John Lennon and Yoko Ono were fierce activists for peace. The two attended rallies and protests and often released music that preached pacifism. In 1969, shortly after their wedding, Lennon and Ono held “bed-in” protests, inviting the media to their hotel room and calling for peace in their bed.
John Lennon wasn’t afraid to preach his politics in his music
Lennon was an activist for many causes, including anti-war, human rights issues, and worker’s rights. While his politics were kept quiet with The Beatles, he expressed them frequently in his solo career. Some of these songs sparked controversy, such as “Woman is the N***** of the World”, “Attica State”, and “Bring on the Lucie”.
However, his best-known protest songs were ones where he called for peace, such as “Imagine”, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”, and “Give Peace a Chance”. His wife, Ono, was also passionate about political issues, and the two were a united front in spreading their message.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their ‘bed-in’ protests 54 years ago
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married on March 20, 1969. The pair spent their honeymoon in the presidential suite at the Amsterdam Hilton hotel on March 25-March 31. They invited the media into their hotel, where they called for peace and protested against the war in Vietnam. The couple sat in bed in their pajamas, with two signs that read “hair peace” and “bed peace.”
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“We knew whatever we did was going to be in the papers. We decided to utilize the space we would occupy anyway, by getting married, with a commercial for peace,” Lennon said via The Beatles Anthology. “We would sell our product, which we call ‘peace.’ And to sell a product, you need a gimmick, and the gimmick we thought was ‘bed’. And we thought ‘bed’ because bed was the easiest way of doing it because we’re lazy.”
Following the first protest, Lennon and Ono held another bed-in on May 26, 1969, at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Canada. On the seventh day, the pair, and a few colleagues they invited, performed the peace anthem, “Give Peace a Chance.” Lennon and Ono also recorded the track “Remember Love” in private.
Two hit songs came from the ‘bed-in’ protests
“Give Peace a Chance” was the first solo single released by John Lennon and was released in 1969 with “Remember Love” as the B-side. The track quickly became an anthem protesting the Vietnam war and the counterculture movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the U.K. charts.
In 1969, The Beatles released “The Ballad of John and Yoko”. Written by Lennon, the track chronicled John and Yoko’s wedding, their honeymoon, and the March bed-in protests. Lennon and Paul McCartney were the only two Beatles who performed the song. Upon its release, “The Ballad of John and Yoko” peaked at No. 1 on the U.K. charts and at No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
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