John Lennon and Yoko Ono's second bed-in for peace: Montreal – 27 May 1969
Tuesday 27 May 1969 | John Lennon, Yoko Ono
Queen Elizabeth Hotel, 900 René-Lévesque Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
On 27 May 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their second bed-in for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. They occupied corner suite rooms 1738, 1740, and 1742. The bed-in lasted eight days, attracted hundreds of visitors and up to 150 journalists per day, and culminated on 1 June 1969 in the recording of 'Give Peace A Chance'.
Queen Elizabeth Hotel, 900 René-Lévesque Boulevard West, Montreal — where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their second bed-in for peace from 27 May to 2 June 1969, and recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' on 1 June.
The Road to Montreal
Following their first bed-in at the Amsterdam Hilton in March 1969, Lennon and Ono planned a second event in New York. However, Lennon was refused entry to the United States due to his 1968 conviction for cannabis possession in London. They flew instead to the Bahamas, staying briefly in Freeport, but quickly realised it was too remote from the US media to generate the coverage they needed.
From the Bahamas they flew to Toronto, where they stayed at the King Edward Sheraton Hotel. On the evening of 26 May they flew to Montreal, checking in at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel shortly before midnight. The bed-in began at around midday on 27 May.
Apple Corps press officer Derek Taylor later recalled the sequence of events in The Beatles Anthology:
“The first destination for the bed-in had been Freeport in the Bahamas, where Allen Klein’s nephew had spent his honeymoon in a horrible hotel with twin beds cemented to the floor with a big block of concrete between them painted white. John looked around and said, ‘We can’t do a bloody bed-in here. Let’s go to Canada. That’s the nearest place to America apart from the Bahamas.’”
— Derek Taylor, The Beatles Anthology
The Bed-In
Lennon and Ono occupied suite rooms 1738, 1740, and 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. They were joined by Ono’s five-year-old daughter Kyoko, and received a stream of visitors throughout the eight days, including:
- Dick Gregory — US civil rights advocate
- Timothy Leary — psychedelic counterculture figure
- Rabbi Abraham Feinberg — Toronto rabbi and peace activist
- Jacques Larue-Langlois — Quebec separatist
- Petula Clark — British singer
- Members of the Canadian Radha Krishna Temple
- Al Capp — American cartoonist, who conducted a notably hostile interview
Lennon and Ono spoke to up to 150 journalists per day. In the United States, around 350 radio stations reported the event, carrying the couple’s message of peace and protests against the Vietnam War.
Derek Taylor described the atmosphere in The Beatles Anthology:
“They had the bed-in for eight days. Hundreds of people came to the bedside. The questions were dealt with by John and Yoko in the full spirit of Apple, because they made themselves completely available to anybody on earth who wanted to come into the bedroom – provided they were not obviously carrying a blood-stained axe. People could come in and ask them questions. Maybe they came in thousands, it felt like it.”
“I was sort of controlling a big People Theatre. There is some footage of that time in which you see quite a packed room. Over a period of ten days you could process a great many people through a hotel suite, and they were doing broadcasts to the world on speaker-phones and hook-ups. It was before satellites.”
“My job was to be around day and night while they were in bed. They were able to rest between visits. They were able to lie down and get new pyjamas etc. A lot of us have had dreams about running our whole life from bed, and for ten days that was what they did.”
— Derek Taylor, The Beatles Anthology
Deportation
Lennon and Ono were in Montreal on sufferance, required to report to the Canadian consul every few days during an appeal period against their exclusion from the United States. Derek Taylor recalled:
“They were having also to report – I think every few days – to the consul in Montreal, because they were only there on sufferance, and were in fact deported from Canada at the end of the bed-in because their appeal against not being allowed in had failed. They’d done the whole bed-in during an appeal period. As soon as the ten days were up, they were told to clear off. In fact they were put on the first plane out to Frankfurt – which is not where we were going, we were going to London. So that, again, is something people forget! Doing a bed-in and being deported when it was over.”
— Derek Taylor, The Beatles Anthology
'Give Peace A Chance'
On 1 June 1969, Lennon recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' in suite 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel on a portable eight-track machine. Among those present were Timothy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Derek Taylor, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, members of the Radha Krishna Temple, and a large group of journalists and supporters.
'Give Peace A Chance' was released as a single on 4 July 1969 — credited to the Plastic Ono Band, making it the first solo single by a Beatle. It reached number two in the UK and number fourteen in the US, and became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement, sung by half a million protesters at the Washington Moratorium in October 1969.
Key Facts: 27 May 1969
- Event: Second bed-in for peace begins
- Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal (suites 1738, 1740, 1742)
- Duration: 27 May – 2 June 1969 (eight days)
- Previous bed-in: Amsterdam Hilton, March 1969
- Reason for Montreal: Lennon refused US entry due to 1968 cannabis conviction
- Daily press: Up to 150 journalists
- US radio coverage: Approx. 350 stations
- Culmination: Recording of 'Give Peace A Chance', 1 June 1969
- Outcome: Deported from Canada; flown to Frankfurt
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did John Lennon hold the bed-in in Montreal rather than New York?
Lennon was refused entry to the United States due to his 1968 cannabis possession conviction in London. After briefly considering the Bahamas, he chose Montreal as the nearest location to the US that he could enter.
What happened at the Montreal bed-in?
Lennon and Ono received hundreds of visitors over eight days, gave interviews to up to 150 journalists per day, and made broadcasts to the world via speaker-phones. On 1 June 1969 they recorded 'Give Peace A Chance' in suite 1742.
What is 'Give Peace A Chance'?
Recorded in suite 1742 on 1 June 1969, released 4 July 1969 as the first solo single by a Beatle, credited to the Plastic Ono Band. It became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement.
What happened at the end of the Montreal bed-in?
Lennon and Ono were deported from Canada when their appeal against US exclusion failed. They were put on a plane to Frankfurt rather than London, their intended destination.
Who was Derek Taylor?
Apple Corps press officer and former Beatles press agent, present throughout the Montreal bed-in and later described it in detail in The Beatles Anthology.
→ John Lennon filmed with Bob Dylan – 27 May 1966
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