Log in to comment on videos and join in on the fun Watch the live stream of Fox News and full episodes Reduce eye strain and focus on the content that matters Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker decades of suspicion aimed at the provocative artist musician and widow have obscured her psychology from view The cover art for Yoko Ono’s Season of Glass could be one of the most famous photos of the 20th century It shows the glasses pulled off John Lennon’s face after his assassination in December 1980 with a misty view of Central Park in the distance from the Dakota building apartment Ono and Lennon shared When the album was released in February 1981 the cover was widely condemned as in bad taste – almost as bad as making a record so soon after he died (it was her highest-selling record to date) I’ve been thinking about the photo for a day now and I’ve noticed telling questions sliding into my mind Did she save the glasses knowing she would take this shot This is the Yoko phenomenon: decades of suspicion putting Lennon’s lover under the microscope in an attempt to prove she a) broke up the Beatles on purpose and has been ever since the ultimate professional widow is her commentary on her role in the Beatles story: if Lennon was bigger than Jesus and here was the holy relic – my piece of him fans sang Lennon’s songs in a constant vigil The artist mindset can feel alien – and to everyone apart from Lennon The general consensus for years was that Lennon was very funny before he met Ono Was there anything dourer than the scene from which she emerged organising ten-hour drone parties with La Monte Young in her New York loft For an idea of how difficult her presence could be watch her 1972 performance on The Mike Douglas Show of “Memphis Tennessee” with Lennon and Chuck Berry: the screaming stopped only when the engineers pulled the plug on her mic The Tate Modern’s retrospective last year revealed a humour she is rarely associated with Her 1966 film Bottoms played on a loop: 365 pairs of naked cheeks The description said this was Ono’s impression “of the London scene at the time” Her “bagism” was what brought Lennon to one of her shows in 1966 – people climbing into satin bags and jumping about in the purest expression of the spirit There was a chess set with all-white squares – Play it by Trust – that she sent to Reagan and Gorbachev in 1987 Lennon said that his problem with the avant-garde author of the famous Playboy interview with the couple conducted shortly before Lennon’s murder has written a biography in close collaboration with Ono – they are so close that he crawled into bed with her and cried when Lennon died been comfortably rehabilitated as an artist in her own right Sheff is at pains to recap the misogyny and racism that obscured her story The usefulness of his blow-by-blow defence (“There broke up the Beatles.”) is that it reminds you of how people behaved towards them Fans tried to pull her hair out; she received death threats; Beatles staff wouldn’t meet her eye Esquire ran a profile with the racist headline “John Rennon’s excrusive gloupie”: the oriental had Lennon under a dangerous spell the entire culture turning on a popstar’s girlfriend but with the strength of feeling around them Three fans committed suicide after Lennon was shot: Ono wrote an open letter in the New York Daily News asking no one else to do it Ian Leslie, in his book John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs, reviewed in these pages last week puts forward a theory with regards to the relationship that swallowed Lennon up like a whale Yoko and Linda for a while before they became the loves of their lives: they threw their lot in with the latter pair at the same moment they tried to finally break free from each other Lennon saw it as growing up: the old gang was over It is common for rockstars to get together with second wives who don’t know or care very much about their bands – it is a way of escaping themselves Yoko is a lens through which to understand Lennon’s psychology He called her mother: he’d always been looking for his mum mother?” he said one November morning in 1980 as he looked at Billboard magazine over breakfast and saw the couple’s album Double Fantasy creeping up the charts He drew an arrow from number 25 to number one in red pen: “We’re on our way mother!” He had just turned 40 and was by his own admission excited about the second half of life On 8 December Annie Leibovitz took her famous photo which captured their relationship as far as Lennon was concerned: naked he gripped Ono’s body: “A portrait of a couple in which the man finally let his guard down after suffering from machismo that nearly killed him,” writes Sheff But the photo also captures what repelled the public about Ono she looked impassively into the middle distance: it was not her but the way in which Lennon behaved with her that rubbed a jealous world up the wrong way A few hours after the photo was taken he was shot in the back and shoulder five times It is strange to think he and Ono must have been side by side in the lobby for a time but she struggled with the maternal instinct A damaged woman emerges from Sheff’s book – not just withdrawn and cold but positively screaming with an inner loneliness Her great-grandfather was Japan’s JP Morgan: her parents only had time for each other She would ring the servants’ bell for company: her mother instructed the maids not to pick her up if she fell down She spent the Second World War in Tokyo as a child and after the fire-bombing of 1945 the family was forced to beg for food: this interlude brought out her aggression: back at her boarding school one classmate was the future emperor of Japan But her parents were angry and ashamed about her direction – particularly Cut Piece (1964) in which audience members snipped away her clothes on stage She was estranged from them for much of her life If she exploited her connection to Lennon – as she surely did – she had a deeper need to be recognised recalled a mother more concerned with her art than children Ono had already attempted suicide and been institutionalised: when the baby was a few months old she “took her on stage as an instrument – an uncontrollable instrument Kyoko was left with Cox when Ono moved in with Lennon living for years with her father in a cult Ono failed to find her: Kyoko only resurfaced in 1998 Lennon put his lawyers on to it at one point he and Ono “poured themselves into their work” again One of the songs that emerged from those sessions was called “Oh Yoko!” It was hard for her to find room for children in her relationships with men: “I was still struggling to get my own space in the world.” It was a parental complex of ghastly proportions and art was a way of getting those fierce feelings out at how little thought we gave to people’s psychology in the past Only a hundred pages are dedicated to the 45 years of Ono’s life after Lennon She didn’t leave the Dakota until the pandemic The real zinger in the Yoko Ono story is that within a few months of Lennon’s death she got together with the couple’s interior designer moved him into the apartment and stayed with him till 2000 Sam Havadtoy was always kept rather quiet: it didn’t look great for the grieving widow to have paired up with someone else so soon and the world blamed me for everything – maybe I’d move my interior designer in too Kate Mossman’s “Men of a Certain Age: My Encounters with Rock Royalty” is published on 3 April by Nine Eight Yoko: A BiographyDavid SheffSimon & Schuster Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org This article appears in the 26 Mar 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Putin’s Endgame The artist and musician is a brilliant subject for an epic It was the third time she’d performed this paradoxically passive action and each time it was the audience who exposed themselves as they took scissors to her clothing This was also the beginning of a sojourn in London for the Japanese-born New York artist that would catapult her from avant garde obscurity to global fame. Her exhibition at the Indica Gallery that same year was visited by John Lennon At the top he used a magnifying glass to read the tiny word “YES” The love kindled that day would be blamed for breaking up the Beatles Unfortunately David Sheff opts instead for polemical hagiography riding out as a knight errant to tilt at the haters whose “flagrant misogyny and racism” Yoko has suffered (he calls her “Yoko” throughout) He throws this rhetoric around yet is vague on the details he states: “Racist and sexist comments came from the press but the only evidence he gives that the Beatles themselves were “racist and sexist” is Paul McCartney’s harmless statement in 2021 that “We were not too keen on it at all because it was like I understand Sheff’s desire to give Ono her due But a biography needs objectivityOno was born in 1933 to one of the wealthiest families in Japan This heritage is dealt with cursorily: she’s a victim given material security but denied emotional warmth Yet it is her religiously complex background she was inspired by a story of how Japan’s Christians were ordered to step on an image of Christ or be killed She moved to the US as a student and headed for the experimental New York scene of the 1960s where the most extreme provocateurs were classical musicians and composers Sheff is determined to see Ono as a rebel against her upbringing but her father was a classical pianist whose family forced him to be a banker This high-cultural background ideally equipped her to contribute to the intellectual mayhem that was Fluxus an art movement partly inspired by John Cage issuing dreamlike instructions: “Carry a bag of peas Leave a pea wherever you go.” Sheff sees such art as a raw expression of trauma when it is many sided What could be more whimsical than a woman walking round New York with a bag of peas Even her atonal vocalising can be heard not as primal pain but primal joy Sheff has known Ono since doing the last interview with her and Lennon before Lennon was shot dead in December 1980 scoring a significant scoop in his interview with Sam Havadtoy We get a vivid picture of life at the Dakota Building where Ono was the business manager in the downstairs apartment while Lennon above was primary parent to their son Havadtoy is frank about the surreal scale of Ono’s reliance on tarot readers and fortune tellers at that time in which Ono gets her recognition from the art and music worlds is a tedious victory tour of quotations from cultural bigwigs I understand Sheff’s desire to give Ono her due – I am one of the enthusiasts he quotes perhaps it’s impossible to be objective about someone who has been living in a pop dream or nightmare in which hate and love are indistinguishable After Lennon was murdered Ono was subject to threats and home invasions from “fans” She doesn’t seem to have the choice to be neither Yoko: A Biography by David Sheff is published by Simon & Schuster (£25). To support the Guardian and the Observer buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com 2025Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.Save this storySaveSave this storySaveIn the nearly 45 years since John Lennon was killed outside The Dakota he’s remained both a legend and a man—thanks in no small part to Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon’s stewardship of his estate (I’m going to wait a second for the haters who never shut up to leave the room.) Kevin Macdonald’s new documentary with concert tracks produced by Sean himself State of Play) makes John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s long-lost Madison Square Garden concerts from 1972 the documentary’s centerpiece He captures the swirling larger context of the early ’70s when John and Yoko were living in Greenwich Village and their anti-war activism landed John on Nixon’s deportation list What makes the doc so inventive is how Macdonald intersperses the footage with vintage interviews and even anesthetizing TV commercials from back in the day his collage beautifully conjures a divisive era that may look a little familiar In advance of One to One’s theatrical run (it opens in IMAX theaters on April 11 before expanding) Sean Ono Lennon talked and emailed with Vanity Fair about the documentary and what his life is like as he approaches 50 but the thing that maybe people would expect me to be embarrassed by I was very proud of—which is I think her music is great Do you remember being in the studio with your parents as a little kid I remember being in the studio during Double Fantasy I remember them recording my voice and me not realizing that they were I just have these very vague memories of napping on the couch and stuff Now you must get people coming up to you and saying [Sings to the tune of “Beautiful Boy”] Ugly What was it like to go back and listen to the live tracks when you produced them for One to One It was really fun for me because the tracks were kind of a mess and I got to listen to the raw master tapes with Paul Hicks She hadn’t been a rock star or a pop artist before—she was an avant-garde conceptual artist who did installations and she did some experimental performances with John and Ornette Coleman But for her to just walk onstage at Madison Square Garden to do two sold-out shows in a single day—to have that kind of confidence and just do it—is something that I don’t think I could do I feel like I have memories of her telling me that she was influenced by avant-garde composers and she tried to incorporate those kinds of tones into her chords She wasn’t the most trained classical musician but I think she was more than most rock musicians She came to it from a pretty sophisticated place producing the music for One to One was an interesting challenge I hope you don’t mind me calling you a music nerd I really have enjoyed working on all my dad’s music and the stuff I’ve done with my mom it’s really fun to have challenges and overcome them It makes me feel really good that I can honestly say to myself that we’re making the best version of these recordings that people have ever heard but at least I can say that to myself