Ono Honored by Liverpool U.

Yoko Ono will receive an honorary degree from the University of Liverpool this summer. According to a spokersperson for the school, the degree, making Ono a "doctor of laws," is in recognition of Ono's artistic work and patronage of a scholarship fund she founded at the school in memory of John Lennon in 1991.

Though the former Beatle did not attend the university, he studied at the Liverpool Art Institute from 1957 to 1960, before his career with the Beatles catapulted him to worldwide fame. The degree will be bestowed upon Ono at a ceremony in Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall in July. "I'm very honored and excited," Ono told Rolling Stone.

This is the latest honor in what has been a busy year for Ono. New York City's Japan Society and Minneapolis' Walker Art Center mounted a forty-year retrospective of her work titled "Yes, Yoko Ono," which began on March 10th and runs through June 17th. The exhibit marks the first complete survey of all of Ono's art.

The Walker Art Center also plans to reenact Ono's 1965 provocative "Cut Piece" performance art project and will host a class on the artist, "Waiting to Meet Yoko Ono," which runs April 11th through April 25th, as part of the University of Minnesota's Compleat Scholar Program.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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