Yoko Ono said her relationship with John Lennon was “a long roller-coaster.” Yoko said she and the “Imagine” singer giggled often while they were making two of his albums. One of those albums became a tremendous success. The other only produced one hit.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a great time making ‘Double Fantasy’ and ‘Milk and ‘Honey
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David Sheff interviewed John and Yoko in 1980. His interview appeared in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In a 2020 introduction to the book, he discussed meeting up with Yoko long after John’s death.
“Years later, I reminisced with her about that time,” Sheff wrote. “She still got teary-eyed over John, though she had a full and productive life again. When we talked about that summer, she got a big smile. “‘The making of Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey was a great time for us,’” she said. ‘After a long roller-coaster life together, in the end, we were getting on like conspirators of life. We whispered and giggled about things between the takes. It was nice.’”
Yoko Ono said her husband wanted his fans to now something about love
In Yoko’s recollection, John wanted his listeners to know something about relationships. “John was saying, ‘It gets better after 10 years. We have to tell this to the kids,’” she recalled. “‘The kids’ were his fans; John always felt responsible to his fans.”
The interview had a huge impact on Sheff. “Since my interview with the Lennons, I’ve profiled and interviewed many hundreds of others, including people who, through their words, discoveries, and actions, shaped our modern world,” he wrote. “Some contributed ideas that helped us (and help us now) better understand ourselves and be better people. But no one has influenced my life more than John and Yoko.”
How John Lennon’s ‘Double Fantasy’ and ‘Milk and Honey’ performed in the United States
Double Fantasy became the final album John released in his lifetime. That record topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, staying on the chart for 77 weeks in total. The album produced three top 10 singles: “(Just Like) Starting Over,” “Woman,” and “Watching the Wheels.” That’s more top 10 singles than the rest of John’s solo albums.
The posthumous album Milk and Honey became a modest hit as well. It reached No. 11 on the Billboard 200, lasting on the chart for 19 weeks. Only one single from the album reached the top 10: “Nobody Told Me.” The two other singles from Milk and Honey, “Borrowed Time” and “I’m Stepping Out,” did not hit the Billboard Hot 100.
Milk and Honey was the final studio album credited to John. Since then, The Beatles released three singles: “Free as a Bird,” ‘Real Love,” and “Now and Then.” All three were written or co-written by the “Imagine” singer.
Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey were both hits and Yoko felt very close to her husband while they made those albums.
