26 September 2010
Newsdesk
An English Heritage Blue Plaque to John Lennon will be unveiled by Yoko Ono on Saturday, October 23rd, at 34 Montagu Square, London.
On Saturday October 23rd Yoko Ono will unveil an English Heritage Blue Plaque at 34 Montagu Square, the London home she shared with her husband John Lennon from July 1968. This is the first blue plaque for a London property lived in by one of The Beatles – and only the second for a rock star, the first being in Brook Street at the former home of Jimi Hendrix, coincidentally a former inhabitant of 34 Montagu Square himself.
In July 1968 John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved in to the property during the time The Beatles were recording The White Album. The couple shot the famous” Two Virgins” album cover in the basement, standing naked in front of the camera for the iconic shot. Later that year they were arrested at the flat after a police raid.
Part of a 19th century townhouse in leafy Marylebone, just minutes away from the bustling centre of London, 34 Montagu Square was the perfect location for a 60s pop star to hit the town. Previous to John and Yoko, when Jimi Hendrix arrived in London in 1966 he took up residency at No 34, along with his manager Chas Chandler of The Animals. It was here that Hendrix wrote his classic song “The Wind Cries Mary” and launched his career. And previous to Hendrix, the basement and ground floor duplex flat had been the residence of newlyweds Ringo and Maureen Starr and, when they moved, this allowed Paul McCartney to set up a home studio in the flat where he began the creation of “Eleanor Rigby” and “Tomorrow Never Knows”.
The flat was also a meeting place for London’s sixties counter-culture and American author William Burroughs recorded his experimental Hello, yes, hello tapes there.
34 Montagu Square has long been a regular feature on Beatles sightseeing tours and will now be honoured with an English Heritage Blue Plaque in memory of John Lennon.
