John Lennon and Yoko Ono's relationship was unlike any other in rock history. The couple first met in November 1966 at London's Indica Gallery, married in 1969, and immediately transformed their honeymoon into a global peace protest. Their bond fused avant-garde art, political activism, and an unconditional creative partnership that endured until Lennon's murder on 8 December 1980.
How John Lennon and Yoko Ono Met
Yoko Ono first met John Lennon on 9 November 1966, when he visited a preview of her exhibition at the Indica Gallery in London, England. Lennon was drawn to the positive, interactive nature of her work — particularly a ladder leading up to a black canvas with a spyglass on a chain, which revealed the word "yes" written on the ceiling.
They first met in 1966 and corresponded by phone and letter for over a year before becoming romantically involved. A multimedia conceptual artist, Yoko Ono was well respected in the avant-garde art world—in many ways the antithesis of the Beatles' pop-music world.
From the Studio to the Marriage Bed
In May 1968, while Lennon's wife was on holiday, he invited Ono to visit. When his wife returned, she found Yoko wearing her bathrobe and drinking tea with Lennon. Lennon later divorced his first wife, Cynthia, with whom he had a son, Julian, born in 1963, and married Ono on 20 March 1969.
Speaking to Uncut, Ono explained how the couple shared their creative work: "Because we were both artists, we showed each other everything. If I scribbled something I'd show it to John. He would scribble something and show it to me. That's how he wrote his songs, too."
The Bed-In Protests: Peace as Performance Art
A bed-in is a nonviolent protest against wars, initiated by Yoko Ono and her husband John Lennon during a two-week period in Amsterdam and Montreal as an experimental test of new ways to promote peace. Aware that their 20 March 1969 marriage would draw global media attention, Lennon and Ono decided to turn their honeymoon into a platform for peace activism.
From 25 March to 31 March, they occupied the presidential suite at the Amsterdam Hilton. Lennon and Ono invited the world's media to see them in bed, and their slogan was simple: "Hair Peace. Bed Peace." Instead of the scandal journalists expected, they found Lennon and Ono sitting up in their pyjamas, surrounded by flowers and handwritten peace signs, discussing nonviolence. Lennon told one reporter, as reported by Malay Mail: "Nobody's ever tried the peace thing."
The Montreal Bed-In and Give Peace a Chance
Following their seven-day bed-in at the Amsterdam Hilton in March 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a second, similar event at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. Montreal wasn't their first choice. They had initially planned to hold it in New York, but Lennon was barred from entering the country following his conviction for drug possession the previous year.
The song Give Peace a Chance was written during Lennon and Ono's Bed-In honeymoon in Montreal. When asked by a reporter what he was trying to achieve by staying in bed, Lennon answered spontaneously: "Just give peace a chance." Released as a single in July 1969 by the Plastic Ono Band on Apple Records, it became an anthem of the American anti-war movement during the 1970s.
Musical Collaboration and Key Works
John and Yoko's creative output was inseparable from their relationship. Their key collaborative works include:
- Give Peace a Chance (1969) — recorded during the Montreal Bed-In; their debut political anthem
- Imagine (1971) — Lennon's defining solo album, co-produced with Ono's creative input
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (1971) — a seasonal peace anthem credited to John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band
- Double Fantasy (1980) — a duet album released that autumn, marking Lennon's comeback with Yoko Ono
- Milk and Honey (1984) — their sixth and final collaborative album, released in January 1984, three years after Lennon's murder
Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums and several films. Ono profoundly influenced Lennon's songwriting. In 2017, Yoko Ono was officially added as a co-writer on "Imagine," shifting the song's copyright baseline to run for the last surviving author's life plus statutory terms, rather than relying solely on John's 1980 passing.
The Separation and Reconciliation
When Lennon and Ono separated in the autumn of 1973, he spent a "lost weekend" of more than a year drinking and making highly uneven music in Los Angeles. When Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, May Pang — their personal assistant — and Lennon began a relationship that lasted more than 18 months.
When the couple reunited, they soon conceived a son, Sean, born on Lennon's birthday in 1975. On 9 October 1975 — John's 35th birthday — Yoko gave birth by Caesarean section to their son Sean. Sean Lennon followed his parents into music, becoming a composer, producer, and recording artist while helping preserve their artistic archives. In contrast, John Lennon later stepped back from music and became a reclusive househusband, leaving Ono to handle his business affairs.
John Lennon's Last Words to Yoko Ono
While travelling home from The Record Plant, Lennon spoke to Ono for the last time. According to Mental Floss, Ono recalled their final conversation: "I said, 'Shall we go and have dinner before we go home?'. And John said, 'No, let's go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.'"
She and John Lennon had completed the recording of Walking on Thin Ice on 8 December 1980, hours before Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman. Lennon was holding the unmastered tape of the song when he was shot. Lennon was rushed by ambulance to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Instead of a traditional funeral, Yoko asked for "ten minutes of silence around the world."
Life After Lennon and Yoko Ono's Net Worth
Yoko Ono never remarried after John Lennon's murder. After Lennon's death, Ono dated interior designer Sam Havadtoy, but the two split in 2001. She never remarried and dedicated her life to honouring and preserving his legacy. Sean Lennon has said that his mother "never moved on from that relationship."
As of October 2026, tracking for the documentary One to One: John & Yoko remains anchored to its mid-2025 theatrical run, when its worldwide box office gross was recorded at $832,203. The film covers the couple's early-1970s New York period and has drawn renewed attention to their shared political activism. Yoko Ono, now 93, has largely stayed out of the public eye after health challenges, while her son Sean Ono Lennon continues to manage the estate's day-to-day affairs.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Market Realist, and Yahoo Finance, Yoko Ono's net worth is estimated at around $700 million, with widely cited figures ranging from $600 million to $800 million. Her wealth stems from music royalties, real estate holdings in The Dakota, globally acclaimed art exhibitions, and estate management overseeing royalty streams, licensing agreements, archives, artwork, and Beatles-related business interests.
