Yoko Ono is a revolutionary conceptual artist, peace activist, feminist icon and musician whose work has inspired generations. She’s also one of the most unfairly vilified public figures in living memory, a woman who was forced to endure vile torrents of racist and sexist abuse for the alleged crime of breaking up The Beatles.
These days, only an ignorant minority of people (mostly men) still cling to that opinion, but the rehabilitation of Ono as an important and respected artist in her own right was a long time coming. David Sheff’s Yoko: A Biography crowns that process. It studies her life and work in the depth it deserves while authoritatively dismantling falsehoods. You’ll have renewed admiration for this often misunderstood human being.
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Sheff and Ono became close friends after he interviewed her and John Lennon in 1980. His prologue emphasises that he’s fully aware of the potential conflict of interest when it comes to telling her story honestly. To his credit, Sheff hasn’t written a hagiography. He’s on Yoko’s side, but never ignores her flaws (at worst she could be weirdly naive and occasionally self-absorbed).
Ono, who is 92, retired from public life a few years ago. She takes centre stage via archive interviews and perceptive contributions from loved ones, such as son Sean and daughter Kyoko. The most revealing chapters are devoted to her early career as an avant-garde artist; Lennon’s infamous ‘lost weekend’ told for the first time from her perspective; and the harrowing aftermath of Lennon’s murder.
Sheff stresses that Ono was in a state of almost catatonic grief. For years afterwards, she received death threats from cranks while being betrayed by confidantes out to make a fast buck. Simultaneously, ill-informed critics dragged her name through the mud. That she managed to survive is testament to her strength and resilience. And that above all else is what Sheff captures: Yoko Ono is a survivor. And she rocks, hard.
Yoko by David Sheff is out now (Simon & Schuster, £25). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.