with a straight face Your parents sing some powerful songs in the documentary John does “Mother,” and Yoko does “Don’t Worry Kyoko,” about the agony of being forcibly separated from her first child One to One is largely about an electric political moment in the ’70s but I don’t see how anybody could watch it and not be moved by the personal pain they’re singing about But when you are at the performance you see that my mom’s essentially doing a Jimi Hendrix feedback guitar solo—but with her voice It’s a very energetic kind of wild rock-and-roll energy I toured the world playing guitar in her band and people you might not expect to enjoy that kind of thing really did actually wind up kind of grooving to it Especially “Don’t Worry Kyoko.” That song is so heavy on so many levels because of what it’s about and then she’s wailing and it’s uncomfortable for people It’s wrenching to see your father sing “Mother.” What’s your relationship to that song these days it’s about his mom and dad both leaving him—in very different ways I grew up listening to “God” and “Mother” (sister tunes to my ears) and was very moved by them even before I could understand them You can hear the influence my mother had on his singing style as he screams at the end… You can tell my father is putting the elaborate surrealism of his past away for a more brutalist and raw type of expression The transformation in his style from Beatle to solo artist I think is unprecedented for someone of his stature it’s one of the best moments of the film and concert your mother did an excellent job of keeping your father’s music alive in the world I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the work you’re doing now because I’ve sometimes wondered if it’s hard for you to suddenly be a spokesperson for them I really love doing work that is meaningful to me personally And in terms of being a spokesperson—I don’t really want to be a spokesperson I don’t think you can really speak for other people I know a lot about their work and their intentions and where they were coming from—probably better than maybe anybody But I don’t want to be considered a spokesperson so it’s unfair to represent what he would think And my mother certainly is not the kind of person who wishes me to speak for her Your mother once told me that your dad worried the “business bastards” would have the two of you out on the street if he died your mom of course worried about what would happen to you if she died she brought you onstage at the Grammys partly to introduce you to the world so you’d be a little safer I would say that going to the Grammys for Double Fantasy was definitely a kind of a splash into cold water for me Now you must be worried about both John and Yoko and their legacies What you were saying about my mom working very hard to keep my dad in the zeitgeist—I think she did an amazing job But I think it’s almost harder than ever to keep an artist like my dad in the consciousness There’s hundreds of thousands of albums coming out every year So I do worry about people forgetting about John Lennon because I don’t think society should—or can afford to—forget about people like my dad or my mom She’s still present in the world and people are seeing her work all the time whereas my dad hasn’t been around for a while there was a core curriculum where you have to learn a certain number of masterpieces of music a certain number of masterpieces of literature I feel like society has shifted away from even believing in that kind of tradition I really think that not only do we owe it to future generations to keep Shakespeare and Socrates alive we also owe it to them to keep Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon alive When I was growing up—and that was the ’80s and ’90s even the early 2000s—you could argue people like Zeppelin and Hendrix and the Beatles and Stones were in the pantheon of these godlike figures The music they produce and the transformative ideas that they represented are really important I don’t think we can afford to forget them And I think that message is sadly as important One to One is experimental in the sense that you don’t know what’s going to come at you next—live music the film happens to be revolving around the central concert that happened Neilson Barnard/Getty Images.Tell me some music you love and listen to constantly I would actually send you a playlist if you want I listen to so many different kinds of music maybe most people do—but I’ll listen to one record every day for weeks Lennon—passionately and in too much detail to quote—recommends the indie band Warpaint the British pianist Tom Rogerson and his work with Brian Eno the virtuosic Swedish duo Mats/Morgan Band the longtime progressive-rock singer Peter Hammill and the electronic music artist who goes by the name Aphex Twin.] and I sit and I just look through the internet to find people who were in bands of bands of bands That’s honestly the best thing about the internet—researching music and cat videos Those are the two reasons I still have a computer You’ve always seemed to have good relationships with everybody in the Beatles family the idea that Julian and I were ever not close is wrong I think it’s because my mother and he had some disputes and his version of that story he was very public about I tend to not want to talk about family things like that Just my personal style—I think I inherited it from my mother He had a number one record when I was a tween so he was literally one of the reasons I started playing music And this idea that we were ever fighting is…it’s almost like the “Yoko broke up the Beatles” thing No matter how many times I say it’s not true no matter how many photos people see of us laughing and hanging out you should hang out with your brother.” I’m like I assume you have a good relationship with Paul McCartney too and he and [his wife] Nancy especially have been very kind And I’m very close with [Paul’s children] Stella and James Johm lennon and Yoko Ono in New York during the 70sCourtesy of Magnolia Pictures.Can I ask you how your mom is doing these days I would say that she’s very healthy for a 92-year-old It was wild to see the cast for the four Beatles movies that Sam Mendes is making Did you get to talk to him or to Harris Dickinson We are all in touch with Sam (the Beatles gang) I told him I am not interested in second-guessing his casting choices as a director Would anyone have expected Christian Bale to be a good Dick Cheney My interest has more to do with the scripts I have every confidence in Sam and Harris and the rest of the team but I’d like to read you a few sentences I wrote about you after meeting you 30 years ago and then have you tell me how it sounds to you “In person, Lennon is phosphorescent with love and awe for his mother But he’s dismissive of his own gifts: ‘I suck ‘You know what I mean?’” Does that sound like an accurate reflection of you at 20 It sounds like exactly the inner voice that I have to this day It is actually shocking how little I’ve changed I think of myself then as being a lot more arrogant I didn’t realize how self-aware I was at the time You definitely didn’t strike me as arrogant I remember making my first record—and making Rising—and just thinking everyone was going to love it tell me what you’re personally working on these days Les Claypool and I are trying to finish up this third Delirium album I feel very lucky in terms of the scope of projects I get to work on Then I got to do this box set for my dad that got a Grammy And I still get to have my own bands and my own studio and make music I feel very fortunate that I get to expose my brain to so many different things I think I have a good chance of keeping my neurons working This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity How Miriam Adelson Went From Big MAGA Winner to Casino Loser in Trump’s First 100 Days Trump’s Lies Are Finally Catching Up to Him The UK Has Found Another Reason to Be Mad at Meghan Markle “It’s About Him”: How Trump Is Perverting the Presidential Photo Stream The Ballad of Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson The Truth Underlying Pete Hegseth’s Job Security Why Are Americans So Obsessed With Protein How Sebastian Stan Became Hollywood’s Most Daring Shape-Shifter Every Quentin Tarantino Movie Meet Elon Musk’s 14 Children and Their Mothers (Whom We Know of) From the Archive: Sinatra and the Mob Video Game News 28th Apr 2025 / 10:59 am Posted by Nier creative director Yoko Taro has said that he thinks that AI could make all game developers unemployed in 50 years During an interview to promote his upcoming game Taro discussed the implementation of AI technology in game development and how he sees it impacting creative industries “I also think that AI will make all game creators unemployed,” he told Famitsu game creators may be treated like bards.” A Switch version of the game was released in October 2022 adding new costumes exclusive to that port we will move from an era where we have to imitate the style of our favorite creators to an era where we can have our favorite scenarios generated,” he continued “AI will determine the preferences of users and skillfully generate route branchings that they would want to read and the recommendation capabilities will continue to improve.” Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 director Daniel Vávra recently said that he hopes AI helps speed up the process of making games because he has “more ideas than I have time” generative AI has become a hot topic in video games with many voicing concerns about it potentially leading to job losses and widespread plagiarism He also said that he couldn’t think of any new guardrails that might be required to protect developers Jordan is a games journalist from Scotland, formerly of the BBC. Already a patron? Click the button below to log in with Patreon. Not a member yet? Visit our Patreon page to become a patron and get access to community discussions and other exclusive benefits. No comments yet. Be the first to join the discussion! © 1981 Media Ltd No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder Website by 44 Bytes In celebration of her upcoming retrospective in Chicago as well as her new biography and documentary explore Yoko Ono's career-long renegade attitude Although she essentially retired from the spotlight during the pandemic, 2025 is fast becoming the year of Yoko Ono The countercultural icon is the subject of both a new biography by longtime friend, writer David Sheff, and One to One: John and Yoko, a big screen documentary based on the titular 1972 benefit concert she staged with her other half. Both works further prove that Ono is far from the Beatles-destroying scarlet woman she’s been portrayed as ever since she met John Lennon She is a creative visionary in her own right Indeed, Ono, whose artwork retrospective, Music of the Mind, hits Chicago’s Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art in October Not only did she — according to the court of public opinion anyway — facilitate the break-up of the world’s most influential band she also steered its leader toward an experimental world that most of the mainstream found impenetrable the British press were so hostile toward Ono that she and Lennon had no choice but to flee to the other side of the Atlantic To paraphrase one of her defining musical endeavors here are nine reasons why everyone should give Yoko a chance Ono also collaborated with and drew influences from some of the most forward-thinking names in the creative world. She joined the periphery of Fluxus, an innovative avant-garde collective heavily inspired by the Dadaist movement. Meanwhile, her Manhattan loft hosted performances from minimalistic genius LaMonte Young and classes from her celebrated music theorist mentor John Cage In the same year that their great love story began, John Lennon and Yoko Ono also decided to make sweet, if highly experimental, music together. Initially credited to their own names, the duo's prolific output was eventually released under the umbrella of Plastic Ono Band And while the former Beatle inevitably attracted the most attention his wife was often the driving creative force Lennon won four GRAMMYs during his time with the Beatles but his only accolade outside the Fab Four came posthumously when Double Fantasy was crowned Album Of The Year in 1982 the late singer also had to share the award with his widow who penned and performed half of its 14 tracks Lennon's offerings might have provided the hits — "Watching the Wheels," "Woman," and chart-topper "Just Like (Starting Over)" all made the upper reaches of the Hot 100 But Ono contributions such as the new wave disco of "Kiss Kiss Kiss," big band throwback "Yes I'm Your Angel," and heartfelt familial tribute "Beautiful Boys" all helped to maintain a dialogue which tragically considering the events immediately after the release suggested they were still in the full throes of domestic bliss As the saying goes, from great suffering comes great art. Alongside the likes of Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell, Nick Cave's Skeleton Tree Ono's fifth LP Season of Glass is widely accepted as one of the all-time great albums spawned from a period of unimaginable grief Ono clearly refused to shy away from her partner Lennon's shocking murder the record is adorned with the controversial image of his bloodstained glasses while "No No No" opens with the sound of four gunshots and a piercing scream But the newly widowed star also manages to capture both her innate sadness and that of the entire world on a string of affecting alternative lullabies with "Even When You’re Far Away" featuring a heartbreaking narration from then-five-year-old son Sean While most of Ono's chart success has been in conjunction with her late husband, the cult favorite still has several solo hits under her belt. "Walking on Thin Ice," for example, reached No. 58 on the Hot 100 and made the Top 40 across the other side of the Atlantic It also gave the maverick her only solo GRAMMY nod in the category of Best Rock Vocal Performance Ono also graced the Billboard 200 with five of her first six albums Starpeace's lead single "Hell in Paradise" made it to No.12 on the U.S While that would be Ono's last notable chart action for a good 16 years she came back with a vengeance in the early 2000s After a decade in the musical wilderness, Ono returned to the fray with 1995's Rising and an accompanying remix album which featured contributions from Adam Yauch, Ween, and Tricky It was a comeback which not only introduced her to a whole new generation but also sparked a well-deserved reevaluation of her pioneering career it has been my position that her songwriting has been criminally overlooked."  