Yoko Ono Credits Paul McCartney for Saving Her Marriage

While the world celebrated John Lennon's 70th birthday over the weekend, his widow, artist Yoko Ono, visited Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik to honor her husband with various peace-themed initiatives at the Imagine Peace Tower. The late Beatle was gunned down by deranged fan, Mark David Chapman, outside his New York City apartment on December 8, 1980.

The Daily Mail reports that Ono, in a revealing interview with The Times, praised Sir Paul McCartney for ultimately saving her marriage to Lennon. The pair briefly split during the summer of 1973, when Lennon began courting his personal assistant, May Pang, during what is considered "the lost weekend."

It's no secret that Ono and McCartney had a troubled go of it early on, but Macca, along with his late wife, Linda, encouraged Lennon to give it another shot with Ono. The duo finally rekindled their romance at an Elton John concert in fall 1974.

"I want the world to know that it was a very touching thing that he did for John," Ono said of McCartney. "He was genuinely concerned about his old partner. Even though John was not even asking for help — John, Paul, all of them were too proud to ask anything — he helped. John often said he didn't understand why Paul did this for us, but he did."

Shortly thereafter, Lennon and Ono's son, Sean, was born on his father's birthday in 1975 and the family remained in New York City until his tragic death. On Saturday, Ono lit the famed tower, which is enscribed with "Imagine Peace" in 24 languages, as she does every year on Lennon's birthday. It remains aglow until December 8.

Stay tuned to Anglophenia for more Lennon memorials this week, including our poll results for the top Lennon song.

by MacKenzie Wilson

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