Yoko Ono might soon be getting credit for her role in writing John Lennon's 'Imagine'

Nearly five decades after John Lennon's iconic ballad "Imagine" was released, Lennon's 84-year-old widow Yoko Ono might finally be getting credit for co-writing the song. The surprise announcement was made Wednesday evening at the annual meeting of the National Music Publishers Association in New York.

On Thursday morning, Ono tweeted a portion of an old interview in which Lennon admitted "Imagine" was inspired by Ono's poetry collection, "Grapefruit," and "should be credited as a Lennon-Ono song." "But those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted to mention her contribution," Lennon said.

National Music Publishers Association CEO David Israelite, who made the announcement as he awarded "Imagine" with the Centennial Song award, called the credit "well-deserved." "While things may have been different in 1971, today I am glad to say things have changed," Israelite said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

He noted that while the process of adding Ono to the credits has begun, it's not yet been confirmed.