Free Republic

The Japanese artist has been a touchstone of popular culture for more than half a century. She retains such an energetic inquisitiveness about the world of art, it’s hard to believe that, in earth years, so to speak, Yoko Ono is now in her tenth decade on the planet. Born in Tokyo on February 18, 1933, the Japanese artist has conducted herself with great dignity and resilience as a prominent cultural figure for more than half a century. After meeting John Lennon when he was one of perhaps the four most famous people in the world, she has kept his...

Singer Lady Gaga (L) and singer/artist Yoko Ono perform at "We Are Plastic Ono Band" at the Orpheum Theater on October 2, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

Yoko Ono has recruited Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Bette Midler and more artists for the first Plastic Ono Band show in 40 years: a special concert on February 16th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. The “new” Plastic Ono Band will be comprised of Ono’s son Sean Lennon plus Japanese musicians like Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda, Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Haruomi Hosono and Cornelius, who also worked on Ono’s 2009 album Between My Head and the Sky. Both Clapton and bassist Klaus Voorman, who’s also confirmed for the Brooklyn event, were...