Yoko Ono is a Japanese-American multimedia artist, actress, singer, and director. But she is best known as the wife of John Lennon, an outstanding musician and one of the founders of the Beatles.
Biography
Yoko Ono was born on February 18, 1933 in the city of Tokyo in the family of a successful bank worker Eisuke Ono and Isoko Ono. A few weeks before the birth of his daughter, Eisuke Ono was transferred to the American branch of Bank of Japan in San Francisco. Therefore, for the first time Yoko and her father saw each other only in 1935, after the whole family moved to the United States.
View of Tokyo Photo: 星 組 背 番号 10 / Wikimedia Commons
In 1937, Yoko and her parents returned to Japan, and in 1941 they again found themselves in New York, where the girl began attending Keimei Gakuen Elementary School. After receiving secondary education, in 1951, Yoko Ono became a student at Sarah Lawrence College, but in 1956 she was expelled for poor academic performance. She never finished college.
Career
Yoko Ono's professional career began with attempts to join the New York avant-garde society. She arranged exhibitions, performances, but none of her work was successful.
After her first marriage broke up, she returned to Tokyo, where she met American jazz musician and director Anthony Cox. Very soon, their relationship turned from friendly to romantic. They married in 1963 and left for New York together. Anthony, being a fan of his wife's creativity, supported her in every possible way.
In 1964, the artist organized the performance "Cut a Piece", which was well received by the public. She repeated it in 1965 and 1966, which drew attention to her work.
In 1966, Yoko presented a short film called "Bottoms". In the same year, at one of her art exhibitions, she met John Lennon, with whom she later released a joint musical album "Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins" (1968).
Speech by Yoko Ona and John Lennon Photo: Unidentified / Wikimedia Commons
In 1970, Yoko Ono recorded her first solo collection of songs called "Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band", which peaked at # 182 on the American music charts. A year later, she presented the collection of songs "Fly" (1971), and then recorded the double album "Some Time in New York City" (1972).
Later Yoko Ono released several more solo albums, including "Approachally Infinite Universe" (1972), "Feeling the Space" (1973), "Season Of Glass" (1981), "Blueprint for a Sunrise" (2001) and others.
In 1994, she made her Broadway debut with her musical "New York Rock". In addition, Yoko Ono tried acting as an actress. She appeared in such films as Rape (1969), Freedom (1970), Crazy About You (1992 -1999) and others.
In 2018, Yoko starred in Michael Epstein's documentary John & Yoko: Only Heaven Above Us, which revealed the story behind John Lennon's Imagine (1971).
Achievements and awards
In 1982, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Jack Douglas received a Grammy for their co-produced Double Fantasy album. In 2001, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Liverpool and in 2002 an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Bard College.
In 2003, the Museum of Modern Art, located in Los Angeles, presented her with the MOCA Award. And in 2009 she received the main award of the Golden Lion Venice Film Festival.
Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles Photo: Minnaert / Wikimedia Commons
In March 2011, Yoko Ono presented a remix version of her song "Move on Fast", which topped the American Billboard Dance Chart. A year later, she received one of the most important Austrian awards in the field of contemporary art - the Oskar Kokoschka Prize.
In 2013, Yoko was declared an honorary patron of the London Alder Hey Children's Hospital and became an honorary citizen of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik.
Condition, income
As of 2019, Yoko Ona's estimated fortune is $ 600 million. She managed to build a successful career, which is the main source of her income.
Family and personal life
In 1956, Yoko Ono got married for the first time. She became the wife of the Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi. Unfortunately, their union was short-lived. They broke up a few years later. Yoko was very upset by the breakup of this relationship and in 1962 she was briefly hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder.
In June 1963, she became the wife of producer Anthony Cox. In August 1963, the couple had a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox. But this marriage also broke up in 1969. After the breakup, Kyoko stayed with her father. In 1971, he took her away to an unknown destination. Yoko Ono tried to find her daughter, but was able to meet her only in 1994.
The third husband of the singer was one of the founders of the legendary Beatles, the popular British musician John Lennon. They were married on March 20, 1969. In October 1975, the couple had a son, Sean Taro Ono Lennon. Yoko Ono and John Lenon were together until the tragic death of the musician in December 1980.
Yoko Ono and John Lennon, 1980 Photo: Jack Mitchell / Wikimedia Commons
It was later reported that she had an affair with Hungarian antiques dealer Sam Hawadtoy, which ended in 2001. She was also credited with a relationship with Havantoya's colleague, Sam Green.