In 2003, Ono highlighted once again how she's a master of reinvention when she fully embraced the dance music scene, dropping her Christian name for a series of floorfilling collabs with the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia The new version of "Walking on Thin Ice" even topped Billboard's Dance Club chart "But now that I am very involved with making dance tracks Ono has also spread her message at high profile events such as the 2006 Winter Olympics, conceived the LennonOno Grant for Peace to help artists living in areas of conflict, and helped to design the Imagine Peace Tower a light memorial at Iceland's Viðey Island honoring Lennon's signature hit As someone who's arguably endured and overcome more misogyny than any other figure in rock 'n' roll Ono has deservedly been hailed as a feminist icon But she's also earned that label through her own agency particularly the powerful themes and messages in her creative endeavors Welcome AAPI Heritage Month 2025 With A Playlist Featuring JENNIE Meet Lyn Lapid: Definitely Not A 'Buzzkill' TOKiMONSTA On Grief & Good Music: How 'Eternal Reverie' Pays Homage To Everlasting Friendship Kalani Pe'a's Guide To Hawaiian Music: 10 Releases That Showcase The Magic Of The Islands Margaret Cho's Musical Gift: The Comedian's On Her New Album Of Vulnerable From Fanny To Madam Wong's & The GRAMMYs: How The Asian Community Has Impacted Rock 10 Rising Japanese Pop Groups To Know: Number_i 6 Indian Hip-Hop Artists To Know: Hanumankind 5 Songs To Get Into Japanese Breakfast: Tracks From 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women),' 'Jubilee' & More 10 K-Pop Songs That Celebrate Women's Strength & Authenticity JO1's Big Year: Follow The J-Pop Group's Rise Appearance To One Of Japan's Biggest Venues Breaking Down Every Solo Act From BTS: Singles Debut Albums & What's Next For The Septet Get To Know The Many Sounds Of Asian Pop: From The Philippines' BGYO To Hong Kong's Tyson Yoshi & Thai Singer Phum Viphurit A Guide To Cantopop: From Beyond And Sam Hui To Anita Mui 5 Artists Showing The Future Of AAPI Representation In Rap: Audrey Nuna The Evolution Of Bollywood Music In 10 Songs: From "Awaara Hoon" To "Naatu Naatu" How Arooj Aftab Reimagined Genre & Made GRAMMY History | Run The World The K-Pop Group Nile Rodgers Chose For His First Foray Into The Genre 5 Things To Know About Yoshiki: A Musical Childhood 5 AAPI Arts Organizations To Support (And 5 Awesome AAPI Initiatives To Back Recording Academy AAPI Members & Leaders On Where The Fight's Led Them And The Road Ahead Silence Is Golden: Chad Hugo On The Neptunes’ Otherworldly Success Composers Of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Behind The Smoke & Mirrors With Japanese Psych-Rock Legends Kikagaku Moyo How Avicii Inspired CHYL To Leave Finance For A Full-Time Career In Music | Behind The Board Tyler Shaw & Taku Hirano Talk Experiences In Music Industry Subtleties & Purpose: 7 Musicians Pushing Ancient Asian Instruments Into The Future Alex Ritchie & More During "Let Our Story Be Heard: A Conversation With AAPI Creators And Professionals" Smith/Getty Images; Scott Dudelson/Getty Images; Justin Shin/Getty Images; John Nacion/Getty Images This genre-spanning playlist features tracks by emerging and established artists — from Toro y Moi and Saweetie to Hana Vu resilient history and achievements of Asian and Pacific Islander communities have been celebrated in the United States as AAPI Heritage Month these artists and their American peers are breaking down the stereotype that AAPI artists are confined to a single sound Celebrate the AAPI experience with GRAMMY.com’s genre-spanning playlist below featuring 20 songs from familiar favorites and rising stars alike 'Simula At Wakas,' out in the world the quintet share stories and meanings behind some of their most important songs Filipino pop group SB19 are characterized by their daring spirit — no challenge is too big or too arduous for the quintet to endure. Since debuting in 2018, the group have earned both international and local accolades, achieved historic firsts and have helped bring P-pop beyond its borders SB19's journey began when members Pablo Ken and Justin were recruited by a Korean company to create a Filipino group meant for the global spotlight SB19's trainee process was rigorous and filled with exhausting days that not only calibrated their technical abilities "Each one of us had a different perception back then and we used to dream quite differently about the artists we wanted to be in the future," Justin tells GRAMMY.com "I think we're just still on the quest of achieving our dreams Though their success was not without setbacks, from a possible early dissolution to dealing with hostile remarks online and the group are now celebrated for their razor-sharp vocal dexterity and genre-defying soundscape Read more: 14 Pinoy Pop Acts You Should Know: G22, Maki, KAIA, ALAMAT, & More A big part of SB19's prosperity is a result of their creative freedom skillfully orchestrated by group leader Pablo SB19 have developed a distinct artistic voice — one that found clarity with their first EP and became even more vibrant with its sequel the group finds its way back together with Simula At Wakas ("Start and End" in English) the group's third extended play is a return to form that brings the trilogy to a close while opening a new chapter Learn more: Get To Know The Many Sounds Of Asian Pop: From The Philippines' BGYO To Hong Kong's Tyson Yoshi & Thai Singer Phum Viphurit With the release of Simula At Wakas already here take a journey through five songs that trace SB19's story —– with insights from the members themselves The lyrics of "Go Up" — SB19's second single after their debut — manifest the group's determination to earn their place in the Filipino music industry That strong-willed fire comes through over an energetic pop backdrop with each section underscoring the song's message of persevering against all odds "All your doubts (Doubt) / Are my wings just like Garuda's (Ruda) / 'Cause I'm gonna go up!" The track could have been SB19's final shot, as the quintet poured everything into a last-ditch effort to breakthrough. While initial reception was underwhelming, destiny intervened when a user on X (formerly Twitter) shared a video of the group's dance practice — a routine the members have said they rehearsed a thousand times The clip went viral and ultimately saved their careers "We were on the verge of giving up," Josh shares we would disband the group already." A few weeks after releasing their dance practice "we were blowing up and surprised about the turnaround." It is a watershed moment and one the group still considers crucial Ken describes "Go Up," as a song that "keeps us grounded" because it is an anchor that reminds them of their roots: the countless hours of practice and the obstacles that once threatened to bring them down "I'm just happy whenever I hear 'Go Up' because I remember our trainee days," says Pablo but we had each other and that's all we needed." Though "MAPA" is an emotional and sonic departure from SB19's usual intensity it is the shiniest jewel in their discography The title of the song combines the syllables "MA" from mama (mother) and "PA" from papa (father) while also referencing the English word "map," conveying how SB19's parents have been the guiding map that has led their way "MAPA" was created during the early uncertain days of the pandemic to express the group's gratitude for their parents' unconditional love "We are trying to achieve our goals and dreams we tend to neglect the important things," he explains "One very important thing for me is my family because I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for them They sacrificed a lot for me to be able to go through this path I just want to reciprocate all the love that I have received from them through this music and through what we're doing right now." The magic of "MAPA" lies in its poignant depth the importance of family gives the track even greater resonance — particularly for Filipinos living abroad and I think they miss their families back here," he says "We see some Filipinos reacting to our videos and they cry their hearts out just because of the song Pablo adds that the first melodies are especially meaningful and "very real" to him as they are inspired by a cherished memory of his grandmother but I remember her singing those [melodies] to me when I was a kid but I can only thank her from the Philippines but I know that she's in good hands." From the beginning, SB19 encountered criticism — not just for their appearance, but also for allegedly lacking "their own identity" and copying K-pop groups The quintet turned that rejection into fuel with the defiant "Bazinga," the third single from Pagsibol The title originates from the catchphrase "Bazinga!" popularized by Sheldon Cooper the eccentric protagonist of "The Big Bang Theory"  — one of Pablo's favorite series But while Sheldon used it as an ironic punchline Pablo redefined it as both defiance and proud self-affirmation and I'll burn y'all 'til I die "When you're starting to get recognition haters will definitely come and a lot of people will not really like what you are doing so you cannot please everyone," says Justin of the song's temper "We just wanted to show we won’t be affected by the negativities that they are giving and we're just making fun of all the things they throw against us." "Bazinga" topped Billboard's Hot Trending Songs chart for 26 weeks there was no better response to the pushback than turning it into success it sounds like you're teasing someone and the whole messaging of the song really contributed to clapping back at the haters who have been putting us down," says Pablo "GENTO" is one of the most iconic tracks that captures SB19's ethos: a volcanic presence on stage and a fierce sound that remains true to its message The song elevated the group's fame to another level; "I think 'Gento' is the one song that opened lots of doors for people to know who SB19 is," Pablo says "GENTO" — another Pablo composition this time in collaboration with his brother Joshua Daniel Nase and Filipino Canadian producer Simon Servida —  incorporates hip-hop elements where a thumping bass drives the rhythm and highlights the group's diverse vocal tones Ken notes that the song's pinnacle comes in the final section when the sound of a flute breaks in and intensifies the weight of the melody "That flute is not the kind of instrument that is commonly used by a lot of producers and modern hip-hop," he says "I think that one instrument gives that punch and nasty kind of feeling to 'GENTO.'"  SB19 used "GENTO" to mirror how they've risen and shaped their identity That's not to say they're arrogant The word "GENTO" isn't chosen at random: it comes from the Caviteño dialect of Filipino and it's a variation of ganito (or "like this" in English) while also referencing ginto The song was paired with high-octane choreography that sparked a viral TikTok trend — with many artists ranging from K-pop stars to professional dancers joining in When asked about the secret to its popularity Stell suggests it likely stems from the song's imposing nature it gives you a different aura you're not used to That's the one reason why a lot of dancers and artists did the choreography The group hadn’t anticipated such an explosive response I'm not sure or I don't know how it [happened]," Pablo admits with a laugh we were shocked that 'GENTO' was going viral and even the K-pop artists that we look up in terms of performance they did 'GENTO.' It's a really SB19 opened the Simula At Wakas era with the release of "DAM," a song with an anthemic gravitas This single is game-changing: it embodies their decision to take full control of their careers and reaffirms the artistic direction they wish to pursue "It's been a year since we started our own company [called 1Z Entertainment] 'DAM,' is the first and the biggest project that is really 100 percent controlled by us," says Justin who also serves as the creative director of the group as well as other P-pop artists "We really went all out and just did whatever we wanted and whatever we could." Taking the word "pakiramdam," which translates to "feeling" in English and Filipino folk — palpites with the strength of those who refuse to surrender The members of SB19 take on the roles of wizards and warriors each confronting their own battles — a nod to their personal stories — which ultimately converge at the Tree of Life so we had these meetings and brainstormed to find the right ingredients to make it close to perfection," Josh explains but it's perfect to us because it's authentic We had this ambitious idea that we had to go medieval and it was not a common theme or concept in the Philippines because it was tough to pull off." a new rebirth for a group that's never content with past achievements and will continue to set its sights higher and further Key Glock On Channeling 2Pac With 'Glockaveli' & How The New Album Marks A "Rebranding" 6 Tips For Financial Literacy In Music From The Black Women's Brilliance Brunch Eric Church Reveals His 6 Most Important Songs Isaiah Falls Brings Southern Swagger To R&B With His Debut Album ‘LVRS Paradise’ The 22-year-old singer/songwriter unpacks her debut album which is filled with unfiltered observations about moving to Los Angeles and finding herself along the way In the music video for "i’ll be happy when," Lyn Lapid performs with her band to a largely disinterested audience at a house party As she reflects on her life in Los Angeles