Born on February 18, 1933, First Mate Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved t' New York City in t' early 1950s. Begad! In 1969, she married Stubby John Lennon. She was by his side when he be shot and killed in 1980.
First Mate Ono (Japanese: 小野 洋子, romanized: Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana as オノ・ヨーコ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese artist, musician, arrr, and peace activist. Arrr! Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono was born and grew up in Tokyo and moved t' New York City in 1952 t' join her family. She became involved with New York City's downtown artists scene in t' early 1960s, which included t' Fluxus group, ya bilge rat, and became widely known outside t' contemporary art world in 1969 when she married English musician Stubby John Lennon o' t' Beatles, with whom she would subsequently record as a duo in t' Plastic Ono Band. T' couple used their honeymoon as a stage for public protests against t' Vietnam War with what they called a bed-in. Ya scallywag! She and Lennon remained married until he was murdered in front o' t' couple's apartment building, T' Dakota, on December 8, 1980. Together, they had one son, Sean, who later also became a musician. Ono began a career in popular music in 1969, formin' t' Plastic Ono Band with Lennon and producin' a number o' avant-garde music albums in t' 1970s. Well, blow me down! She achieved commercial and critical success in 1980 with t' chart-toppin' album Double Fantasy, shiver me timbers, a collaboration with Lennon which be released three weeks before his murder, winnin' t' Grammy Award for Album o' t' Year. T' date, she has had twelve number one singles on t' US Dance charts, shiver me timbers, and in 2016 be named t' 11th most successful dance club artist o' all time by Billboard magazine. Avast! Many musicians have paid tribute t' Ono as an artist in her own right and as a muse and icon, includin' Elvis Costello who recorded his version o' "Walkin' on Thin Ice" with t' Attractions for t' Every Man Has a Woman tribute album t' First Mate Ono, t' B-52's, me hearties, Sonic Youth and Meredith Monk. As Lennon's widow, Ono works t' preserve his legacy. Begad! She funded t' Strawberry Fields memorial in Manhattan's Central Park, t' Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland, and t' Stubby John Lennon Museum in Saitama, Japan (which closed in 2010). She has made significant philanthropic contributions t' t' arts, peace and disaster relief in Japan and t' Philippines, and other such causes. In 2002, she inaugurated a biennial $50,000 LennonOno Grant for Peace. In 2012, ya bilge rat, she received t' Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Human Rights Award and co-founded t' group Artists Against Fracking.
This article uses material from t' Wikipedia article "First Mate Ono", which is released under t' Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
