I've heard her name my whole.life but never her story. I'm glad I was given the opportunity to know her better.

I loved learning so much about Yoko Ono, how the media has twisted her story passes me off and sometimes it feels like nobody bothers learning the truth anymore

A fascinating account of Yoko’s life—her privileged upbringing, her art, her marriages, and her perseverance. This is a compassionate and interesting biography and I enjoyed learning more about a talented and complicated woman who has been so maligned by the media and the general public.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

I enjoyed reading this book! As a product of the 70s, all I've ever heard about Yoko were horrible things. This biography captured the essence that is Yoko. Yes, it's flattering, but it also shows her flaws. In my opinion, the author wrote a pretty unbiased book. My only wish is that there were pictures. I love pictures of the people that the book was written about.

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Simon & Schuster via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

David Sheff creates a timeline of the key moments in Yoko Ono’s long life, including details about her art exhibits, films, theater presentations, her music tours in her 80s, and multiple collaborations with other artists.

Compiling 90 years of life into a book was a huge task. The lengthy bibliography is an incredible resource for scholars and fans. Sheff includes quotes taken from interviews from Yoko and John over the years, along with quotes from their children, friends, and critics.

The book is divided into three sections. Yoko’s life in Japan; Yoko pursuing her art; and what Yoko accomplished after John’s death. It is a remarkable story filled with turmoil, tenderness, and determination.

During Yoko’s years in Japan, her parents’ lack of regard for her haunted her. Their reaction was either indifference or disapproval. Watching the bombing of japan had a lasting effect on Yoko. She and her brother were abandoned by her mother in the countryside and almost starved.

Though a classically trained singer, Yoko spent more time listening to new music than attending classes in college. She left to find greater personal expression.

By 1956, Yoko had discovered the Avant-Garde and was creating her own art, whether in Japan or New York City. She developed ways of presenting art that involved the audience in a collaborative process. This dialogue continued to be a key component of her aesthetic.

Yoko was an established artist when she met John Lennon at her London exhibition the day before it opened. He understood her art and something clicked. Yoko was already married and a young daughter. She was seeking someone to sponsor her artistic vision. So she sent him postcards about her art and they talked on the phone before they became an item.

Yoko was blamed for breaking them up because John was a Beatle and a UK national treasure. Fans will always want more from an artist than is healthy and John was burnt out.

Once they were together, they became more famous for their activism than their art. The negativity from John’s fans and the press wore them down, so they left England and moved to New York City.

Their life in the Dakota building helped anchor them, but it was no paradise. They were surrounded by staff to help them handle the music business and daily life. Many were unreliable.

Yoko is upfront about their drug use and addiction struggles, their legal battles, and troubles in their marriage. This section gives a nuanced view of the difficulties of celebrity life.

The final section shows the highlights of Yoko’s later years with her art and music; acknowledging her efforts to combat misogyny and racism.

Regardless of history, Yoko Ono’s influence on pop music and celebrity activism is irrefutable.

I received an ARC copy for this review

This is a really interesting biography. It investigates the life of Yoko Ono as an artist and individual, beyond her marriage to John Lennon. It is very clear that this book was written with admiration and respect for her work. Biographies can be tricky, but this one is engaging and thoroughly entertaining. I found some of the organizational choices odd and thought that the ending could be stronger, but, overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and highly recommend it.

Every once in a while the question comes up on social media: Who deserves the big apology? Something to that effect. Every time I check comments I see the same few names. Monica Lewinsky and Sinead O'Connor for two, and I won't argue there. If anybody ever mentioned Yoko Ono, it's either slipped my memory or else I scrolled too fast. As long as I have lived, I've seen Ono maligned for her art and music styles and blamed for the Beatles breakup. I've read more books about The Beatles for this blog than any other group, and it's easy to tell which authors seemed eager to get in their shots.
In my review of Cynthia Lennon's John, I note that people either love Ono or hate her with great passion, no real middle ground. One would think that over time, especially as receipts come in showing that she wasn't responsible for the band's divorce (it was inevitable after Brian Epstein's death and everybody itching to do their own things), people might lighten up a bit. With regards to Lennon's marriage... just remember John had a part in that.

Of course, the more I thought about it the more I realized the true answer began with an R and ended in ism. Had Ono resembled Cynthia, Pattie, or Jane Asher would she have received as much vitriol?

