Before she became a household name after marrying John Lennon in 1969, Yoko Ono was an influential artist in her own right. Born in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan, Ono and her family moved back and forth between Japan and the U.S. before settling in New York in the 1950s. By the 1960s, Ono was a force in New York’s conceptual art scene, where her works such as “Cut Piece” required viewer participation that called into reconsideration the boundaries between artists and consumers.

Ono met Lennon in 1966, and their connection led to not just a love story but also a prolific creative partnership. Together, they used their celebrity to stage stunts that blurred the lines between art, music, and activism. The most famous example is their 1969 “bed-ins,” when Ono and Lennon stayed for days in hotel beds to promote global peace. Though often criticized — particularly by Beatles fans — Ono has continued to advocate for nonviolence and global unity through her ongoing Imagine Peace campaign as well as artistic collaborations with her son Sean Lennon.