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Yoko Ono Is Finally Recognized As An 'Imagine' Co-writer

Forty-six years after the release of John Lennon's famous song "Imagine," his widow received credit for co-writing it.

By: Katie Cammarata

Posted at 6:44 PM, Jun 15, 2017

and last updated 2017-06-15 18:44:27-04

It took the music industry 46 years to recognize Yoko Ono a s the co-writer of John Lennon's famous 1971 song "Imagine."

National Music Publishers Association CEO David Israelite announced the credit at the group's annual meeting. "Imagine" was also given the Centennial Song Award.

But the surprise came from John Lennon himself — during a BBC interview recorded in 1980.

"That should be credited as a Lennon-Ono song because a lot of it — the lyric and the concept — came from Yoko," Lennon said. "It was right out of 'Grapefruit,' her book. There's a whole pile of pieces about 'Imagine this' and 'Imagine that.'"

Ono and Lennon's son Sean Lennon posted on Facebook that it was a very emotional moment for his mother.

Even though Ono will get royalties from "Imagine," that doesn't really change much because she was already a beneficiary of Lennon's estate.