Yoko Ono credited as co-writer for 'Imagine'

This week at the National Music Publishers Association in New York, Yoko Ono was recognized as a co-writer of John Lennon’s iconic song, ‘Imagine.’ Ono received the NMPA’s new Centennial Song award, and will be added to the credits of the song as a co-writer.

The Chief Executive of the organization, David Israelite, played a video clip from 1980 of Lennon discussing Ono’s influence on the song. Lennon said,
"There's a lot of pieces in it saying 'imagine this' or 'imagine that [from Ono’s 1964 book ‘Grapefruit’]...I know she helped on a lot of the lyrics, but I wasn't man enough to let her have credit for it. I was still selfish enough and unaware enough to take that contribution without acknowledging it."

The recognition had a deep impact on Ono, as well as her son, Sean Ono Lennon. In a celebratory Instagram post, Lennon referred to the ceremony as the “proudest day of my life,” and wrote, “patience is a virtue.”

The familiar chorus comes to mind: “You may say I’m a dreamer / But I’m not the only one.” Now, 46 years after the release of the song, Lennon is finally joined by the other dreamer, Ono.

Proudest day of my life: The National Music Publishers Association just gave the centennial (song of the century) award to Imagine, but WAIT! Surprise! They played an audio interview of my father saying (approximately) 'Imagine should've been credited as a Lennon/Ono song, if it had been anyone other than my wife I would've given them credit.' Cut to: my mother welling up in tears, and then Patti and Jesse Smith @michiganmanhattan Imagine! Patience is a virtue! ✌️❤✌️❤✌️❤✌️ (PS they officially declared Imagine to be a Lennon/Ono song and gave my mother a second award! ?)

A post shared by Sean Ono Lennon (@sean_ono_lennon) on Jun 14, 2017 at 4:44pm PDT