yoko-ono-bed-in/.