Books like Sheff's new biography may help open the doors to appreciation of Ono, and after reading the book I think it would be nice for her to receive it while she is still alive. Her many decades of performance art, film, and music with their themes of feminism and compassion and pleas for peace have never been more relevant.

I read Yoko because I wanted to read about Yoko Ono and receive a fuller picture than I've gotten from other books. Pick up a Beatle or Lennon bio, and her story ends with Lennon's death. Yoko, as expected, not only continues her story through the present day but fills in gaps left blank by other authors. There's a deeper dive into her youth and emergence in New York's art scene. Ono had it rough right from the beginning, including cold and disapproving parents, sexism among her peers, and custody battles with her second husband. Post-Lennon, his fans clamored to keep his memory alive while at the same time chastizing Ono for her efforts in maintaining that visibility. Add to that the number of people around her trying to cash in on Lennon nostalgia by stealing her stuff. Can't win for losing.

All through Yoko, biographer Sheff writes with sympathy for his subject. The reader is advised from the start of Sheff's friendship with Ono. He was the last journalist to interview Lennon and stayed in Ono's inner circle for many years afterward, though he writes they have fallen out of touch. Contributions from Ono's son Sean Lennon and former partner Sam Havadtoy bolster this book as more authorized than other stories. Sheff also notes a book by Elliot Mintz, We All Shine On, which I am reading next. Be on the lookout for a comparison.

Despite that intimate connection, Yoko does not come off as biased. Sheff handles his subject with care but doesn't gush. Yoko works as a supplement to Beatle/Lennon bio but stands strong on its own as the biography of an influential and often misunderstood artist who does deserve recognition apart from the man she married - regardless of what you think of her creativity.

At the very least, though, give Walking on Thin Ice a listen. It's a banger.

Rating: B

In “Yoko: The Biography,” David Sheff details the work and life of a woman as universally known as publicly denounced. In reality, we know very little about Japanese-American artist Yoko Ono outside of her marriage to Lennon, but Sheff draws his knowledge from his friendship with her. Sheff’s relations with Ono are rooted in a Playboy interview with Lennon from the 1980s, which occurred just days before Lennon’s murder.

And yet–despite his deep connection with the artist–Sheff manages to limit his personal bias in his tellings. Yes, he highlights Ono’s strengths and artistic successes. But he doesn’t shy away from including her less celebrated publicity.

This masterpiece spoke to me because we so rarely hear about Ono as a separate entity from Lennon. The story emphasizes her diverse talent in the arts and Ono’s astute sense for the business aspect. It filled me with awe to read about Ono’s triumphs, much in contrast to the world’s dismay for her.

Sheff begins his biography with Ono’s severe childhood neglect during WWII in Japan when she’s too sick to join her family in their bunker during severe bombings. It describes her connection with the United States despite the adversity the Japanese experienced in America. The narration continues on to Ono’s first marriage and birth of her daughter, Kyoko, before focusing intently on Ono’s artistic endeavors. When Ono meets Lennon at one of her exhibitions in London, the two connect and begin a life together that culminates in the birth of their son, Sean.

Sheff goes on to debunk the persistent myth that claims Ono broke up the Beatles. The book describes Lennon as already discordant with the band. Instead, Ono allegedly accompanied a disheartened Lennon to the recording of “Let It Be,” to encourage him to appear at all.

Equally to her credit, Ono is portrayed as having written “Imagine” together with Lennon, although it took until 2017 for her to receive recognition.

One of the most harrowing portions of the book was Ono’s grief around Lennon’s death. Her emotional devastation and journey away from the profound darkness enveloping her struck a deep chord with me. It reminded me that even the most renowned artists grapple with the same emotions all of us do. Sheff showed her difficult emergence from her deep sadness in beautiful prose that any of us might relate to.

Today, Ono is over ninety years old. Will we bury our hatchets and send her our most dignified respect for her lifetime in the world of avant-garde arts? I do hope so.

To be published on March 25, 2025.


Thank you Simon and Schuster for the Advance Reviewers’ Copy. It meant the world to review this outstanding manuscript.

