The moment John Lennon made a surprise appearance on ‘Monday Night Football’
During his appearance on Monday Night Football in 1974, John Lennon found himself amid what’s often termed his “lost weekend”. From 1973 to 1975, this phase marked a period where the Beatles member distanced himself from his wife, Yoko Ono, and embarked on a casual relationship with May Pang, a former personal assistant of the couple.
During this period, Lennon was notably engaged in the creation of his covers album, Rock ‘N’ Roll, and the studio release, Walls and Bridges. This phase of Lennon’s life also involved socialising with the members of the Hollywood Vampires, a social drinking and musical group comprising Harry Nilsson, Alice Cooper, and others.
Ono orchestrated the entire affair and revisited her choice to initiate the relationship many years later: “I was hated and John was hated because of me,” she said. “The affair was something that was not hurtful to me. I needed a rest. I needed space. Can you imagine every day of getting this vibration from people of hate? You want to get out of that. Also, we were so close John didn’t even want me to go to the bathroom by myself.”
For 18 months, Pang and Lennon were a couple, during which Lennon worked on Rock ‘N’ Roll. Meanwhile, Ono moved forward with her own life, secure in the belief that she would reunite with her husband when the timing was appropriate. “I was prepared to lose him, but it was better he came back. I didn’t think I would lose him. I wanted to be sure,” she expressed.
The relationship between Lennon and Pang came to an end when Ono expressed readiness to reconcile their marriage. After performing as a guest alongside Elton John in a homecoming show in New York City, Lennon reunited with his wife, and they remained together until his passing in 1980.
Back in March 1974, Lennon and Nilsson were ejected from the Troubadour rock club in West Hollywood for drunkenly taunting the Smothers Brothers. By December, Lennon started to embrace sobriety and attended a game at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the LA Redskins and the Los Angeles Rams. Identified in the crowd, he was escorted into the broadcasting booth during halftime for an interview with Monday Night Football host Howard Cosell.
Half a decade later, Cosell found himself tasked with delivering the news of John Lennon’s passing during a match between The Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. His colleague, Frank Gifford, arranged the announcement: “Timeout is called with three seconds remaining. John Smith is on the line. And I don’t care what’s on the line, Howard, you have got to say what we know in the booth.”
See the somewhat bizarre footage, below.
