On December 29, 2024, a pair of glasses that had belonged to John Lennon sold for $52,000 at a charity auction. The Gala One event, an exclusive charity evening that supported three charities (Amend, OneDrop and Well/Beings), took place in Eden Rock, Saint Barths. It was a star-studded affair, with guests including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Tyson, and Wyclef Jean.

Many extraordinary items were auctioned that night for charity, and one such treasure was a pair of round metal glasses that John Lennon had once owned. Alexander Bitar, a collector and dealer specializing in high-end historical memorabilia, donated the item to the gala, and sources at the event told me that the winner of the extraordinary eyeglasses was none other than the actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose agent I have contacted by email to obtain confirmation.

In Bitar’s opinion, few artefacts from pop culture history are more significant and iconic than John Lennon’s round eyeglasses—an artist whose music reached unprecedented popularity when the four-piece rock band The Beatles was formed in Liverpool in 1960. Alexander told me that he thinks the specs are synonymous with Lennon, as he wore them practically every day from 1966 to his death in 1980. The model of the glasses auctioned is called “Windsor”, this being a vintage pair there is no visible maker’s stamp on them.

“I applaud the buyer for his generous donation, which will help the three charity organizations with their important work,” says Bitar, “and in addition to the donation, the buyer also receives a priceless historical item—so it’s a win-win for all.”

Source: forbes.com/Laia Farran Graves

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‘One to One: John & Yoko’ Documentary Revisiting Pivotal 18 Months in Late Beatle’s Life To Stream on Max

The Kevin Macdonald movie will get an exclusive release in IMAX on April 11 first.   A new documentary chronicling a crucial 18-month period in the lives of late Beatle John Lennon and wife/Plastic Ono Band co-leader Yoko Ono, One to One: John & Yoko, will be released exclusively in IMAX on April 11. The film directed by Kevin Macdonald will then make it’s streaming debut later this year on Max, according to Deadline.

A description of the film says that it is a, “moving look at the couple’s life upon their entry into a transformative 1970’s New York, exploring their musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world. Set in 1972 against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history.” The core of the film will focus on the couple’s One to One Concerts, a two-show charity event for children with special needs that took place at Madison Square Garden in August 1972, the only full-length performances by Lennon following the Beatles’ split two years earlier. The benefit shows also featured performances form Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na and Roberta Flack, among others.

Source: billboard.com/Gil Kaufman

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Paul McCartney is credited with some of the most beloved Beatles songs of all time. His songwriting catalog while with the iconic group seems too vast to be true. His fellow musicians have taken note of that fact more than a few times. Check out four of the best covers of McCartney-penned Beatles songs, below.

4 of the Best Covers of Paul McCartney-Penned Beatles Songs

1. “Let It Be” (Bill Withers)

Bill Withers turned “Let It Be” from a somber ballad to a jaunting gospel track. The tempo is given a swing, which stands in stark contrast to McCartney’s straightforward piano chords. As always, Withers’ vocals stand supreme. Though we’re partial to the original, Withers did wonders with this Beatles hit.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be

Source: americansongwriter.com/Alex Hopper

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Released earlier this month Ringo Starr’s new album Look Up finds the former Beatle reconnecting with the country music that started it all for him, way back in a Liverpool cinema in the 1940s. As part of our extended interview with Starr in the latest issue of MOJO, Paul McCartney discussed his old bandmate’s “natural genius”, affinity for country music and why he was the perfect drummer for The Beatles...

Ringo’s new album Look Up is a collection of country songs. What is it about his personality – and singing voice – that is so perfectly suited to country music?

He always loved country from the first minute I met him. He liked the old country singers like George Jones and people like that, and he was a big fan of that. So I think, you know, maybe, it suits his personality. He’s a very sincere, straightforward guy, and I think that’s the sort of theme behind a lot of country music.

Ringo was the perfect drummer for The Beatles. But why?

Impossible to say why – he just was.

When you first hit America, why do you think Ringo was so particularly endearing to the fans? And could you get behind the Ringo For President campaign?

Ringo for President? Yeah, absolutely! He would do a great job. President of what is the question?

When The Beatles split, Ringo immediately launched a solo music career and pursued a parallel film career. Was it clear that he wouldn’t just join another band as a drummer, that he had more strings to his bow?

Like all of us, he wanted to continue in music. And besides country music, he’s a big fan of old standards, so that’s why he did Sentimental Journey as his first album.

On the rare occasions you get together on-stage these days, do you find you both lock back into some long-practised groove?

Yeah, it’s just amazing, actually. It’s just, yep, it’s like wearing a very comfortable pair of shoes, if that’s the right metaphor.

You once described Ringo to MOJO as “a natural genius”. In what ways?

Source: mojo4music.com

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Magnolia Pictures has landed North American rights to “One to One: John & Yoko,” a documentary that offers an expansive and revealing look at the transformative 18 months of one of music’s most famous couples.

The sale went through before “One to One” is set to screen at Sundance Film Festival, which is taking place in Park City from Jan. 23-Feb. 2, 2025. The doc had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival and played at Telluride Film Festival before making the trek to Utah’s snowy mountain town.

Magnolia plans to release “One to One: John & Yoko” exclusively in Imax on April 11 before expanding to additional theaters. It will land on HBO and Max at a later date in 2025.

Kevin Macdonald (an Oscar winner for “One Day in September”) directed the documentary, which captures the time that Lennon and Ono spent living in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the early 1970s. The film includes never-before-seen material and newly restored footage of Lennon’s only full-length, post-Beatles concert, which includes audio that was remastered by the couple’s son, Sean Ono Lennon.

Source: Rebecca Rubin/variety.com

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One morning in the mid-1970s, a solemn announcement came over the intercom at Friends Seminary: “Noted person John Lennon is now in the meetinghouse. Walk, don’t run.”

We didn’t run. But we wanted to.

I ended up perched with the rest of my second-grade class on a hard wooden pew in the balcony of our Quaker school’s meetinghouse on East 16th Street in Manhattan. Built in 1860, the meetinghouse was old, dignified and a little creaky; it had absorbed the echoes of abolitionist debates, suffragist meetings and restless kids failing to sit still. That morning, I wasn’t sitting still. We were children, but we knew the Beatles.

And then, suddenly, there he was: John Lennon.

I remember the hush — a collective inhale — and then the whispers. I’m pretty sure Lennon was dressed in black when he entered. That’s how I always remembered him. He soon stood onstage in his wire-rimmed glasses, looking exactly like the face I’d seen staring from album covers. He was right there.

A ripple of laughter broke the tension. I can still hear his voice, his dry jokes, the wry expression when one boy asked about the beautiful woman who’d accompanied him — not Yoko Ono, but someone else. But the words themselves? Gone. Did he talk about music? Politics? Did he sing? Why was he even there?

For years, I clung to the memory like a relic. It was one of those surreal childhood moments that made me wonder if I had imagined it. It was a story I could tell anywhere — When I was in second grade, John Lennon came to my school! My 22-year-old daughter had heard it so many times she could recite it. But recently, when I brought it up, she looked at me skeptically. “Did that happen?”

Source: nytimes.com/Laurie Gwen Shapiro

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