and the feeling of being invisible Lapid begins repeating the line: "Will I be a buzzkill forever?" The video is a case of art imitating life for the 22-year-old Filipino American singer/songwriter and morphing myself into a version that could be liked by everybody [in person and] online," Lapid tells GRAMMY.com "I never felt so miserable because I wasn’t being true to myself I was doing things I don’t even like to do for the sake of not being alone." "I’m so grateful for writing Buzzkill because that was my thought process of navigating that part of my life where I’m trying to figure out what I truly value and need to let go of." Written over a year and a half and imbued with a soft and soulful tone over a bed of R&B Buzzkill is some of Lapid's most vulnerable work While her previous EPs did touch on growing up feeling like an outsider and situationships she says Buzzkill focused on coming of age as an adult Her song "Cruise Control" was used in the Disney/Pixar film Inside Out 2 "Producer Man" was about a sketchy music producer who wanted Lapid to change everything about herself to cater to the music industry Lapid did what she knew best: wrote a song about it to remind herself never to give into the temptation of fame and success even after signing with Republic Records (now Mercury Records) and releasing five EPs "My definition of success is connecting with people who feel alone and making them feel seen," she says GRAMMY.com spoke to Lyn Lapid about her Buzzkill and upcoming world tour The singer details how her EPs influenced the sound of her debut album and what she’s looking forward to in the years ahead This interview has been edited for brevity How do you feel about your debut album's upcoming release and world tour I’m so honest in this album about personal things in my life [and] putting it out into the world is going to be very vulnerable I have no idea how my fans are going to react I wasn’t focused on [creating] a sound that people wanted to hear [I was] making a sound that was true to my artist project — and to me Tell me the significance of your album and tour title; what is your definition of a buzzkill "Buzzkill" was such a keyword that I always came back to while writing the album I wrote the album about my first year living in a new city Everybody talks about "coming of age" being in your teens…but nobody talks about "coming of age" in your 20s and making friends as adults I felt like everything I knew initially was wrong about how to make friends and [the culture] between the East Coast and the West Coast I’m the type of person to keep my circle small and I can’t fake a conversation or an interaction It’s very different over here with the people; everywhere I went I felt like a buzzkill because I wouldn’t click with the people I was meeting So "buzzkill" was just that word I kept [returning] to because I was trying to find my way while living in L.A The moral of Buzzkill is that you only feel like a buzzkill with the wrong people and making new friends: I needed to let go of my need to be liked or want[ing] to be [everyone’s] friend and just allow myself to find the people who don’t make me feel like a buzzkill tells a story about relationships and the perception of love How have these EPs prepared you for this album I was finding my sound and style lyrically I was very experimental with where I wanted to take my sound and trying to figure everything out To love in the 21st century is when I honed in on one certain sound They’re very cohesive with what they’re about I truly felt this is the north star where I wanted to be sonically I was finally able to hone in on that sound Jumping off the title of "i’ll be happy when," when do you Buzzkill was that self-discovery journey to find true contentment with myself The album starts where I’m unsure of where I belong I’m trying to figure out who I am and my values I’ve realized that I need to let go of the need to be liked by everybody and wanting to fit in every room with every person I meet It’s letting go of that control and allowing myself to let go and find the people that truly matter in my life That’s my definition of true happiness in my personal life I have so many bad habits with numbers and falling into the rabbit hole of toxic ways to use success and money I view success and true happiness as making music that I resonate with and is authentic to me and my artist project It’s seeing the true fans that resonate with that and the music What is your favorite track or lyric from Buzzkill It switches all the time based on how I’m feeling But the one [that I really got] to be vulnerable [on] was "floater friend." Sad songs are written all the time but this one [was] real feelings that I’m writing about real people [and] the people in my life who care about me will hear this for the first time so it will be interesting to see [their reactions] This song is [my most] vulnerable on this project You started in this industry at 17 and are now 22 What have you learned throughout this process With my songwriting and songs over the years you can hear the progression of finding the sound I love making It’s just the process of allowing time to hone in on my craft and run new sounds that I love running into new artists that I vibe with sonically and lyrically You’ve previously collaborated with artists such as mxmtoon Are there any others you’d be interested in collaborating with One artist I felt was my north star sonically and lyrically when I was making [Buzzkill] is Olivia Dean sonically — and the pure joy she puts out when performing and putting out music That’s definitely the vibe I wanted with this project and a collab with her would be a dream of mine This generation of young adults prefers short-form content like TikTok How do you keep up with the ever-changing internet trends and do you feel that artists need to do it to keep up I’m still trying to figure out my algorithm and the right way to promote my music to reach new fanbases and audiences I had no idea what I was doing with social media when I started; even now The algorithm and social media are changing so much every day It’s really a guessing game on what does well online and what niche I should craft How have the internet and social media changed your life and perspective of the music industry Social media essentially started my career It was easy for me to sink into unhealthy and toxic ways to view social media…and be caught up in the number of likes and views this sound [or lyric] does well online or this kind of content or sounds that weren’t authentic to me I felt like I had to push myself for the sake of views or likes I’m still trying to figure out my relationship with social media and how that influences my music and songwriting How do you deal with content creation burnout or even musical burnout There was a moment near the end of making Buzzkill where I was in sessions every single day; different sessions I’m the type to keep going and working to push myself I was so socially and creatively burnt out by all the different ways I could write about my experiences in real time I [tell] my team and everyone close to me that this is where my head is and I need to step back for the longevity of my career Do you feel you grew up fast and never enjoyed the process of your young adult life I compare my life heavily to the friends I grew up with They followed the traditional path of attending a four-year college I felt like an outsider going into such an intense career at a young age The ways I would make friends would be very different from [meeting friends in college] Being thrown into the industry at such a young age was overwhelming I wouldn’t say I lost the chance to experience making friends and finding my way in growing up while in the industry But it’s very different from what I was expecting in my 20s The 16-year-old me would look at me now with her jaw on the floor [amazed] that this is my life What do you hope to achieve in the next five years I just want to be able to continue to make music that resonates with people and find those people who feel seen in this situation — whether it be happy or sad I definitely want to level up as an artist and find those people on a bigger scale as much as any artist does tell myself that I am still authentic with my music I want to still be authentic with myself and be surrounded by the people who value that I am excited for the fans to see the new set I played the same set; slightly different songs every time as time progressed But this is the set where everything is new I’m not abandoning all my old music and songs in my catalog There are many songs that I wrote for this album that didn’t make the cut but I knew I didn’t want to completely abandon them I definitely have plans to incorporate them into the set somehow maybe performing them at the small VIP section before the concert or having a moment in the set where I sing it live anyway 2025 GRAMMYs nominee Kalani Pe’a reflects on the tragedy of the L.A wildfires and his own experience using art as action following the devastating 2023 Maui fires sharing some of his favorite uplifting music from the Hawaiian islands The 2025 GRAMMYs, officially known as the 67th GRAMMY Awards, will air live on CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday, Feb. 2. Watch highlights from the 2025 GRAMMYs on live.GRAMMY.com The 2025 GRAMMYs telecast will be reimagined to raise funds to support wildfire relief efforts and aid music professionals impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles. Donate to the Recording Academy's and MusiCares' Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort To Support Music Professionals Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted before the onset of the wildfires in Los Angeles The artist has since addressed the situation Hilo, Hawaii, native Kalani Pe’a is an advocate for his homeland and heritage The GRAMMY-winning artist views music not just as a joy or a career path and the importance of music as a tool for healing was front and center following the devastating wildfires that swept the island of Maui in August 2023 feel and hear the stories unfold about the wildfires in L.A triggers many of us residents here on Maui," Pe'a tells GRAMMY.com reflecting on the shared tragedy of losing homes "We can only do so much as musicians and Hawaiian cultural practitioners of our community but we all had kuleana (responsibility) to assist each other as civic and civil leaders and as first responders."  Immediately after the Maui fires, Pe'a, his husband, and team created a benefit concert for affected families and friends, raising $150,000. Working with local non-profit ʻĀina Momona, Pe'a and his team disbursed funds to families in need and hosted a live streamed event, Wiwoʻole Benefit Concert "Wiwoʻole means courageous or bravery as Maui came together as a strong community to support each other during these trials and tribulations," Pe'a notes "We want to express our love and empathy to my friends and families who lost everything in the L.A wildfires and demonstrate the significance of being wiwoʻole during this time," the GRAMMY-winning artist continues "We hope this year's GRAMMY Awards ceremonies and festivities pivot to ensure that we focus on giving back and supporting our California residents The meaning of Kuini, which translates to queen, runs deep for Pe’a. In his words, the album honors the many women, matriarchs, and goddesses who have shaped his Hawaiian identity. The title track was written for his childhood friend Kumuhula Leialoha Kaʻula, and also honors the people of Niʻihau for lei-making traditions "This album is a compilation of original music and some favorite covers of mine to honor the people who are definitely queens in my life," Pe’a shares with GRAMMY.com Read more: 2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List engaging with music helped Pe’a through a speech impediment Pe’a went on to perform in various choirs and competitions as a child now as the first Hawaiian artist to win a GRAMMY Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album it’s evident that Pe’a’s musical storytelling intersects with his status as a proud Hawaiian language practitioner of over 35 years While Pe’a sings in the traditional Hawaiian language on Kuini and his other albums he identifies as a contemporary soul artist emphasizing his role as a modern composer and advocate He often sings to audiences who do not know Hawaiian fluently he takes the time to share context about his music and the islands before performing Pe’a views Hawaii as a "little dot" on the world map his poignant music has helped propel Hawaiian music to more global audiences Watch: Positive Vibes Only: Kalani Pe'a Whisks Us Away To Hawaii With A Feel-Good Performance Of "E Nā Kini" Kalani Pe’a shared with GRAMMY.com a specially curated list honoring Hawaiian musical legends and loved ones Read on to learn about 10 of the artist’s favorite songs and albums from the islands Loyal Garner passed away 23 years ago She has an album called The Best of Loyal and I sing her song "Ha’a Hula," which talks about perpetuation of hula and the art of hula; I did the cover on my third GRAMMY-winning album in my version while honoring Loyal Garner but I know she's here spiritually with me because I love to wear sparkly bedazzled shoes and outfits I love Uncle Willie K Pull up his version of "O Holy Night" — this is the reason why I sing "O Holy Night," we're tenors Uncle Willie Kay was my mentor and advisor He passed away suddenly years ago from cancer and I honor his legacy by singing his song "Katchi Katchi Music Makawao." It's an upbeat song to talk about my favorite town He's really uncle status; an amazing Hawaii entertainer. He's had huge concerts on Maui where he was definitely close with Steven Tyler, Alice Cooper and I was there to witness this in person…  Uncle Willie K, to me, sets out that caliber with the one and only Elton John Uncle Willie K can play any instrument and sing anything He's one of my most favorite Hawaiian male vocalists ever The iconic Lim family of Kohala Hawaii — I love their song "Pua 'Ōlena." "Pua 'Ōlena" is a flower It talks about a person and comparing their beauty to the flower one of my favorite oldie but goodies songs from their album Launaʻole which is also called Launaʻole: Unequalled Kimié Miner is my husband's childhood friend She's a GRAMMY-nominated producer… and this song It talks about strengthening yourself like a bamboo It's [about] identifying love [and] loving yourself first really a source of holding water and through life So that's the hidden message in this song "Bamboo" really is a self-loving song; you need to love yourself before you love others you need to listen to "Bamboo" for my girlfriend She's an amazing female vocalist of Hawaii I have another iconic singer, Amy Hānaial'i who's a six-time GRAMMY nominee and a dear friend of mine She's performed on a few of my GRAMMY-winning albums She is an amazing singer songwriter from Hawaii I love her version of "Ave Maria" from her Christmas album and I play it constantly during Christmas.