Watch Michael Parkinson interview John Lennon and Yoko Ono
As we digest the sad news of Michael Parkinson‘s passing, aged 88, we’re looking back on some of the highlights of the broadcasting veteran’s illustrious career. With a TV career spanning over five decades, Parkinson racked up an impressive list of interviewees, including David Bowie, John Lennon, Celine Dion and David Beckham.
Parkinson interviewed approximately 2,000 esteemed guests in total throughout his career and once stated that his sit-down chat with Muhammad Ali in 1974 was his favourite of all time. However, another undeniable highlight for the broadcaster was his chat with the former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, in 1971.
At the time of the interview, wounds were still fresh following the disbandment of the Beatles’ disbandment a year prior. The conversation marked a distinctive moment as Lennon’s last appearance on British TV before he departed to live in the US. Additionally, the discourse heard the former Beatle defend his marriage to Ono amid scathing judgement pertaining to the couple’s unconventional antics, notably their penchant for nudity.
“I couldn’t understand why people wanted to throw rocks at her or punish me for being in love with her,” Lennon announced.
“The alienation started when I met Yoko, and people do not seem to like people getting a divorce,” he continued. “It’s all right to do it quietly, but we can’t do it quietly. So we fell in love, and it’s unfortunate, you know, we fell in love, and we married. But a lot of people sort of think that to be odd, you know, but it happens all the time. And Yoko just happened to be Japanese, which didn’t help much, you know?”
“So, everybody had this impression that, you know, John’s gone crazy,” he lamented. “But all I did was fall in love, like a lot of people do who are already married, who already married somebody very young, you know, and that’s all we did.
“And then we did ‘Two Virgins’, which didn’t help much. But we were just trying to say to people that being naked doesn’t mean a damn thing. There was a thing in News of the World where they had a picture of some children, and they covered up the genitals, and they put underneath: ‘In case any children are looking.’ But why hide genitals? That’s all we were saying! But, of course, now they’ve had hair, and there’s nudity all over the place. But then, it was extraordinary.”
Watch an extended clip from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s interview with Michael Parkinson below.
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