Table of Biography
Yoko Ono is a Japanese Activist, Avant-garde artist, musician, and filmmaker. Yoko Ono was popular as the wife of John Lennon from 1969 until 1980. She was able to establish the “LennonOno Grant for Peace” in the year 2002. Also, she was able to join Susan Sarandon on the Artists Against Fracking bus tour of rural Pennsylvania in 2013.
Early Life and Education
Yoko Ono was born on February 18, 1933, in Tokyo, Empire of Japan. She is 90 years old and is under the astrological sign, Aquarius. She holds Japanese nationality and her ethnicity is Asian.
Her father’s name is Eisuke Ono and her mother’s name is Isoko Ono. Her father was a wealthy banker and former classical pianist. She has two other siblings and their names are Keisuke Ono and Setsuko Ono.
Likewise, Yoko’s father was transferred to San Francisco two weeks before her birth. They met only when the family shifted to the US in the year 1935. However, the family returned to Japan in the year 1937.
Likewise, after returning Yoko was able to secure admission to the Gakushuin School. But again in 1940, the family relocated to New York City and back to Hanoi the next year.
Here, she attended Keimei Gakuen Primary School. Also, in the year 1952, she was able to become the first woman admitted to the philosophy program at Gakushūin University in Tokyo.
She then went to Scarsdale, New York, in the year 1951 with her family. She enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College to study writing and music but left midway in 1956.
Caption: Yoko Ono’s childhood picture with her family (Source: Tumpik)
Career and Professional Life
Yoko Ono’s loft events which were held on Chamber Streets were able to catch the attention of leading New York’s avant-garde artists.
This helped her win an opportunity to work with leading musicians such as Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, George Maciunas as well and Nam June Paik. And, after failing her first marriage, she went on to live with her parents in Tokyo.
This was the place where she was able to meet American jazz musician and filmmaker Anthony Cox and returned to New York with her new family, to take up performance art.
She then performed her first seminal act, “Cut Piece” in Tokyo. Her performance was very well-received. She then went on to repeat her acts in Manhattan and London as well, in 1965 and 1966 respectively. This helped her become a sensation in the art world.
Likewise, Yoko made an artistic ad film “Bottoms” after 365 friends and volunteers agreed to get their naked buttocks photographed, as part of an experiment with performance art in the year 1996.
That same year, she went on to meet John Lennon at the preview of her art exhibition in London. Both of them then collaborated on several musicals as well as artistic projects.
They even were able to release their first album “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins” and an experimental piece “Revolution 9” in “The White Album”. Then, “Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions” and “The Wedding Album” followed soon after.
More About Her Career
Yoko and John Lennon went on to form their band, “Plastic Ono Band”, in the year 1969. They then launched their first album “Live Peace in Toronto 1969”.
And, after a year, she was able to record her first solo album “Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band” which was listed at #182 on the US charts. She even released a double album “Fly” in the year 1971.
After a year, a protest-song album “Sometime in New York City” followed by. She again came up with two solo albums, “Feeling the Space” and “Approximately Infinite Universe”.
Sadly, her husband, Joh Lennon passed away and after his death, Yoko was able to release a soulful and grieving solo album “Season of Glass” in the year 1981 and an optimistic album “It’s Alright (I See Rainbows)”, a year after.
She also was able to release a series of albums in the following years, such as Every Man Has a Woman, Milk and Honey, and Starpeace. After that, she switched back to visual and performance art.
Yoko was able to debut at Off-Broadway with her musical “New York Rock” in the year 1994 and this was followed by the re-issue of her solo albums on CD by Rykodisc Records in the year 1997.
Also, during the 2000s, she was able to return to music, recording various albums such as Blueprint for a Sunrise, Walking on Thin Ice (Remixes), Yes, I’m a Witch, Between My Head and the Sky, and Yokokimthurston. These albums did become top hits. Then, in the year 2005, she released her autobiography “Memories of John Lennon”.
Caption: Yoko Ono performing her song (Source: Stereogum)
Achievements and Major Works
Yoko On’s “Cut Piece” act at the Sogetsu Art Center, Tokyo, where she invited the viewers to cut off pieces from her clothing using scissors, became a cult piece of conceptual and performance art.
And, also a paradigm of her abstract art, the “Grapefruit” book, illustrated numerous weird situations to be completed by the reader. Then she released its sequel “Acorn” in the year 2013.
Moreover, while she was in Amsterdam in 1969, she used her publicity for holding the “Bed-Ins for Peace” campaign as a public protest against the Vietnam War. She was able to extend her campaign in Montreal and that resulted in the single “Give Peace a Chance”.
Likewise, Yoko was able to receive the Grammy Award for “Double Fantasy” under the Album of the Year category in the year 1982. She even received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Liverpool University in 2001 and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Bard College in 2002.
Then, a year later, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles presented her with the 5th MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts. Ono also was able to receive a lifetime achievement from the Japan Society of New York in 2005 and the Golden Lion Award from the Venice Biennale in 2009.
Furthermore, Yoko even received Austria’s highest award for applied art, the Oskar Kokoschka Prize, in 2012. Then, in the year 2013, she was able to become an honorary citizen of Reykjavik, Iceland. She also was an honorary patron to Alder Hey Charity, London.
Yoko Ono – Relationship Status
Yoko tied the knot with Toshi Ichiyanagi in the year 1956. However, their marriage didn’t last long and they separated in the year 1962. After her separation from Toshi, she was clinically depressed and she was admitted to a mental hospital.
She then was released from the mental hospital by Anthony Cox, whom she married in June of the year 1963. The couple has a daughter together whose name is Kyoko Chan Cox. However, this marriage also did not work and they divorced in the year 1969.
Ono then went on to marry a founder member of the Beatles rock band, John Lennon, in March 1969. There was a series of break-ups and patch-ups after Lennon got involved with his assistant, May Pang.
They have a son whose name is Sean Taro Ono Lennon. Their relationship came to an end when Lennon was murdered in December 1980. Moreover, Ono was reported to have a romantic affair with Sam Havadtoy. He is a Hungarian dealer of antiques but their affair ended in 2001.
Caption: Yoko Ono along with her husband. John Lennon (Source: MARCA)
Body Measurements
Yoko Ono has a height of 5 feet 2 inches her weight is 50 Kg and her other body measurements are 34-24-35 inches. Moreover, Ono has black hair and dark brown eyes.
Social Media
Yoko is pretty active on all of her social accounts. She owns her Instagram account under the name “yokoono” and has 636K followers on it.
Likewise, she also owns a Facebook and Twitter account and has 733K and 4.5 million followers respectively. And, her Youtube channel has garnered 65.1K subscribers until now.
Yoko Ono – Net Worth 2024
According to Celebritynetworth, Yoko Ono has a net worth of $700 million, and her main income source has been her music and art career.