Did Yoko Ono Break Up The Beatles? (Short answer: No)
I’m a Beatles fan. A big Beatles fan. I’ve been familiar with their music all my life thanks to my dad, and over the past year, my interest in them has drastically increased. By now, not only have I listened to every album of theirs––some multiple times (I’m a Rubber Soul girly)––I have watched documentaries, countless YouTube video essays, read articles, and have immersed myself in their lore. Call me basic, but I truly think they are one of the greatest bands of all time. Just listen to “In My Life.”
One of the most frequently brought-up discussions surrounding the Beatles is their infamous break-up in 1970, and the causes of it. While none of us will ever 100% know what transpired, many fans have historically pinned the blame on one person: artist, singer, and activist Yoko Ono, who happened to be John Lennon’s girlfriend, and eventually his wife. For decades, this so-called “fact” has been tossed around, and Ono has become the subject of endless criticism and discourse. It’s her fault! critics cry. She ruined everything. The Beatles might still be together today without her. It doesn’t take much actual research or critical thinking to conclude that this is false.
If you’re not familiar with how she became part of the Beatles’ story, here’s some context. In November of 1966, the Beatles went to Ono’s solo art exhibit in London. Lennon approached her to discuss her work, and according to him in a 1980 Playboy interview,
“That's when we locked eyes and she got it and I got it and, as they say in all the interviews we do, the rest is history."
Lennon was married at the time to Cynthia Lennon. He and Ono began an affair, and he and Cynthia divorced around two years later. On March 20th, 1969, the two of them married. Now, a lot happened between those years, but that’s for another article. Long story short, Yoko became entrenched in the band’s dynamics. Almost everyone who knew who Lennon was knew her name as well.
Ono didn’t pop into existence the moment she and Lennon “locked eyes” in that art gallery. She was a fairly well-known avant-garde artist in New York City and London, especially known early in her career for her "instruction pieces", which initially began as an invitation for people to interact with her paintings but became artworks in themselves, instructing viewers to engage in various activities. She enjoyed the abstract and took pleasure in making her audience exercise their imagination. Perhaps that was why she and Lennon were apparently instantly drawn to each other––their love of inventiveness and thinking outside the box in their respective crafts.
Perhaps this leads to the then-common notion of Ono as a control freak; she sat in on the Beatles’ rehearsal sessions, changing the group dynamic and sometimes inserting herself into their creative process by making suggestions. Some of this is objective fact––band member Paul McCartney has spoken about this in a 2023 podcast:
“So things like Yoko being in the middle, literally in the middle of the recording session, was something you had to deal with…and the idea was if John wanted this to happen, then it should happen. There’s no reason why not.”
To be fair, being “in the middle” wasn’t necessarily her choice. Lennon wanted her there, after all. He allowed her to be “in the middle”––he desired her to be. There’s no question that he was deeply in love with her. He trusted her opinions––perhaps, towards the end, as much as his fellow Beatles––and wanted her close to him whenever he could, and she felt the same in return. The way the band interacted was certainly altered by her presence. However, does any of this suggest that she, and she alone, broke them up?
The Beatles’ relationship had been increasingly strained for years before the break-up. Many connect the loss of their manager, Brian Epstein, to the cracks in their foundation. He had been their guide throughout their career, the mediator who kept things running. After his tragic death in 1967, they were, in some ways, on their own to manage their career. To say Ono was the main cause of their demise is unjust and without merit. Imagine (wink, wink) that you were in a band with your friends, and one of them started bringing along their partner to rehearsals. A year or two later, your band broke up. To add, imagine that prior to their partner joining, you had all gone through some traumatic event––such as your mentor whom you could always count on for advice or to make important decisions for your band dying unexpectedly. Furthermore, you’re all getting older and inevitably starting to have diverging priorities. Is it fair to say that a person’s partner is utterly to blame for the falling out?
I say no.
The vilification of Ono is undoubtedly connected to misogyny and racism. Her intersectional identity has contributed to people’s vehement hatred of her. Throughout modern history, women have been and continue to be blamed for their male counterpart’s actions, and she’s no exception. It wasn’t Lennon's fault he didn’t prioritize the band as much as he’d used to––it was his girlfriend’s! She stole him away from his bandmates! But that leads to another inquiry: why aren’t any of the other Beatles’ wives or girlfriends brought into the discussion of why the band broke up? Why has all the attention exclusively been put on Ono?
Racist stereotypes definitely play a part. She wasn’t the typical white woman many fans had expected Lennon to settle down with. She was exotic. She was fiery. She was Asian during a time when nativism was surging in Britain and dared to be with one of the most famous men in the world. Ono was often called “Dragon Lady”, a derogatory term for a powerful and domineering Asian woman. Rather than take this as an insult, Ono spun it in a 2010 Esquire interview:
“What is teaching me is the fact that we have to learn how to turn around negative energy into positive energy. On a very small scale, for instance, people used to call me Dragon Lady. And I didn't answer that one. And one day I said, Thank you for calling me Dragon Lady, because the dragon is such a powerful animal. And thank you for thinking I'm so powerful. From then on nobody called me Dragon Lady.”
As Yoko Ono turns 92, it is important to examine the stories we’ve been told about her, and for us to combat misinformation regarding her role in the Beatles’ canon. How many other women have been scapegoated and disparaged while their male counterparts are infantilized for their roles? Perhaps we can use her as a case study for how not to treat women. I’d like to think that as a society we know better by now, but who’s to say?
Happy birthday, Yoko.
*Disclaimer: Ono is not a perfect person by any means. Who is? Some of her past actions are questionable, to say the least, and I will not be defending her or participating in any kind of character assassination regarding them. I encourage you, Ribbon reader, to do some research and come to your own conclusions. This article focuses on a specific aspect of her story, one that is most often debated. People are complicated, and she’s a perfect example of that.