** Her album Noelani — stunning — is GRAMMY-nominated. Natalie [Ai Kamauu] is six-time Hawaii Female Vocalist of the Year at the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards and I love her song "No Waimea Ke Aloha." She currently lives in Waimea on the big island where I was born and raised in Hilo My great great great grandparents come from Maui and she sings about one of my favorite towns It’s like a love song [that] talks about the misty rain of Waimea come on when you're swimming in warm water I love Dennis Kamakahi He passed away years ago; he was an artist that was definitely recognizable and respected but his style was unique and his songwriting was very modern like how I sing my Hawaiian music with some of the faster songs "E Nā Kini" [is a song] that he co-composed with another composer "E Nā Kini" is a song I redid on my first GRAMMY-winning album to honor Dennis Kamakahi So these are some of the cover songs I did; most of my albums have our original songs composed by me or others In "E Nā Kini," he talks about unifying our people and bringing peace and unity to the people of Hawaii but the lyrics were written by someone else it was to bring peace and unity for the people of Hawaii when we faced this pandemic called Hansen's Disease Our people were sequestered from their families and were forced to live on this island called Kolomakoi really affected a lot of our people in our community Then we have Ho’okena of Ho’okena 3.0 — they're dear friends of mine and I love their version of "Keōkea Pāka," [which] talks about a park A lot of our songs talk about places and people we love and we don't know why they compose or sing about these places I can talk about a flower or a park or this type of rainfall that hits me or this gust of wind that makes me feel so tickled inside But we don't know what it's all about until you really truly get the answer from the composer/singer There's hidden messaging and poetry behind these songs So "Keōkea Pāka" talks about this park I don't know what people do in this park All I know is that it's a fun song to dance to We have "Ho'onanea" from Lena Machado one of the four covers out of the seven originals This is a song called "Ho'onanea" and I do it in falsetto going from one range to a higher mixed range — head voice range — where love is identified and demonstrated and applied in that type of arrangement [for example,] if I'm talking about [a love song about] two birds chirping translates]: "Let's chirp like the birds let's make love like the birds soaring in the wind." Isn't that just so beautiful to hear the way that falsetto carries is like the way the birds chirp and soar in the wind So this is the beauty about this songwriter Lena Machado She wrote it in the 1930s and re-recorded it in the '70s So we don't know if it's the same lover it's a love song and I love it so much The last song is from my dear friend. We tour a lot in Japan. Japan treats me like Michael Jackson Weldon Kekauoha is a dear friend of mine and the way he sings this song he's a God-fearing man and I just love his energy "Thank You Lord" from his album Ka Lehua 'Ula just hits the spot It's like the perfect last song for any concert or anything When you're feeling down and you just need to meditate and pray this song "Thank You Lord" is my go-to song every time I look up to him and he's definitely an amazing singer/songwriter Kalani Pe'a Honors Hawaii With 2025 GRAMMY Win GRAMMY Viewers Contributed $10 Million To L.A Here Are All The Ways The Recording Academy Impacted The Music Community In 2024: GRAMMY Impact Report On 'Tsunami Sea,' Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante Contemplates Adversity RECORDING ACADEMY MEMBERSHIP ADVOCACY MUSICARES LATIN GRAMMYS GRAMMY MUSEUM Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates John Lennon and Yoko Ono performing on the ABC TV special 'John Lennon and Yoko Ono Present the One-to-One Concert' at Madison Square Garden A new documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono dives into the couple's story following a performance they gave together in the early 1970s was embroiled in the Vietnam War amid a growing anti-war movement among Americans and the film uses the concert as a jumping off point to explore how Lennon was using his platform to make a positive impact and call for peace Director Kevin MacDonald made the film with restored footage of the landmark performances and Lennon and Ono’s son Sean Lennon gave him permission to use hours of phone conversations that the rockstar had recorded in the 1970s.  The couple championed not only radical political activism but also radical love TIME talked to Sean Lennon about his parents’ love story and the documentary’s important lesson for 2025 At the time of the One-to-One concert, John Lennon had been married to the artist Yoko Ono for three years They were living in Greenwich Village—sleeping in a bed made of a church pew—and they had recently released an album Ono was an important part of Lennon’s political awakening The two had captured widespread attention in 1969 for their “bed-in,” in which they stayed in bed for a week in a dramatic anti-war protest.   “I started waking up,” Lennon says of Ono’s effect on him in an interview featured in the film.  One to One is full of quotable words of wisdom from the British rocker “It’s easier to shout revolution and 'power to the people' than look at yourself,” as he told one interviewer Audio footage included in the film reveals that Lennon dreamt of  a “Free the People” tour in 1972 in which he’d pay for the release of prisoners in every city where he performed ending in Miami during the Republican National Convention.  his ideas were so radical that President Nixon tried to deport him and he became the subject of FBI surveillance Lennon started wiretapping his own phone “in case the FBI accused him of something,” Sean Lennon tells TIME among the rallies that John attended was a rally for feminists with Ono She has often been blamed for breaking up the Beatles he sits beside her while she opens up about “how hard it is for women,” the hate she gets about being married to the rock star and the people who repeatedly tell her to stop making radical art “The myth that my mother was some kind of villain who broke up the Beatles is past its time—very few people will watch this movie and hold on to that,” Lennon says “I think people realize she was a lot more than that She was simply an artist who fell in love with a musician.” Lennon says there is a lot of misogyny in the idea that his mother maybe society would have accepted her more easily,” he says Lennon’s life was cut short at an early age. At 40, he was assassinated on Dec outside of the exclusive Dakota apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Sean Lennon was only five years old when his father died, but he remembers his dad showing him how to swim “I became a musician because I missed him,” he says so playing music made me feel like I was connected to him I became preoccupied with playing piano and learning guitar because there was this empty space where my dad was supposed to be.” Their message is still relevant five decades later. “I don't think my parents ever imagined that we'd still be entrenched in multiple foreign wars, it's really sad,” Lennon says. “I definitely ascribe to this idea that we'll never reach the stars or populate another solar system if we can't get past killing each other.” TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website Offers may be subject to change without notice The Evangelion concert is slated for August 22 and will be a ticketed event Takahashi performed the opening song “A Cruel Angel's Thesis” for the television anime, as well as the theme song "Soul's Refrain" for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth" film Takahashi is performing in select shows for the "Evangelion Wind Symphony" concert for the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and Rebuild of Evangelion films to North America in August The agency hololive's talents Momosuzu Nene, Mori Calliope and Nerissa Ravencroft will perform in a live concert on August 22 Calliope performed the ending theme song "Go-Getters" for the Suicide Squad ISEKAI anime Japanese actor Iwanaga is known for his role as Kuroto Dan in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and will make his U.S Japanese actor Izumi is a prolific special effects show actor This year's Anime NYC has expanded to a four-day event (Thursday to Sunday) for the first time Anime NYC launched in November 2017, and has taken place in November each year until in 2024, when it moved to August and used the full main building of the Javits Center for the first time Sources: Anime NYC's X/Twitter account, (link 2), Anime NYC's official website, (link 2) Christine Feldman-Barrett does not work for own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment Griffith University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU View all partners she fled to the safety of a farming village in Nagano Prefecture often had to help find provisions for her family while she and her brother Keisuke were lying down looking up at the sky she asked him to create a dream menu: if access was no obstacle Her brother believes this was her first work of conceptual art This is difficult to argue with, given so much of Ono’s art has recurring motifs of hope and joyful human interaction. David Sheff’s Yoko is the latest offering in a new generation of books revisiting Ono and her legacy within popular culture It creates a portrait of an artist – now 92 – who has championed the power of positivity Review: Yoko: A Biography – David Sheff (Simon & Schuster) Ono’s career as a conceptual artist was well underway by the time she met John Lennon in 1966 when he visited her about-to-be-staged solo exhibition in London a misogynistic narrative swiftly blamed her for playing a substantial role in the band’s demise Journalists and fans accused Ono of being a “homewrecker” (Lennon was still married when they became a couple) but the conceptual artist’s even greater sin seemed to be that she was not a blonde leggy model typical of rock-star girlfriends It is little wonder that, a few years later, some of her songwriting would call upon the image of the witch – a historical figure especially symbolic of women’s misrepresentation within society. Ono’s reclamation, through songs like Woman of Salem (1973) and Yes, I’m a Witch (1974) – also the title of her 2007 album – is fitting The 1968 release of the Lennon–Ono album Two Virgins which featured experimental music and had the couple pose nude for its cover people went from attacking Yoko as a homewrecker to accusing her of destroying Lennon as an artist Talk of John being under Yoko’s spell percolated; she was forcing him to do outrageous – nutty musician and woman – has experienced her own set of witch trials Some still blame her for the Beatles’ breakup see her conceptual art as nonsensical garbage or believe her own musical output is nothing more than a screaming banshee’s wail Correctives to such unforgiving and tired narratives are necessary This is why David Sheff’s biography is so important Sheff admits from the outset that his position as biographer is paired with that of a longtime friend But he also assures readers he did his “best to strip the varnish away” to reveal a more authentic Ono That close proximity to his subject makes for a compelling account The journalist met Lennon and Ono in September 1980 spending several weeks with them to write a magazine profile They were happy with the resulting article Sheff became good friends with Ono and got to know their son Sean becoming one of those who helped her survive “the season of glass” following Lennon’s murder she and Sean “helped save the life” of Sheff’s son during a period of homelessness and drug addiction Ono later granted Sheff permission to title the memoir about his son “Beautiful Boy” while drawing upon his own experiences with Ono which speaks to Ono’s interest in creative visualisation believed that the words she used – in everything from song titles to conversation – would influence the future She wanted to fill her brain with positive thoughts Some have refused to believe this benevolent Yoko Ono exists Her father was a bank executive while her mother’s family were responsible for what later became Fuji Bank which also saw her family move between Japan and the United States she felt her parents were emotionally distant she received mixed messages about what they saw as her purpose in life: was it marriage or a career she was hosting art and music events at a loft she rented in New York’s bohemian downtown Performing and exhibiting her own work soon followed sculptor and film producer who rescued her from a mental hospital in Tokyo where she was placed after a series of suicide attempts that followed a barrage of criticism of her work “She was trying to connect through her work but she’d never felt more alone,” Sheff writes With Cox, who she was still married to when she met Lennon, she had a daughter, Kyoko, in 1963. A year later – with her husband’s encouragement – a book called Grapefruit her life had turned