The Last Solo Song John Lennon Performed Live, Thanksgiving 1974

By 1972, John Lennon played what may have been his final two live concerts on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden in New York City with Yoko Ono. Dubbed the One on One, the afternoon and evening concerts benefitted the Willowbrook State School for children with disabilities in Staten Island, New York, and also featured performances by Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, Sha Na Na, and more.

When Lennon’s fifth solo album Walls and Bridges was released two years later, Elton John, who is featured on the tracks “Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)” “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” he had no intentions of taking anything on tour. John suggested that Lennon release the latter track as his lead single. He went a step further and even predicted that “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” would also go to No. 1 on the charts.

At the time, Lennon’s former Beatles bandmates had all hit No. 1 with their solo projects—George Harrison with “My Sweet Lord” in 1971, followed by Paul McCartney with Ram single “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” with wife Linda, and Ringo Starr with “Photograph” in ’73.

All-Night Television

Lennon’s lyrics for “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” were inspired by late-night TV channel surfing while he lived with his girlfriend May Pang during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono in 1973, also known as the “Lost Weekend.”

Whatever gets you thru the night
It’s all right, it’s all right
It’s your money or your life
It’s all right, it’s all right
Don’t need a sword to cut thru flowers
Oh no, oh no

Whatever gets you thru your life
It’s all right, it’s all right
Do it wrong or do it right
It’s all right, it’s all right
Don’t need a watch to waste your time
Oh no, oh no

Hold me, darlin’, come on, listen to me
I won’t do you no harm
Trust me, darlin’, come on, listen to me
Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen

“At night [Lennon] loved to channel-surf, and would pick up phrases from all the shows,” Pang told Radio Times. “One time, he was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, ‘Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, it’s whatever gets you through the night.’ John loved it and said, ‘I’ve got to write it down or I’ll forget it.’

[RELATED: John Lennon’s Final Live Appearance After a Lost Bet to Elton John]

Lennon’s Lost Bet

Then John bet Lennon that if the song did go to the top, he’d have to perform with him live on stage. Released on September 23, 1974, “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while Walls and Bridges went to No. 1 on the 200 chart.

To pay up on his lost bet with John, Lennon joined him on stage at MSG, on Thanksgiving night, November 28, 1974, for three songs. They kicked off with “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night,” with Lennon teasing the Beatles’ “I Feel Fine,” and closed out on a duet on “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “I Saw Her Standing There.”

 “He came on stage at Madison Square Garden after being physically sick in the toilets beforehand and came onto the greatest ovation I’ve ever heard for anybody in my whole life,” recalled John in 2020. “It makes me very emotional when I think about it. Even now I get goosebumps every time I talk about this, but for 10 minutes the New Yorkers stood up. It was like everybody had been hit by lightning.”

On April 18, 1975, Lennon also made his final appearance on television for an all-star tribute to the British media proprietor Sir Lew Grade performed a cover of Little Richard‘s 1956 hit “Slippin’ and Slidin’” and his own “Imagine.” Lennon also performed a rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” which was cut from the final broadcast.

Photo: John Lennon performing live onstage with Elton John, playing Fender Telecaster guitar (Steve Morley/Redferns)