John Lennon and Yoko Ono attend BMI Pop Music Awards dinner – 25 May 1972
Thursday 25 May 1972 | Award, John Lennon
Americana Hotel, New York City
John Lennon and Yoko Ono attended the BMI Pop Music Awards dinner at the Americana Hotel in New York City on 25 May 1972. During the evening, Lennon was photographed alongside music publisher Don Kirshner and Lee Eastman — the father-in-law of Paul McCartney and a central figure in the bitter legal disputes that had consumed The Beatles' dissolution. The photograph is a striking document of the strange social geography of the music industry: a room in which old antagonists circled each other in black tie.
The BMI Pop Music Awards
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is one of the two major American performing rights organisations — alongside ASCAP — responsible for collecting and distributing royalties for songwriters and publishers. Its annual Pop Music Awards dinner was a significant industry event, recognising the most-performed songs of the preceding year. Lennon's attendance reflected both his standing as one of the most commercially successful songwriters in the world and his continued engagement with the New York music industry during his years of US residency.
The Americana Hotel — later renamed the Sheraton New York — was a major midtown Manhattan venue. Lennon would return to it on 4 September 1972, performing a three-song set there.
Lee Eastman
Lee Eastman (born Leopold Vail Epstein, 1910–1991) was a prominent New York entertainment lawyer and art dealer. His daughter Linda Eastman married Paul McCartney in March 1969, and Eastman — along with his son John Eastman — had represented McCartney's interests during the fractious negotiations over The Beatles' management and the Apple Corps disputes that followed Brian Epstein's death in 1967.
The other three Beatles had favoured Allen Klein as their manager, while McCartney — backed by the Eastman family — had opposed Klein's appointment strenuously. The split over management was one of the proximate causes of The Beatles' legal war, which had consumed enormous energy and money on all sides throughout the early 1970s.
What Lennon Had Said
The photograph of Lennon and Eastman together at the BMI dinner carries a particular charge given what Lennon had said about Eastman in print less than 18 months earlier. In the Lennon Remembers interviews — conducted by Rolling Stone editor Jann S. Wenner in December 1970 and published in January 1971 — Lennon had been characteristically unsparing:
"I wouldn't let [Eastman] near me. I wouldn't let a fuckin' animal like that near me who has a mind like that. Who despises me too! Despises me because of what I am! Of what I look like! These people like Eastman and people like him think that I'm an idiot. And Dick James and all of them. They really can't see me."
— John Lennon, Lennon Remembers, Jann S. Wenner
The venom is characteristic of Lennon at his most raw — the Lennon Remembers interviews are among the most candid and unguarded he ever gave, conducted in the immediate aftermath of The Beatles' break-up and the primal scream therapy he had undergone with Arthur Janov. Lennon was in a state of emotional exposure, and his feelings about the people he associated with the Apple disputes — Eastman, Dick James (The Beatles' original music publisher, who had sold his Northern Songs stake without consulting the group), Klein — were raw and unfiltered.
The mention of Dick James alongside Eastman is telling. James had founded Northern Songs — the publishing company that owned the Lennon–McCartney catalogue — and had sold his controlling stake to ATV in 1969 without giving Lennon and McCartney the opportunity to buy it themselves. It was a betrayal that Lennon never forgave, and one that had lasting consequences: the Lennon–McCartney catalogue remained outside the former Beatles' control for decades, eventually passing through ATV to Michael Jackson and then to Sony/ATV.
Don Kirshner
Don Kirshner (1934–2011) was one of the most powerful music publishers and television producers in American pop history. As head of Aldon Music in the early 1960s, he had overseen a stable of songwriters that included Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, and Neil Diamond — the Brill Building generation that had dominated American pop before The Beatles arrived. He later managed the Monkees' music and created the television programme Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. His presence at the BMI dinner alongside Lennon and Eastman made for a photograph that compressed a significant slice of pop history into a single frame.
Lennon in New York, 1972
By May 1972, Lennon had been living in New York for over a year, having arrived in September 1971. His residency in the city was under constant threat: the Nixon administration, alarmed by his political activism and his association with anti-war figures, had been attempting to have him deported since early 1972 on the basis of his 1968 UK drug conviction. The deportation battle would continue until 1975, when Lennon finally received his green card.
Despite — or perhaps because of — the legal pressure, Lennon remained publicly active. The BMI dinner was one of many industry and social engagements he attended during this period, maintaining a visible presence in New York's cultural life even as the immigration authorities circled.
Key Facts: 25 May 1972
- Event: BMI Pop Music Awards dinner
- Venue: Americana Hotel, New York City
- Attended by: John Lennon and Yoko Ono
- Also present: Don Kirshner, Lee Eastman
- Lennon's next appearance at the Americana Hotel: 4 September 1972 (three-song set)
- Source of Lennon's Eastman quote: Lennon Remembers, interviews with Jann S. Wenner, Rolling Stone, December 1970 / January 1971
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the BMI Pop Music Awards?
An annual dinner hosted by Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), one of America's two major performing rights organisations, recognising the most-performed songs of the preceding year. Lennon's attendance in 1972 reflected his status as one of the world's most commercially successful songwriters.
Who was Lee Eastman?
Lee Eastman (1910–1991) was a New York entertainment lawyer and the father of Linda Eastman, who married Paul McCartney in March 1969. He and his son John Eastman represented McCartney's interests during The Beatles' management disputes, opposing Allen Klein's appointment.
What was Lennon Remembers?
A series of interviews conducted by Rolling Stone editor Jann S. Wenner in December 1970, published in January 1971 and later as a book. They are among the most candid interviews Lennon ever gave, conducted in the raw aftermath of The Beatles' break-up.
Who was Don Kirshner?
Don Kirshner (1934–2011) was one of the most powerful music publishers in American pop history, overseeing Aldon Music's stable of Brill Building songwriters including Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka, and Neil Diamond. He later created Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.
Why was Lennon under threat of deportation in 1972?
The Nixon administration sought to deport Lennon on the basis of his 1968 UK cannabis conviction, viewing his anti-war activism as politically threatening. The legal battle continued until 1975, when Lennon received his green card.
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