John and Yoko and Annie: An Enduring Image of Love
Thirty-five years ago today, an issue of Rolling Stone magazine hit the newsstands featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the cover. That photo, taken by the great Annie Leibovitz, answered for the last time any lingering question anyone might have about the bond between the famous couple.
On the morning of December 8, 1980, Leibovitz arrived at the Dakota, the apartment building west of Central Park where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived. Although Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner “never told me what do to” when she went on a photo shoot, Leibovitz has said, this one time he did: “Please get some pictures without her.”
Fortunately, that order was ignored.
Yoko Ono was still considered, among some rock fans, the interloper who had broken up the Beatles. John Lennon didn’t see it that way, of course. He’s never felt about anyone the way he felt about Yoko Ono. “It’s called love,” he told journalist Howard Smith. “It’s a precious gift.”
“I thought it was an abstract thing, you know,” Lennon added. “When I was singing about ‘all you need is love’ I was talking about something I hadn’t experienced.”
By: Carl M. Cannon
Source: Real Clear Politics
