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People love to hate Yoko Ono. She broke up the Beatles, is painful to hear her sing, was stingy with Julian Lennon, drove husband John into the arms of May Pang and then yanked him back – all sorts of evil deeds.

There’s a villain in every story, and Yoko fits the bill. Enough vilifying, let her and son Sean live in peace.

The seeds of the Beatles splitting up were planted before Yoko appeared, the orbits of the four had changed, and with the death of manager Brian Epstein, the creative, business and personal cracks were evident. Say what you will about her role in John’s attitude about the band, but he was clearly unhappy, creatively divergent and looking at life beyond the Beatles.

I’m not a big fan of Yoko’s experimental music. However, there are some revered albums of her early 1970s work. It didn’t help to be compared alongside a former Beatle. Time to give her music a fresh listen.

The story of John and Yoko’s split and then life together is a complicated one, and the subject of books, films and speculation. John was a grown man and responsible for his own relationships. Was he happy in his five year “retirement”? He seemed to be. The years he spent raising Sean were valuable for that family unit. Every marriage has its trials, and theirs apparently did as well. Not my business.

In the late 1970s, John and Paul were hanging out together, but that was disrupted, and then John was gone. The source of that disruption was John turning inward toward his family. He was clearly more focused on his family than making music at that point.

Yoko did provide Paul with a cassette of songs John had demoed. Three of those songs were completed over the years, the last being “Now and Then.” She has, worked to protect and promote John’s legacy, and by extension, the Beatles.

It would appear that Sean and brother Julian are quite close. I hope so. They need each other. Sean is particularly hurt by the negativity shown toward his mother.

Yoko Ono is 91 and her health is fragile, as one might expect. Her work as an artist stretches back more than 60 years to her paintings, films and conceptual art. In the years to come, the examination and discussion of her work will only increase.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/yoko-ono-lasting-legacy

It’s time to ease back on the hate and let it be.