John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s NYC era and political activism is set to be explored in an extensive new box set called ‘Power To The People’. Find out more below.
The collection is produced by their son, Sean Ono Lennon, along with his five-time Grammy-winning team. It compiles 123 songs, including 90 never-before-heard and previously unreleased tracks, and chronicles the couple’s most political era.
Set for release on October 10 via Capitol/UMe, it will be available both as a digital release titled ‘Power To The People (Super Deluxe Edition)’, and as a massive 12-disc box set. Visit here for pre-orders.
Nine CDs are included in the box set, along with three HD audio Blu-ray discs, a 204-page book, a newsprint poster, two postcards, two sticker sheets, and two replica ticket stubs, VIP backstage passes and aftershow invitations.
The set spans the iconic 1969 Bed-In anti-war song ‘Give Peace A Chance’, which was shared by the Plastic Ono Band, through to a new version of the 1972 album ‘Sometime In New York City’.
The ‘One To One’ concerts held at New York City’s Madison Square Garden – which was Lennon’s only full-length shows after leaving The Beatles and also the last gigs John and Yoko ever performed together – are included too.
Additionally, there’s a wealth of unreleased demos, home recordings, jam sessions, live cuts, unique mixes and more.
“That Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since The Cavern or even Hamburg,” John Lennon told NME of the MSG shows in 1972. “It was just the same kind of feeling when The Beatles used to really get into it.”
The ‘One To One’ shows in the box set see the matinee and evening performances together for the first time, and the tracks have been remixed and re-engineered from the original tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon. The dates raised more than $1.5million (2025 equivalent of $11.5million) for disabled children.
To celebrate the announcement of ‘Power To The People’, a previously unreleased, newly mixed performance of ‘Come Together’ has been shared from the ‘One To One’ evening show. Check it out below.
Elsewhere in the box set, each track is explored with an ‘Evolution Documentary’ – a track-by-track audio montage by Sam Gannon. This incorporates demos, rehearsals, outtakes, multitrack exploration and studio conversations.
The release is also rounded out with multiple discs containing never-before-released home recordings and studio jam sessions, aptly titled ‘Studio Jam’, ‘Live Jam 1’, ‘Live Jam 2’ and ‘Home Jam’. ‘Studio Jam’ gives a glimpse into the fun the musicians had as the tape kept rolling between takes, and hints at what was in store for Lennon’s classic 1975 album, ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’.
In a Preface to the box set, Yoko Ono Lennon writes: “The ‘One To One’ concert was our effort in Grassroots Politics. It embodied what John and I strongly believed in – Rock for Peace and Enlightenment. And this one in Madison Square Garden turned out to be the last concert John and I did together. Imagine Peace. Peace is Power. Power To The People!”
Sean Ono Lennon adds: “I was completely floored putting this collection together and getting to remix the concerts and hearing all the unreleased material from my parents’ archive for the first time.
“People may not realise how special it is for me to hear my dad talking or to see him. I grew up with a set number of images and audio clips that everyone’s familiar with. So to come across things that I’ve never seen or heard is really deep for me, because it’s almost like getting more time with my dad.”
He continued: “When I was 11, my mum put out the Live in New York City album and film. So I grew up listening to it. It was a concert that had a legendary status in my mind, because it was my dad’s last concert.
“For the concerts, Paul Hicks and Simon Hilton and I spent a lot of time finding the best possible balance to keep the feeling of a live show while refining the overall sound as much as possible and Sam Gannon did some meticulous and miraculous work with audio restoration. I won’t disclose all our techniques but there was some ‘movie magic’ required, and I think in the end, the shows sound better than ever.”
Visit here to pre-order ‘Power To The People’, and find the tracklist for the ‘One To One: Best Of’ CD, New York City: The Ultimate Mixes CD, and the Studio Jam CD below. The tracklists for the remainder of the box set can be found here.
HYBRID ‘BEST OF’ SHOW
1. ‘Power To The People (intro)’*
2. ‘New York City’*
3. ‘It’s So Hard’*
4. ‘Move On Fast’*
5. ‘Well Well Well’
6. ‘Born In A Prison’*
7. ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’*
8. ‘Mother’*
9. ‘We’re All Water’
10. ‘Come Together’
11. ‘Imagine’*
12. ‘Open Your Box’*
13. ‘Cold Turkey’*
14. ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko’*
15. ‘Hound Dog’
16. ‘Law And Order’
17. ‘Give Peace A Chance’
* denotes afternoon show, otherwise the performance is from the evening show
NEW YORK CITY (THE ULTIMATE MIXES)
1. ‘New York City (Ultimate Mix)’
2. ‘Sisters, O Sisters (Ultimate Mix)’
3. ‘Attica State (Ultimate Mix)’
4. ‘Born In A Prison (Ultimate Mix)’
5. ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday (Ultimate Mix, extended)’
6. ‘The Luck Of The Irish (Ultimate Mix)’
7. ‘John Sinclair (Ultimate Mix, extended)’
8. ‘Angela (Ultimate Mix)’
9. ‘We’re All Water (Ultimate Mix)’
NEW YORK CITY (STUDIO JAM)
1. ‘Jazz Freakout’
2. ‘You Can’t Sit Down’
3. ‘Roll Over Beethoven’
4. ‘Honey, Don’t’
5. ‘Ain’t That A Shame’
6. ‘My Babe’
7. ‘Send Me Some Lovin’’
8. ‘Fools Like Me’
9. ‘Down In The Caribbean’
10. ‘Happy Birthday Yoko Ono’
11. ‘That’s Right’
12. ‘Don’t Be Cruel / Hound Dog’
13. ‘Yoko’s Rhythm’
14. ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ / It’ll Be Me’
15. ‘Yakety Yak’
16. ‘Road Runner’
The release comes one day after what would have been John Lennon’s 85th birthday. Last year, in time for what would have been his 84th birthday, Sean Ono Lennon announced a box set he helped create, which contained “meditation mixes” of his father’s 1973 song ‘Mind Games’.
Other ways that the late musician’s 84th birthday was celebrated included the relighting of the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland. Created by Yoko Ono Lennon in 2007, the outdoor artwork dedicated to the Beatles member was lit for the 18th time.
