YOKO ONO HAS been granted a co-writing credit with her late husband John Lennon on his greatest solo hit, nearly 50 years after it was first released.
Imagine, Lennon’s signature solo recording, waxes lyrical on a world living in peace.
It has long been commonly accepted that Ono’s poetry was the inspiration for the track, although today’s announcement is its first official recognition.
The news that Ono had been awarded the credit first emerged on the couple’s son Sean’s social media feed, who had been in attendance along with Ono at the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) where Imagine was named song of the century.
“Surprise! They played an audio interview of my father saying (approximately) ‘Imagine’ should’ve been credited as a Lennon/Ono song, if it had been anyone other than my wife I would’ve give them credit,” he wrote.
Cut to: my mother welling up in tears, and then Patti and Jesse Smith (arrived). Imagine! Patience is a virtue!
Imagine was first written in 1971, one year after The Beatles broke up amidst acrimony between Lennon and his bandmates.
Ono and Lennon were married from 1969 until his death at the hands of gunman and obsessed fan Mark Chapman in New York in December 1980.
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