Well over 40 years since its original release, John Lennon’s “Imagine” is getting a new songwriting credit. At the annual meeting of the National Music Publishers Association, NMPA CEO David Israelite announced that Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono will soon be recognized officially as one of the scribes of the legendary pro-peace anthem, reports Variety.
Ono and her son, Sean Lennon, attended the event where the organization honored “Imagine,” Lennon’s best-selling single of his solo career, with the new Centennial Song award. Israelite played a clip of Lennon from 1980 in which he said his wife deserved a writing credit since she was so influential in the song’s creation. Evidently the organization agreed. For now, the credit is only honorary, since the process to change the copyright is still under way.*
*This story originally said that adding Ono’s name to the credits would extend the length of the copyright. That’s not the case. We regret the error.
