| "Imagine" | ||||
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&sq=&lang=&file=File:Lennon_Imagine_Sleeve_1975.jpg) UK picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by John Lennon | ||||
| from the album Imagine | ||||
| B-side | "It's So Hard" | |||
| Released | 11 October 1971[1] | |||
| Recorded | 27 May – 4 July 1971 | |||
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| John Lennon US singles chronology | ||||
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| John Lennon UK singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "IMAGINE. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (with the Flux Fiddlers) HD" on YouTube | ||||
"Imagine" is a song by the English musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion. Shortly before his death, Lennon said that much of the song's lyrics and content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017, she received a co-writing credit.[2][3][4]
Lennon and Ono co-produced the song with Phil Spector. Recording began at Lennon's home studio at Tittenhurst Park, England, in May 1971, with final overdubs taking place at the Record Plant, in New York City, during July. In October, Lennon released "Imagine" as a single in the United States, where it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was first issued as a single in Britain in 1975, to promote the compilation Shaved Fish, and reached number six on the UK Singles Chart that year. It later topped the chart following Lennon's murder in 1980.
“Imagine” has consistently been widely praised since its release, while also garnering controversy due to its lyrics. BMI named "Imagine" one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century. In 1999, it was ranked number 30 on the RIAA's list of the 365 "Songs of the Century", earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". A 2002 UK survey conducted by the Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book named it the second-best single of all time, while Rolling Stone ranked it number 3 in its 2004 list of the " 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", repositioned to number 19 in the 2021 revision. Since 2005, event organisers have played the song just before the New Year's Times Square Ball drops in New York City. In 2023, the song was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
"Imagine" has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the UK. More than 200 artists have performed or covered the song, including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Joan Baez, Lady Gaga, Elton John and Diana Ross. After "Imagine" was featured at the 2012 Summer Olympics, the song re-entered the UK Top 40, reaching number 18, and was presented as a theme song in the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The song remains controversial, as it has been since its release, over its request to imagine "no religion too".[5]
- ^ Womack, Kenneth (2014). ""Imagine" (Lennon)". The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Vol. 1: A–J. Greenwood. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-313-39171-2. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ "Yoko Ono to Receive Songwriting Credit on John Lennon's 'Imagine'". 15 June 2017.
- ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (15 June 2017). "Yoko Ono could get songwriting credit for Imagine – 46 years late". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ Rogers, Jude (6 October 2018). "Not the only one: how Yoko Ono helped create John Lennon's Imagine". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
- ^ Raiola, Joe (28 August 2017). "John Lennon's 'Imagine' Threatens the Conservative Mindset Far Away and Near". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2020.