Many have seen the images. John Lennon and Yoko Ono, a couple in love, sitting in a hotel bed with people all around, news cameras, guitars and signage calling for peace. They’re iconic images from the late 1960s as the war in Vietnam raged on.
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But what is the history of these experimental, first-of-their-kind protests, which were known as “bed-ins for peace,” and why did Lennon and Ono put them on around the time of their wedding? Below is the story of the bed-ins for peace from Lennon and Ono.
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Amsterdam, Bed-in No. 1
The first of the bed-ins from Lennon and Ono took place in Amsterdam at the Hilton Hotel. Born from the already known protests known as sit-ins, which involve people placing their seated bodies in public spaces as they highlight an issue of concern and refuse to move (unless arrested and taken away), the bed-ins were similar. They involved Lennon and Ono sitting in their hotel bed, wearing PJs, and inviting the press in from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Lennon and Ono were married on March 20, 1969, and for their honeymoon, the two set up their first bed-in in Amsterdam. The point was to use the attention garnered from their wedding to promote peace and anti-war sentiments. The two stayed in the Amsterdam hotel from March 25-31, welcoming the press and others to interact and talk about issues in Vietnam.
Prior to the bed-ins, the two had participated in other expressive, experimental behavior, including the nude photo shoot for the cover of their Two Virgins album, which was released in 1968. A year after the bed-ins, shortly before he was murdered, Lennon posted nude with Ono where they embraced in bed for a Rolling Stone magazine cover.
Over their Amsterdam hotel bed, Lennon and Ono hung signs that read “Hair Peace” and “Bed Peace.” After the Amsterdam bed-ins protest, the two flew to Austria and held a press conference while just wearing giant white bags over their bodies. They also sent acorns to world leaders in the spring of 1969, hoping they would plant them and grow trees of hope. Many of these events were referenced in the Lennon-Ono song, “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” released in May of 1969.
Montreal, Bed-in No. 2
With the first bed-in finished, the former Beatle and Ono were set to undertake a new one in New York City but Lennon wasn’t permitted into the United States due to a cannabis conviction in 1968. So, first the couple decided to go to the Bahamas. But staying there proved to be too hot and uncomfortable.
So, the two flew to Toronto but quickly decided to hold the second bed-in officially in Montreal, due to its proximity to NYC. In Montreal, the couple stayed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, where they welcomed Timothy Leary, Dick Gregory, Allen Ginsberg and others. It was here that Lennon, Ono and many of their guests recorded the now-famous song, “Give Peace a Chance.”
That song became the first solo single issued from Lennon, released even before he’d formally left the Beatles. The song, which hit No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, first was credited to Lennon-McCartney, as all of the artists’ songs were at the time, but later changed to just Lennon.
After the second bed-in, Lennon and Ono commissioned billboards in 11 cities around the world that read, “WAR IS OVER! If You Want It – Happy Christmas From John and Yoko.”
Check out footage of the bed-ins below.
(Photo by John Rodgers/Redferns)
