1. Yoko Ono turned 80 on Monday, February 18th! She was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1933.
2. I love that her name, Yoko, means “Ocean Child.”
3. She came from a wealthy, artistic, aristocratic family, her father (an accomplished pianist) was the descendant of a 9th century Emperor, her mother (a talented painter) was the daughter of a banking dynasty. She had the courage to break with her family’s goals for her and to follow her own dreams.  
4. I love her penchant for hats, and sexy, fitted clothes!
5. She has worked as an avant-garde artist, filmmaker, writer, and musician.  She is a feminist, an activist, a philanthropist and and works to support AIDS outreach programs, and to encourage us all to give peace a chance. She’s been doing this for more than 40 years.  Yes, 40 years!
6. Her third husband was John Lennon. She was his love, his muse, his artistic partner, and his teacher. He called her, “the most famous unknown artist in the world.”
7. She’s a survivor!  She lived through having her 7 year old daughter kidnapped by her ex-husband, and hidden from her for over 20 years. She and Kyoko, her daughter, are now reunited.  And she lived through her husband’s murder. He was shot and killed December 1980, when they returned to their home one evening after working in the studio together on the Double Fantasy album.
8. She is still sexy, still relevant, still onstage!  She opened a show in Berlin on her birthday.  She runs Lenono with her son Sean. Her album, The Plastic Ono Band, originally released in 1970 and deemed a critical failure then, has been credited with “launching a hundred or more female rockers,” and was re-release in 1997. 

    XODonna