Yoko Ono Turns 80; Celebrates With Sean Ono Lennon, Rufus Wainwright & Michael Stipe
Yoko Ono, widow of murdered Beatle John Lennon, celebrated her 80th birthday on Monday.
The artist and singer celebrated her birthday with a musical performance on Sunday in Berlin with her son Sean Ono Lennon. She was also accompanied by musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Michael Stipe and Robyn Hitchcock, according to USA Today.
In addition, Ono celebrated her artistic exhibit Half-a-wind, which opened on Friday at the Schirn Kuntshalle in Frankfurt.
She first came to the attention of the general public when she married Lennon in 1969. Ono was older than her late husband, who died in December of 1980 after he was shot outside of his apartment in New York. He would have been 72 this year.
Ono's relationship with Lennon was rumored to be a part of the breakup of The Beatles, but she reportedly blamed Paul McCartney for the British band parting ways. An interview with Ono and Rolling Stone magazine's Joe Smith in October 1987, in which she gave an account of how the band separated, was recently uploaded to the Library of Congress website.
"The Beatles were getting very independent," Ono told Smith during the interview. "Each one of them [was] getting independent. John, in fact, was not the first who wanted to leave the Beatles. [We saw] Ringo [Starr] one night with Maureen [Starkey Tigrett], and he came to John and me and said he wanted to leave. George [Harrison] was next, and then John."
Ono continued: "Paul [McCartney] was the only one trying to hold the Beatles together. But the other three thought Paul would hold the Beatles together as his band. They were getting to be like Paul's band, which they didn't like."
The artist continues to be a controversial figure that has gained support and criticism across the board, according to Yahoo News.
Ono unveiled a line of peculiar menswear in December created based on sketches of her late husband. Some of the pieces Ono designed includes a sheer cutout top, pants that show a little cheek and a variety of jock straps.
