The iconic Beatles frontman John Lennon was once again honored at the Tokyo Olympics with the cover of the Lennon classic ‘Imagine’ by John Legend and Keith Urban, as seen in an Instagram post shared by John Lennon’s official Instagram account.
The best-selling single of Lennon’s solo career, ‘Imagine,’ is the title track of his 1971 album. The lyrics of the song reflect the idea of a world of peace without boundaries separating people, such as international borders and religions. Topping the charts numerous times throughout the years and winning several awards, ‘Imagine’ was named one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century. It has sold over 1.64 million copies by 2013, and it was covered or performed by over 200 artists such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Elton John, and many more.
Being one of the most covered songs of all time, ‘Imagine’ has also been performed at the Olympic ceremonies several times over the years. For instance, the song was featured at the 2018 winter games in PyeongChang, following its performance by a children’s choir at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, which took place a year later than scheduled as it was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic, the classic song was featured once again with the collaboration of John Legend, Keith Urban, and other artists. It was arranged by Hans Zimmer and seems to have earned Yoko Ono’s approval as she has retweeted a number of videos of the opening ceremony on her Twitter account and shared her thoughts on the song.
Also, John Lennon’s official Instagram page posted a short video showing the previous performances of the song during the Olympics. It was stated in the post that this is not the first time ‘Imagine’ was featured at an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
The caption of the post on John Lennon’s official Instagram page read:
“This is not the first time we’ve seen ‘Imagine’ featured at an Opening Ceremony of an Olympic Games. Take a trip down memory lane…”
You can check out the retrospective video posted by John Lennon’s page below.