Such a divisive woman. Such a sensitive and sympathetic biography. Sheff, who has know Ono since 1980 and considers her a friend, has peeled back the protective layers and the mythology of Ono to at long last give her a life of her own. This isn't as critical as some might like but it's insightful. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Yoko Ono has long been painted as the villain in the Beatles' story, but David Sheff’s Yoko sheds light on the real person behind the public image. Through personal interviews and deep research, Sheff presents a portrait of a woman who was far more than John Lennon's wife, she was a groundbreaking artist, a survivor of immense personal struggles, and someone deeply misunderstood.

The book doesn’t shy away from the backlash she faced, but it also shows what she was up against: racism, sexism, and relentless blame for breaking up a band that was already fracturing. It captures her loneliness, her creative vision, and her relationship with Lennon in a way that feels raw and honest. Sheff brings nuance to Yoko’s story, making her feel human rather than just a symbol of controversy. Whether you love her or have never understood her, this book challenges the myths and offers a thoughtful, eye-opening perspective.

An excellently written biography of a much maligned character in American cultural history. I learned much about Yoko, and about her husband, John Lennon, however, I can’t actually say that I understand them any more than I did before I read the book. There is a lot of uniqueness and, shall I say, strangeness in her art and her performances and they both had most unusual lives with unorthodox choices and views on things. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

Interesting and informative read about an intriguing and unique individual.
Well written, however, I was looking for a bit more depth surrounding her life and experience.

Yoko Ono has been survived more than many people could fathom living through.

During my reading of this, I learned more about her than I had previously known, though it seemed like there was much missing and some details brushed aside.

Reading this gave me the ick after learning that the author became a family friend, and then fell out of touch Yoko and Sean. It felt a little too “allow me now to profit off my experience first as an interviewer, and than as a friend”. It’s the “friend” part that soured me on this.

I understand that not everyone will feel similarly, so I do recommend this as a closer (if biased) look at a fascinating woman, who deserved so much more respect than she received.


Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the DRC

Wow. Truly.
I went into this biography blind. I did not know much about Yoko Ono outside of her relationship with “one of the Beatles.” But I’m always interested in reading the stories of strong and resilient women and does Yoko Ono fit that bill.

David Sheff did an excellent job of making this book engaging and enjoyable even to those who don’t have prior knowledge. It was apparent that the author admires Yoko, but as he owns his bias from the start, the reader is not at all surprised. Surprisingly, Sheff doesn’t shy away from some of the more awkward and unseemly bits— there were several moments where I gasped out loud. It was clear he was trying, to the best of his ability to paint a true portrayal of a powerhouse of a woman who was misunderstood from the beginning and did not let that stop her.

I really enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was excited to get my hands on a copy of this bio since I am a huge Beatles fan and have read most everything related to the band. This was a very well written, even if it didn't include anything too earth shattering. I especially enjoyed the information from Sam Havadtoy (Yoko's boyfriend of 20 years about whom not much is previously known--a point of contention for their relationship) and Sean Lennon, who both gave new information and an insider perspective. Love her or hate her, Yoko is an interesting person deserving of her own biography.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

All I knew about Yoko Ono was what I saw in the media. And after reading this book, I realized she was the original Meghan Markle. Seriously. The press has rarely had anything positive to say about her, creating a caricature that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The utter crap she had to put up with–the racism, sexism, out-and-out misogyny, and it came from all over: the media, the Beatles fans, you name it.

A different sort of truth about Yoko One is revealed in this book. The author has known Ono for decades in a professional and personal manner, which creates the conundrum: was he objective with his subject? He creates a layered look at the woman, who had a career in her own right long before she met John Lennon, and that career continued for decades after he was murdered. Her own art was revolutionary and is one of the many reasons Lennon fell in love with her. She was a feminist before the whole feminist movement. She was a trailblazer.

I was only seven years old when John Lennon was shot, so I do not remember the years following his death, when Yoko had to keep ramping up security because of break-ins, death threats and stalking. Sean Lennon had to be taken to school in a large duffle bag because of all the threats. And then there were those close to Yoko and John who outright stole personal property, like all of John’s private diaries, all to make a buck. There were several books that came out in subsequent years which portrayed Yoko Ono as a manipulator, schemer, someone who hypnotized Lennon so he would stay with her. In a word, all these “intimate” memoirs further fueled the flames of the caricature the press had built up over the years.

If you really want to get to know Yoko Ono and her personal life, this book is a good start, even if it’s not entirely objective. Slowly, people have come to realize that her art and artistry were truly groundbreaking and should be looked at on her own, not just as someone’s wife.