around and she was newly motivated to share her art with the world Sheff smartly conveys the first moments Ono and Lennon realised they were on the same wavelength: as artists and as people when Lennon visited Ono’s Indica exhibition in London he climbed a ladder and held up a magnifying glass to the ceiling Another piece he noticed was Painting to Hammer a Nail Lennon then offered her an imaginary five shillings to hammer in an equally imaginary nail Lennon was struck with the positivity and humour inherent in Ono’s work: it contradicted his view of avant-garde art as pretentious and overly self-serious Sheff points out Ono’s work often asks audiences to imagine and create with her which first gained visibility during the 1960s (helped by her book Grapefruit) asked those interacting with the art to do something or think about certain things the artist and audience were actively working together In Self Portrait (1965) a mirror tucked into an envelope meant the portrait in question was not of Ono but of the person glimpsing their reflection Ono did not summon her audience into a world of whimsy for whimsy’s sake but into a space where artist and audience were co-creating new vantage points from which to admire the world’s everyday wonders Their marriage was life-changing in myriad ways: both truly felt they had found their perfect match Criticism of Ono ran the gamut from descriptions of her as an oddball interloper in Lennon’s music-making to outright racist remarks because she was Japanese Sheff shares glimpses that depict just how mean-spirited some of the 1970s media coverage was But despite the negativity the couple encountered Ono’s world changed forever on December 8 1980 when her husband was shot and killed outside their New York home Sheff recounts his memories of her unimaginable grief and the resilience she somehow found in the aftermath of Lennon’s murder she has dedicated a substantial portion of her life to championing Lennon’s legacy as well as advocating for gun control in the US Ono’s own artistic accomplishments and place in the historical record are rightly given full attention throughout the book. Recent retrospective exhibits, including the Tate Modern’s 2024 Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind in London demonstrate the longstanding cultural impact of her conceptual art But Sheff also provides welcome insights into her musical career Ono’s 1974 sold-out tour of Japan is a noteworthy inclusion, as her musical output has received more than its share of negative criticism. Even in 2025, there are memes that assert Ono’s music is unlistenable and among the worst ever created knows most of her work features singing (not screaming) But it has been difficult to pry Ono’s reputation away from her more avant-garde forays into music Gen-X icon Kurt Cobain cited Ono as “the first female punk rocker”, Sheff writes, placing her in a genre where her so-called “screaming” would be a badge of honour, rather than worthy of derision. As a fellow Gen-Xer, I was delighted when, in the early 1990s, I discovered one of my favourite bands, Redd Kross, had helped create a Yoko Ono tribute band of sorts, the Tater Totz – who Sean mentions while discussing his generation’s appreciation of Ono. This thoughtful, engaging biography prompts readers to put aside their preconceptions and reimagine Ono. It suggests she is a force of nature who has made a significant impact on our culture – for good, rather than ill. The book’s cover serves as a fitting preview: a black-and-white photo of its smiling subject. Sheff asserts at the beginning that he is not looking to “depict Yoko as either a saint or a sinner”. Nonetheless, he offers a much-needed antidote for the decades of venomous critiques directed her way. Considering the amount of public ridicule that Ono has faced for a good portion of her 92 years, it is important more people have a better understanding of who she is, separating myth from reality. Sheff’s Yoko works well towards achieving this goal. The book offers a nuanced portrait of both the woman and the artist, while showcasing Ono’s creative work as a form of benevolent magic. Leading To Them Being 'Treated Like Bards'Several prominent game developers discuss the possible impact of AI.The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in games has been discussed more and more lately NieR series director Yoko Taro has weighed in too expressing concern that it could lead to game creators losing jobs to AI several Japanese game developers known for narrative and storytelling discussed their approach to game creation there was also Kotaro Uchikoshi (Zero Escape the group was asked what the future of adventure games might be “There’s a lot of new games I want to create but with AI technology evolving at such a high speed I fear that there is a possibility that AI-generated adventure games will become mainstream," said Uchikoshi He went on to note that current AI struggles to achieve "outstanding writing" comparable to human creativity and that maintaining the "human touch" would be crucial to staying ahead of the tech believe that game creators may lose their jobs because of AI," said Yoko game creators will be treated like bards.” When it came to whether they thought AI could imitate the worlds and stories said that even if AI could imitate their work and styles it wouldn't be able to behave like a creator and how creators could write a scenario in Lynch's style but Lynch could then change up his own style while still making it feel authentic and Lynchian While Yoko posed the idea of using AI to generate new scenarios Kodaka noted how this personalized nature would lead to games being less of a shared experience expressing concern that it could lead to game creators losing jobs to AI.","@type":"NewsArticle","datePublished":"2025-04-28T15:12:20.414Z","headline":"NieR Director Yoko Taro Worries Game Creators Will Lose Jobs Because of AI They have already shown they don't care about telling a good story just selling more cosmetics and battle passes I see it even creeping into the healthcare industry as colleagues admit to using AI to make their jobs easier So I would say that if the above is the case and true of that company if you deem that they are wielding the tool for wrong if you think EA's leadership is horrible and you think they want to encourage the use of AI to make more money off not paying devs this is where things can get confusing as people can obfuscate that they are wielding AI to harm jobs or harm creativity But in this omnipresent online community that many of us are a part of you will hear stuff that will leak out if this becomes more and more prevalent And then we will have a public hearing in the court of public opinion to determine who is in the wrong or not which will affect sales another example of why a guaranteed basic income is going to be necessary for people who are out of work permenantly in the near future. Sounds like DnD will finally get a new class I am interested in playing These speculative ideas that generative AI will someday be able to create an entire video game out of nothing and replace game devs outright are BS the only thing AI will ever be good for is to streamline development and reduce the astronomical budgets and development time for AAA games That's not to say that idiotic executives won't try to make a game out of nothing using AI They'll be laughed out of the industry and fade away just like NFT games No one would care if it was just the ''essential workers'' but creators I like AI and I don't have an issue with its use and I completely understand the viewpoint of artists and devs I do fear for many as AI can replace so many jobs I just wish sam wouldn't have been a loser and dropped it on the world like he did We should have had regulations before it was released as now it's begun the rat race that we are all trying to catch with you need to do yours by not promoting AI games...even when they bribe you with all that extra money they'll be saving by cutting people's job...because the next step is Aign.. so they will be hired on to join parties for adventures just to be gruesomely slaughtered...but no one will really care and they will just move on to the next bard Like people in the \"narrative\" department are not treated as poorly as bards already Marrying John Lennon brought Yoko Ono a dizzying degree of reflected fame compelling and shockingly sad both with and without him What emerges feels sympathetic yet honest and occasionally humorous 'John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs': The biggest Beatles revelations Ono’s wealthy but emotionally aloof parents sent her to a farming village with her younger siblings for safety amid the bombing of Tokyo where the 12-year-old begged and bartered their belongings for rice She suffered anemia and malnutrition and developed pleurisy Ono would count her breaths for fear she’d forget to breathe at all “That was my sister’s first conceptual art piece,” her brother Kei recalls Starting in her teens, Ono tried multiple times to kill herself. Her first husband, pianist and composer Toshi Ichiyanagi prevented her from jumping out of the window of their 11-story apartment tracked Ono down while visiting Japan and advocated for her release telling the hospital she was a famous artist in the U.S They wed when she became pregnant with their daughter Becoming a mother relieved Ono of her desire to kill herself Later, after she left him to marry Lennon Cox kidnapped Kyoko and disappeared into a cult deemed her hands “too small” to be a great pianist When she proposed studying music composition she took formal lessons while also experimenting with her signature screeching Her marriage to John Lennon suffered after he had sex with a woman at a party they attended togetherThe incident is a known one but Sheff describes it in horrifying detail John and Yoko went to a party at activist Jerry Rubin’s home to watch election returns angry about Richard Nixon’s reelection and under the influence began canoodling with a female guest and went off into the next room to engage in noisy intercourse Photographer Bob Gruen hurriedly put on Bob Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde” for distraction while Yoko sat quietly humiliated The next year, Ono separated from Lennon, sending him away with her assistant May Pang for an 18-month period he would refer to as his “lost weekend.” John and Yoko reconciled at the end of 1974 and the late 1970s would turn out to be the happiest she’d been in her life and for her it really was a surrender − with John her protective walls finally came down,” Sheff writes concerned about a delusional man in front of the apartment Sean’s bodyguards would conceal the frightened child in a bag and carry him past the man’s parked van for the walk to school When asked if she could forgive Lennon’s killer as Pope John Paul II had his attempted assassin which covers the 18-month period when the couple first arrived in New York City in 1971 and lived in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood The documentary makes use of restored concert footage never-before-seen home movies and recordings of telephone conversations watching the film was an emotional experience He covered the slaying of the former Beatle at the Dakota apartment building for BBC News on 8 December 1980 ShareSaveRome's most stunning optical illusions revealedFrom the Malta Knights keyhole to a set of vanishing columns, discover the Eternal City's visual secrets. 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This cover image released by Viking Children’s Books shows “War is Over!” by Brad Booker announced Wednesday that “War Is Over!” will be published Nov the book tells of a wartime carrier pigeon who inspires soldiers on both sides of the battlefield “The tale of our pigeon felt like it needed to be put into an illustrated book,” Sean Lennon said in a statement “Our wish is that parents will be able to share this story with their kids and we hope this book will serve as a conversation starter for families and friends.” “War Is Over!” writer-director Dave Mullins and producer Brad Booker Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards’s spry study of the couple in early 70s New York is as much as jittery collage of the era’s culture as it is a revealing portrait the making of the Beatles’ 1970 final album One to One, in contrast, covers an 18-month period shortly afterwards. It’s 1971. Unshackled from the Beatles and burned by the hostility of the British press, Lennon and Ono have upped sticks and moved to a bohemian two-room apartment in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The John Lennon we see in Jackson’s film can be abrasive he seems positively chipper in some archival snippets is reframed from the Beatles-wrecking succubus of popular media opinion at the time and shown as an articulate if eccentric avant-garde artist who is candid about the personal cost of the hate campaign levelled against her The move to New York is not just a relocation which extended its reach beyond the band to explore the wider cultural New York landscape the film-makers take as a jumping-off point a throwaway comment from Lennon about his appreciation of television A recreation of the apartment they shared shows a huge television looming over the bed And cut together with the glimpses of Lennon and Ono is a barrage of ragged clips ripped from American television of the era Read moreAt times, the editing and far-ranging archival reach put me in mind of last year’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat by Johan Grimonprez another documentary that weaves together music and politics to exhilarating effect If One to One lacks some of the elegant intellectual rigour of Grimonprez’s picture accustomed to British TV’s sedate three channels the brash noise and broad horizons of US television must have felt like a step into the wild west The film’s rattling pace and haphazard focus reflect the couple’s voracious if at times unfocused appetite for ideas and issues Released from his Beatles responsibilities Lennon apparently made the most of the newfound