50 years later, Montreal celebrates Lennon-Ono's "bed in peace"

MONTREAL: John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a week in their pajamas in 1969 at The Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, hosting journalists and recording Give Peace A Chance to the Vietnam War.

Fifty years later, the hotel celebrates its fabulous pacifism experience with a series of special events, including guided tours of the couple's room.

"We are still talking about it 50 years later, but at the time we had no idea of ​​the impact it would have," spokeswoman Joanne Papineau told AFP. from the hotel.

"After the departure of the couple, for years, we did not talk about the colony, but John was murdered, other wars continued and people began to show that they wanted to know where all this had happened, "she said. "Several years later, they suddenly made sense of what the couple had done."

From May 26 to June 2, 1969, Lennon and Ono received reporters from around the world who interviewed the couple in bed, as well as fans and fellow artists who helped create a chirpy atmosphere and send a simple message: Stop to the war in Vietnam.

The idea stems from sit-ins, in which protesters are sitting in front of or inside an establishment until their demands are met or they are arrested. .

In the midst of this joyous chaos and limited technical resources, Lennon composed and recorded his famous hymn to peace, Give Peace A Chance.

His entourage, which included psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary and writer Allen Ginsberg, not always singing well, badured the chorus. The song will later be remixed in a studio of his professional.

"It's certainly one of the most remarkable and influential songs of contemporary music," Geneviève Bornesaid, host of the upcoming festivities, said at a press conference Thursday.

"This bed-in for peace was also one of the first acts of artist activism."

"LENNON CHANGED MY LIFE"

Special events at the Fairmount Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal will begin Saturday and will continue until the anniversary of Lennon on June 9th.

They will include the unveiling of an exhibition of photographs taken during the bed-in, guided tours of the famous 1742 Hall, a "hippie" evening and a concert for peace.

The Phi Foundation will also host an exhibition on the works of the widow of Lennon, the Beatles singer who was tragically shot in front of their apartment in New York in 1980.

The couple had actually rented four adjoining rooms to the hotel (1738, 1740, 1742 and 1744) for their stay in 1969.

The rooms have since been combined into a single suite of 1,400 square feet and renovated, but respecting the original design. Mock-ups of two hand-painted Peace and Bed Peace and Bed Peace panels adorn the windows.

Carmel Mbade, a 57-year-old Canadian fan, John Lennon and the Beatles, booked the suite for the night from Sunday to Monday.

"Lennon has changed my life," he told AFP. "When I saw John Lennon bearded in Montreal, with his guru-like, Christ-like side, his journey intrigued me."

Lennon's pacifist message would seduce him and inspire him more.

"To rent this suite, it's like saying 50 years later:" Thanks for making me better. "