Yoko Ono Biography | Yoko Ono Musician | Yoko Ono Pictures

Yoko Ono Bio

Yoko Ono Biography

Yoko Ono Lennon was born on February 18, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan. She is perhaps best known for her marriage and partnership with John Lennon of the Beatles, but since his death she has carved out her own success.

Ono was born to Isoko Yasuda and Eisuke Ono, who were one of the wealthiest banking families in Tokyo. Yoko attended one of the best schools in the region from primary school through college. Yoko and her younger brother were primarily raised by nannies.

Ono’s family lost much of their fortune during World War II. They survived the bombing of Tokyo by fleeing to an underground shelter. Following the bombing, Yoko and her brother fled to the countryside and carried all of their possessions around in a wheelbarrow. Yoko’s father was sent to a prisoner of war camp in China.

Ono’s family moved to New York after the war. After the move, Yoko enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College, a decision her parents approved of. They did not, however, approve of her choice of hippie and starving artist friends, believing that she was better than them.

Yoko married Toshi Ichiyanagi, a composer, in 1956. Following their divorce in 1962 Ono attempted to commit suicide and her parents placed her in a mental institution in Japan.

Also in 1962, a jazz musician named Anthony Cox tracked Ono down at the mental institution and convinced her to marry him. Their marriage was annulled in 1963 because her divorce had not yet been finalized to Ichiyanagi at the time of the marriage. They remarried several months later and had a daughter named Kyoko Chan Cox who was born in August of 1963. The tumultuous marriage finally ended for good in 1969, leaving Cox for John Lennon.

Custody of their daughter was awarded to Yoko, but Cox abducted the girl and vanished. Kyoko and Yoko were not reunited until 1998 after Kyoko had a daughter of her own named Emi.

While still married to Cox, Ono began to pursue her career in art full time. Her work was avant-garde and inspired by the Dada movement of the 1920’s. She also experimented in performance art.

Ono first met John Lennon at an exhibition for Ono’s work at the Indica Gallery in London in 1966 when both were still married to other people. John Lennon was a fan of her artwork and the two began an affair in 1968. They married in 1969 shortly after both of their divorces were final. In 1975, their son Sean was born on Lennon’s 35th birthday.

Yoko and John began collaborating on many albums together and experimented with the primal scream vocal. It is said that Ono paved the way for female rockers as well as the original punk music scene. One has influenced musicians and bands such as Diamanda Galas, Meredith Monk, and Public Image, Ltd.

Lennon and Ono moved to New York after the break up of the Beatles in the early 1970’s. They then separated for a short time when they felt their relationship was souring. After some time apart, both Ono and Lennon felt rejuvenated and began recording their next album together in 1980. In December of 1980, Lennon was shot to death in front of Ono outside of their New York City apartment.

Following the death of her husband, Yoko continued to record albums, receiving critical acclaim for some of her work as a solo artist. Throughout her career she has collaborated with a variety of artists and musicians including Andy Warhol, John Cage, and David Tudor.

Ono has always been very active politically. Throughout the 1970’s she became close with several radical leaders including Malcolm X, John Sinclair, Jerry Rubin, and Angela Davis. Ono has also always fought against racism and sexism. In 2002, Ono created her own peace award by offering $50,000 in prize money to artists living in war stricken nations.