freedom The excitement and enthusiasm in his voice as he bounces ideas for music and activism during a phone call is infectious and vital One to One might not reveal a huge amount that’s new about Lennon but it makes him feel bracingly alive in a way few other documentaries have managed Watch a trailer for One to One.This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Movies We’ve mapped out 27 of the best movie theaters in L.A., from the TCL Chinese and the New Beverly to the Alamo Drafthouse and which AMC reigns in Burbank. The more Macdonald resists mythologizing or summing up, the more John Lennon and Yoko Ono emerge as fragile, complex individuals on a journey together during uncertain times. “One to One” isn’t a salute to the Beatles’ brilliance or Lennon’s genius. Despite the large screens this film will play on, the movie renders its subjects as touchingly life-sized. Rated: R, for graphic nudity, some violent content, drug use and languageRunning time: 1 hour, 40 minutesPlaying: In limited release Friday, April 11 Hollywood Inc. Entertainment & Arts Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Reviews and a reconstruction of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s modest loft on Greenwich Village’s Bank Street to create a compelling portrait of two famous artists sitting around watching television Until something they saw on the television compelled them to revive their activism The Lennon-Onos owned a large estate in England that afforded them a lot of space and necessary privacy which began with his album “Plastic Ono Band,” also helped make him a political animal a need to live among “the people” and in a city that energized him Their reel-to-reel tape recorded took down their phone calls that the tube was a legitimate mirror into what was going on in the world he decided to use the medium rather than just watch it He got himself and Ono onto the popular afternoon chat program “The Mike Douglas Show” for a week (this stint is the subject of a different standalone documentary, 2024’s “Daytime Revolution”). On that show, he reintroduced Middle America to then-radical activist Jerry Rubin, who had been one of the Chicago Seven So besotted was Lennon with Rubin that he concocted an entire tour around a double bill of himself with the agitator rallying the youth all over the country and finally delivering some kind of revolutionary coup de grace at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami that summer the State Department began deportation hearings against Lennon merely because they liked it; Ono was trying to regain custody of her daughter Kyoko who’d been transported to the States by her father The movie is at its most fascinating in its depiction of Lennon as a pragmatic activist Calling for revolution in a series of concerts not being the most prudent course of action he is subsequently moved by television journalist Geraldo Rivera’s harrowing 1972 account of the awful conditions at Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School for children with mental disabilities The neglect suffered by these children underscored the thing they required and weren’t getting: One-to-one treatment Here was something Lennon could put together: a concert to raise money for these kids.  Others throwing in their talents were the retro band Sha-Na-Na and the legendary Stevie Wonder But the concert footage here is all of Lennon performing one of the only two concerts he gave as a solo artist More’s the pity — it is no surprise that he’s a great performer some Willowbrook kids were bused out to Central Park for some time in the sunshine activist songs like “John Sinclair,” about the Detroit activist who got sentenced to ten years in jail for possession of two joints weren’t Lennon at his most advanced or inspired: “It ain’t fair/John Sinclair/in the stir for breathin’ air.” But maybe they got some job done; there’s also footage here of a grateful Sinclair hugging Lennon as he’s stepping out of a jail cell Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here 'Yoko,' a biography by David Sheff hits shelves on March 25 from Simon & Schuster In 1972, the FBI tapped John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s phone at the request of Richard Nixon who worried Lennon might undermine his reelection bid The paranoid president couldn’t have anticipated that the couple’s son would be thrilled to hear the captured conversations most of my experience of him has been through videos and film and music,” Sean Ono Lennon says “So I always feel like I’m gaining extra time with him It was really great fun to hear the audio calls It’s nice because it’s so candid and unfiltered.” Those phone calls − some amusing, others goosebump-inducing − are at the center of the new documentary “One to One: John & Yoko” (exclusively in IMAX theaters Friday which culminates in a benefit concert that would be Lennon’s only full-length post-Beatles show 'Yoko': The biggest reveals in the new Yoko Ono biography Sean Lennon − who has produced the music for a Record Store Day EP and a box set to mark Lennon’s 85th birthday on Oct 9 − describes it as “an unmanicured window into their lives during a very tumultuous but also very creative time period.” “my parents had fused into a superorganism they did together; all the songs they were writing were together “This film represents the reality of that moment in time very faithfully and accurately.” follows John and Yoko as they align with Jerry Rubin and other leaders of the radicalized left Plans are hatched for the couple to head the all-star Free the People tour with a final stop at the Republican National Convention the two peaceniks grow uncomfortable with the potential for violence and call the whole thing off Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox the film is about moving past political defeat to improve the world in small ways around you,” says Macdonald the lesson is that “you lose the moral high ground when you become violent yourself You see my parents realizing that some of the people who were supposed to be fighting for justice were turning into monsters themselves As soon as you try to make your point through violence "My parents were always very conscious of spreading messages of positive change and peace and love." “One to One” depicts John Lennon completely committed to supporting his wife in her endeavors including attending the First International Feminist Conference alongside her One revelation that will surprise fans is that the couple’s move to America and John’s fight for his green card were almost entirely driven by their efforts to regain custody of Ono’s young daughter “Imagine being a mother whose daughter has been kidnapped and you’re searching everywhere and you can’t find her and nobody seems to (care),” Macdonald says. “That moment where she sings ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko’ and screeching and writhing is one of the most amazing moments in the film actually when you understand that’s about her pain at losing her daughter “This is a human tragedy that allows you an access to Yoko and her feelings that I don’t think people have been previously willing to take on board.” Yoko and Kyoko reunited a decade and a half after Lennon’s murder (Kyoko) was exposed to the limelight and celebrity culture when she was very young and I’m just grateful that life has made it such that we’re able to spend these years together because we didn’t get to when I was a kid.” Amid an era of eerily parallel political upheaval (“I'm trying my best to take care of her,” Sean says and I think he would have made his opinions clear about authoritarianism around the world and the move to the right in America,” Macdonald says but there’s an enthusiasm for improving himself that’s endearing.” “I’ve spent most of my life trying to avoid speaking for him But I do believe that one thing that was consistent about my dad intellectually and artistically he was never the same from one year to the next he was always discovering new ideas and inspiration “Whatever you think John Lennon would think today is probably not it He would probably surprise you because he always surprised everybody.” Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission the collective name given to the two Madison Square Garden shows performed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono over the course of one day in August 1972 constituted the only full concert Lennon gave in his post-Beatles career as a solo artist He and Ono had been living in New York for a year increasingly involving themselves in antiwar protests and a variety of other activist causes (so much so that the Nixon administration would spend several years trying to deport Lennon) The concert served as a kind of gift to their newly adoptive city arriving soon after the much-maligned double album Some Time in New York City A live album of the concert itself would be released posthumously in 1986 along with a full-length video of the performance but One to One cuts through the Beatles-industrial complex to land us in the middle of Lennon’s rage That’s not to say that One to One isn’t also a very good concert doc It’s being given an Imax release ahead of its wider theatrical rollout and the picture and its remastered music are worth experiencing on the big screen the filmmakers also reinvigorate the songs many of which had started to feel like clichés over the years We hear Lennon mention early on that he loves watching television: TV serves for him the same purpose as the fireplace did when he was a child — a thing to stare at for hours to pass the time probably made for an endless carnival of distractions even back then.) MacDonald and Rice-Edwards run with this idea presenting their film almost as if the audience itself were switching channels rapidly absorbing the textures of life in 1972 The rush of images might look disjointed at first When Lennon gives a speech about bringing back not just the soldiers from Vietnam but also the equipment (“Bring the machines home they cut to a colorful snippet from The Price Is Right advertising a new washer and dryer A phone conversation about paranoia and wiretapping and sinister figures following Lennon and Ono around is followed by news reports of the initial Watergate break-in MacDonald and Rice-Edwards give us a world whose confusion has pointed undercurrents where people and things are more entangled with each other than they might seem The paranoia that would eventually bring down Nixon has already seeped into every corner of society We also get glimpses of notorious “Dylanologist” A.J a Bob Dylan superfan who felt so betrayed by Dylan’s popular success and turn against protest that he started stalking the singer rummaging in his trash to find which products he used (all proof that Dylan was supposedly betraying his revolutionary ideals) Even this bizarre relationship echoes the era’s confusion and paranoia with its unchecked consumerism and its sense that corporate society now had a mind of its own as well as the uneasy role celebrity plays in the whole thing A nuanced picture of Lennon and Ono’s relationship emerges through the storm of footage Yoko talks on the phone about the chauvinistic treatment she received during the Beatles’ later years and breakup a veteran artist precise in her dealings with assistants Footage of a boyish John performing in some of Yoko’s installations feels at times like a wide-eyed kid at school discovering a new world of activism and experimentation with his cool He’s one of the most famous people on the planet — a “monument,” as Yoko herself calls him — but he also seems so frantic There’s sorrow too beneath Yoko’s hardened focus who’s been unexpectedly whisked away by her father; part of the reason Lennon and Ono had moved to the U.S thundering rendition of “Don’t Worry Kyoko” at the One to One concert is among the film’s highlights as is her later performance of “Looking Over From My Hotel Window” at a feminist conference played out over pixelated black-and-white video footage of her and John a misty reverie that hints at the loss to come Yoko’s sorrow at being deprived of her child also feeds into the gut-punch of the movie’s final section when we get additional context about the One to One concert itself Those familiar with the event already know this but the concert came about after Lennon and Ono saw Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace a TV exposé by a young Geraldo Rivera (back when he was a real journalist) about the monstrous conditions at Staten Island’s understaffed Willowbrook Hospital where mentally disabled children were forced to live in utter filth and agony The film’s belated revelation of this reframes the entire concert activism during this era — a prison event here an antiwar protest there — focused and crystallized into this tangible action with enormous real-life consequences By helping heal one small corner of his world he perhaps accomplished more than he ever had before One to One: John & Yoko becomes not just an enormously moving historical portrait but a freshly relevant and cathartic one Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York but ultimately hamstrung in scope and theme Macdonald and Rice-Edwards immerse in the famous power couple’s lives in NY but this estate-approved doc struggles to deliver intriguing insight there’ll be a documentary for every footnote in the story of The Beatles Bringing us one step closer to that eventuality is One to One: John & Yoko a heady jaunt through Lennon and Ono’s first 18 months living in New York City in the early ’70s The story goes that the couple spent much of this period in bed watching television yet in reality they were feverishly active lending their voice and fame to the political counterculture directors Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards use that bedbound image as the aesthetic north star returning time and again to a reconstruction of the couple’s cluttered Greenwich Village apartment recorded conversations and concert performances is information overload; a dizzying evocation of how urgent and immediate the cultural moment must