Ultimately, Sean said, “It’s one of my mom’s most powerful talents: that she had this ability to overcome difficulty with positive thinking. She really wanted to teach the world to do that. She taught my dad to do that.” from Yoko by David Sheff

She took the trauma of her life–the distant parents, the war with its starvation and bombing of Tokyo, the sexual abuse, the social ostracism, misogyny and racism, the drug addiction, the loss of a child stolen by her ex, the murder of her soul mate, the betrayal by trusted confidences–and turned it into visionary art, and an anthem that transformed the world.

I was not a “Beatlemaniac” but remembered the gossip surrounding Yoko Ono, the famous photographs. When offered this biography, I was drawn to learn about Yoko. The woman I encountered in these pages is a remarkable survivor of unimaginable tragedy since childhood. She took that pain into her art, exposing her vulnerability.

David Sheff was a trusted family friend to Yoko and John Lennon, and his biography is sympathetic while revealing troubling insights.

“As usual, there’s a great woman behind every idiot” John Lennon, quoted in Yoko by David Sheff

Yoko’s art and music is described in depth. Shocking or dismissed at the time, her art became formative to later musicians and artists.

John Lennon was depressed and unhappy when he met Yoko at one of her art exhibits. He became deeply dependent on Yoko. It took years and a separation for their marriage to settle into a mutually supportive and happy one, then John was murdered. Not only did she have to deal with that loss, she received death threats for her and Sean. And people she trusted stole money and memorabilia from her. She found solace in tarot cards and psychics.

It was heartbreaking to read.

But she was a survivor.

Yoko committed to keep John’s legacy and music alive. She performed new music with Sean and was now recognized as a pioneer in conceptual art. She reconnected with her daughter from her first marriage.

“I’m not really that optimistic. I am trying to make us survive. And in the course of survival, we don’t have the luxury to be negative. That’s a luxury we can’t afford.” Yoko Ono quoted in Yoko by David Sheff

Yoko’s contribution to Imagine was finally recognized. The message “had always been central to Yoko’s life and work–the basis of her conceptual art and thinking, and indeed, her survival,” Sheff writes;”Yoko imagines a better world–and she worked to create one.”

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

What if you grew up to believe a story about someone because everyone said it was true? But now as an adult you’re realizing the reality of media and how they spin things for the “good of money”. When I received an email to read this book, I was conflicted…. How could I read this book when I believed her to be not a nice person? With that idea pushed aside I dove in head first and was quickly brought to my senses about how Yoko was used as a pawn (possibly a white chess piece) in the moving game of media.
Yokos life has been nothing short of heartache and triumph at times. With open eyes I am now going back to see just how intricate she has been in the women’s movement. While you may not understand her art, vocal or many other ways she has changed your life without you knowing…. Understand that was a large part of how women are now considered on a larger scale in art.

Sheff’s execution of this book is absolutely flawless. It is among my favorite books I have ever read. Only a true friend could write a telling of her life so genuine and heartfelt. I have never felt so connected to someone I have never met; Sheff has a gift that way in his other works as well. He includes the perfect amount of John Lennon so that Yoko is still the main focus which has not been done as she is often overshadowed and even looked down upon in other books about Lennon’s life. Seeing her hardship, the racism and sexism she faced, and the tainted image of her that has only begun to fade in recent years, led her to make some of the most progressive and influential art of the last near century, and this book gives her her flowers. The most important thing this book accomplishes is discrediting the narrative that Yoko is a homewrecker who broke up the Beatles and repainting the picture of her vivid life through her artistry and the true story of what happened between her and John. This is such an important book, and I hope those who are interested in Yoko’s story -and especially those with negative feelings toward her- will give this one a read.
(See below for a longer review on Substack)

Thank you again for allowing me to read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
Really a great read, my biggest complaint is that the author is clearly not unbiased. John Lennon did some terrible things, especially to Yoko, and those were glossed over. He mentions some of them and tones them down, or excuses them. I believe this is coming from his closeness with the entire Lennon family and wanting to spare them any pain, which is understandable but not impartial.
That being said, Yoko is a fascinating person. I am so glad to know her stories history and cultural impact. Truthfully I have never been a big fan of her music or art, but I now understand it more and can respect her for what she has accomplished.