have felt to a newly minted New Yorker Macdonald has succeeded in the past with cradle-to-the-grave musical bio-docs such as 2012’s Marley and 2018’s Whitney but here he and Rice-Edwards struggle to find a similar significance in such a short slice of Lennon’s life One to One can only poke at the conflicts and crossovers between pop and politics and sketch an impression of Lennon’s urge to find cause and community during this period in his career A more ambivalent approach might have yielded some intriguing insights complete with a triumphant ending montage that takes Lennon from the Village to the Dakota Building and into semi-retirement as a professional dad in 1975 and that’s never more apparent than in the way the film deals with Lennon’s music the contemporaneous album of straightforward protest songs it’s no-one’s favourite Lennon-Ono LP: it was a commercial failure it garnered John the worst reviews of his career Yet even the vivid Madison Square Garden concert footage as if the film itself is unconvinced of its merits but the perfunctory run-throughs of ‘Come Together’ ‘Imagine’ and ‘Instant Karma’ are only worthy of note because they come from the musician’s final full-length performance One to One captures the point where Lennon Glimpses of the likes of Angela Davis and Jane Fonda give us more convincing models of revolutionary activism – but there’s one closer to home Ono is still framed in relation to her husband inscrutable and passionate artist: creatively confident where John seems adrift A caterwauling rendition of the avant-rock jam contextualised here with references to Ono’s heartbreaking estrangement from her daughter blows Lennon’s wannabe Dylan schtick out of the water LWLies 107: The Sinners issue – Out now! Ryan Coogler: ‘I’m more confident in my film language than I am in my English’ I’m Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today: The Video Shop at the End of the World The 2025 Cannes Film Festival line-up is here! The empty showboat of cinematic one-shots Inside the academic conference taking Terrifier back to school Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience It seemed that from the second she was spotted on the arm of John Lennon she became nothing more than that; simply an accessory instantly erasing her own powerful career that pre-dated even her husband’s and It serves a certain narrative to conveniently ignore her talents Yoko Ono is often dismissed as someone who inserted herself into Lennon’s music and ended up on stage through association rather than ability Many still believe her career – and her collaborations with Lennon – existed only because of his influence When Ono and Lennon met in November 1966 Ono was already a powerful name in the art world she’d been embedded in the avant-garde scene especially finding a home within the crowd of experimental sonic artists Lennon was only just hitting his experimental phase with Revolver as the artist’s impact turned Lennon on not only to experimental music and the boldest risks there but inspired the politics that powered so much of it It’s a song like ‘Looking Over From My Hotel Window’ that feels powerfully representative of Ono at her best and as a vital and independent artist In the same way that her visual artistry so often dealt with the human condition and vulnerability especially in the case of something like Cut Piece almost viscerally or uncomfortably honest as it feels like Ono is merely reading a rough page of her diary It also reveals a very different side to Ono All too often presented as this cling-on yelling on stage that wanted fame ‘Looking Over From My Hotel Window’ is characterised by the loneliness and uncertainty in life / Wondering if one should jump off or go to sleep” as one of several allusions to suicide in the track she goes all in with revealing lyrics about her daughter please go to my daughter / And tell her that she used to haunt me in my dreams / That’s saying a lot for a neurotic like me” Set to an instrumentation so simple you almost forget it’s there it’s a track that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum to where doubters always place her appearing as a speaker at the US’s first feminist convention that year Ono was clearly opening herself up to the world This album appears as a move to come out of the shadow and be heard louder as a demand to take up space as an artist in her own right not in the boring way people are still so obsessed with boxing her into and a song as moving and revelatory as ‘Looking Over From My Hotel Window’ is a powerful statement of resilience from the artist and a reminder that Ono is far more than the wailing voice by Lennon’s side “Yoko Ono is a wildly influential and significant figure in performance the MCA’s senior curator and organiser of the museum’s presentation of Music of the Mind “She has inspired generations of audiences to think differently about the everyday and seeing art.” (The exhibition was curated by Juliet Bingham and Patrizia Dander at Tate Modern which organised the show in collaboration with Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf.) Yoko Ono, Secret Piece, published in Grapefruit, 1964. Typewritten card with ink additions © Yoko Ono “There are a lot of things that people just don’t know about Yoko Ono because she only occupies a certain portion of the public imaginary, and it’s not as deep as her contributions,” says Joey Orr, the MCA’s deputy director and chief of curatorial affairs. Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964. Performance view, New Works by Yoko Ono, Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, NY, March 21, 1965 Photo © Minoru Niizuma Around the midpoint of the exhibition, a programme of performances hosted at a music venue in the city and a panel at the MCA will highlight Ono’s impact on the music world, “which is something that is lesser known about her and we want to give it a showcase”, Orr says. Around the time of the exhibition’s closing—which will nearly coincide with Ono’s 93rd birthday in February 2026—the museum will host an evening of performances of some of Ono’s best-known works. Orr adds: “We want to make sure that it’s not an exhibition that just sits in the MCA like on a shelf, but that it’s something that actually activates the building and our communities in the spirit of the MCA and in the spirit of Ono’s own artistic commitments.” news26 March 2019Yoko Ono requests photographs of women's eyes for Leipzig retrospectiveThe exhibition opening in April at the Museum of Fine Arts is billed as the artist’s biggest-ever solo show in Germany news21 August 2019Just a 'well-known celebrity': Australian tourism chief doubted Yoko Ono's ability to draw crowdsLetter reveals that 2013 exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art was offered AU$500,000 of state money despite reservations preview2 February 2024Tate Modern show celebrates Yoko Ono’s rebirth after decades of derisionExhibition will look at the significance of the artist’s career before and after her famed relationship with John Lennon Staatliche Museen zu Berlin YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER at Neue Nationalgalerie is an exhibition featuring works from across Ono’s groundbreaking career The exhibition invites viewers to move beyond passive observation and engage in active participation – both physically and mentally these actions evolve into broader collective efforts demonstrating the transformative power of communal actions in working toward peace and imagining a different world The works invite collective actions of repair visitors are invited to engage in a moment of self-reflection through Cleaning Piece (1996) prompting visitors to reflect on their joys and sorrows This is followed with instructions to fold paper cranes for peace piecing together broken ceramic cups and “mending with wisdom and love.” The exhibitions central installation features a large chess table where up to 20 players can simultaneously engage in the nearly impossible act of playing with all white chess pieces challenging them to “play as long as you remember where all your pieces are.” In SKY / WATER (1999) viewers are invited to take a single piece from a sky puzzle highlighting the exhibitions selection of works dedicated to the pursuit of peace This includes the famous Bed-In for Peace in Amsterdam documented in the film Mr. & Mrs Lennon’s Honeymoon (1969) and the ongoing newspaper ads that began with WAR IS OVER Nearly a dozen original newspaper copies reflect the artists’ collective call for peace while also capturing the world’s state on those particular days A distinct connection with Berlin is established through a photographic display of Ono and Lennon’s 1969 WAR IS OVER If you want it intervention in West Berlin Ono’s song Hiroshima Sky Is Always Blue (1995) plays recorded to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S who was 12 years old at the time and living in Japan was deeply affected by the experience – an event that profoundly influenced her life-long commitment to global peace in front of the iconic Mies van der Rohe designed building offering a connection to her concurrent exhibition at Gropius Bau YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER is curated by Klaus Biesenbach YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER is presented on the occasion of the survey exhibition YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND on view at Gropius Bau from 11 April to 31 August 2025 the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) presents the work TOUCH by Yoko Ono from 2 March through 31 August 2025 in the context of its n.b.k Project Management: Lisa Botti (Curator),  Noor van Rooijen (Curatorial Assistant) André OdierEducation and Outreach: Julia Freiboth Felicitas Fritsche-ReyrinkCommunications: Markus Farr Maribel Nicolás Cabello Graphics: Lena Mahr The exhibition is made possible by Freunde der Nationalgalerie A special exhibition by the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Gallery Weekend Berlin, 2–4 May 2025, at the Neue Nationalgalerie U-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn: Potsdamer Platz Bus: Potsdamer Brücke Sun 10:00 - 18:00Mon closedTue 10:00 - 18:00Wed 10:00 - 18:00Thu 10:00 - 20:00Fri 10:00 - 18:00Sat 10:00 - 18:00 Special opening hours during public holidays Tel 030 - 266 42 42 42 (Mon - Fri, 9 am - 4 pm)Questions | Bookings | Feedback Press release Press images Though she has been the one who divided the world the minute that she walked into Abbey Road Studios with John Lennon she never seemed responsible for the band’s demise as much as they were for drifting apart creatively there were always those rare moments where even Yoko’s presence couldn’t break down what the Fab Four did together When looking at the sessions from an outsider perspective it had to have been strange seeing Yoko adding her two cents to every single track Many people had seen her as another fellow artist but the minute that Lennon started working on his own tracks with her it was clear that he was ready to move on to something more avant-garde than have to suffer through yet another one of McCartney’s granny songs but the main piece that everyone will always remember is how the record finishes Although Lennon was never that fond of the medley they threw together on side two it does showcase the best of them as musicians They had already talked about moving beyond typical rock and roll they laid the groundwork for later genres like prog while also finding ways to push themselves especially the final movement that culminates in a solo from every single band member While Ringo Starr had to be talked into tearing up his kit on ‘The End’ there’s an unbridled joy that comes from Lennon Since most of it was recorded off the floor it feels like a guitar duel watching all three of them go back and forth as if they’re listening to what their bandmate played and trying to outdo it with whatever wild lick they have up their sleeve And despite all of the tension that had come into the studio by this point, Lennon knew that this was a special enough moment to keep Yoko out, with engineer Geoff Emerick saying “Yoko was about to go into the studio with John – this was commonplace by now – and he actually told her It’ll just take a minute.’ That surprised me a bit Maybe he felt like he was returning to his roots with the boys.” Maybe it was about getting back together for old time’s sake Lennon came out the victor in the guitar battle His phrasing isn’t necessarily the most technically proficient thing in the world but hearing him pull licks out of his hollow-body guitar smothered in distortion sounds like the instrument is coming alive in his hands with every single note he plays And if this truly was the end of the line for all four of them together it’s easy to see that camaraderie right up until their final moments but he couldn’t appreciate the present unless he was reminded about what got him there in the first place A collection of staggering TV clips and amazing audio of Lennon and Ono’s life in 1970s NYC this film is a mosaic of countercultural moments and a hilarious running-gag account of an assistant having to get hundreds of live flies for Ono’s MoMA exhibition In some ways, this is like David Leaf and John Scheinfeld’s The US vs John Lennon it shows a certain something nagging at Lennon: his repeated failed attempts to get Bob Dylan to join with him in his campaigns Dylan was evidently wary of getting into Lennon’s orbit One to One: John and Yoko is in Imax cinemas on 9 and 10 April and UK cinemas from 11 April We have the address for the funeral home & the family on file If you're not happy with your card we'll send a replacement or refund your money The family of Yoko Futami Walker created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories Made with love by funeralOne LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED Director Kevin Macdonald (inset) was given a trove of taped phone calls between John Lennon and Yoko Ono. (Photo illustration by The Ankler; Macdonald: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for BFI)Share Subscribe now