09 OCTOBER 2026 (TORONTO, ON) — To celebrate John Lennon’s Birthday on October 9th 2026, Sean Ono Lennon, Mercury Studios and Universal Music Group are delighted to announce the release of the Blu-Ray Film Editions of POWER TO THE PEOPLE, the highly acclaimed 2026 multiscreen concert film of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s legendary One-To-One live shows at Madison Square Garden, NYC in 1972 with Elephant’s Memory andSpecial Guests – newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennons’ seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, with music produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests performed these now-legendary sold-out One To One concerts to a combined audience of 40,000 people, raising over $1.5M (equivalent to $11.5M in 2026) for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They were the only full-length concerts John Lennon (with Yoko Ono) performed after leaving The Beatles.
Originally filmed by multi-camera director Steve Gebhardt in 1972, this 2026 version of the concert film is directed by Simon Hilton, edited by Ben Wainwright-Pearce and produced by Peter Worsley and Sean Ono Lennon. Music Production is by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon.
The film restoration was over twenty years in the making, overseen by the director with Executive Producer Yoko Ono Lennon. All the reels of vintage film negative trims were hand-cleaned, rejoined and retransferred by film restoration experts Dave Northrop and Bruce Goldstein at Deluxe Northvale, before being completely reordered, re-synced and re-edited by the editing team with a view to creating this multiscreen experience.
The audio multitracks were similarly given the ultimate restoration treatment, having been baked and re-transferred at high resolution by Rob Stevens and then digitally restored and remixed in High Definition 192/24 Stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos.
Hits performed include John Lennon’s ‘New York City’, ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’, ‘Imagine’ and ‘Mother’, plus Yoko Ono’s ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko’ and ‘Open Your Box’, as well as rousing renditions of ‘Come Together’ and ‘Hound Dog’ and an incredible stage-filled encore of ‘Give Peace a Chance’ featuring special guests Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na, Melanie Safka-Schekeryk and many others.
Music Produced by SEAN ONO LENNON
HD Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos
Containing:
POWER TO THE PEOPLE – Hybrid (Multiscreen), Afternoon & Evening Concerts (3 Blu-Ray Discs)
Concert Film restoration and re-edit Directed by Simon Hilton
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO
Documentary Directed By Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards
128 Page Book + 2 Postcards + 2 Posters
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is the highly acclaimed 2026 multiscreen concert film of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s legendary One-To-One live shows at Madison Square Garden, NYC in 1972 with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests – newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennons’ seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, with music produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
Accompanying the concert film is Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edward’s award-winning documentary ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO, a rare and immersive look at the couple’s first year in New York City, exploring the creativity and activism that led up to these landmark performances.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is available as a 4-Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition featuring the Hybrid Concert, the individual Afternoon and Evening Concerts, the ONE TO ONE documentary, plus a 128 page hardback book, 2 postcards and a poster, housed in a 10” lenticular slipcase.
Music Produced by SEAN ONO LENNON
HD Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos
Containing: POWER TO THE PEOPLE – Hybrid (Multiscreen) version
Concert Film restoration and re-edit Directed by Simon Hilton +
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO
Documentary Directed By Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is the highly acclaimed 2026 multiscreen concert film of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s legendary One-To-One live shows at Madison Square Garden, NYC in 1972 with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests – newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennons’ seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, with music produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
Accompanying the concert film is Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edward’s award-winning documentary ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO, a rare and immersive look at the couple’s first year in New York City, exploring the creativity and activism that led up to these landmark performances.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is available as a 2-Blu-ray edition with a 20 page booklet.
Music Produced By SEAN ONO LENNON
HD Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos
Containing:
POWER TO THE PEOPLE – Hybrid (Multiscreen) version
Concert Film restoration and re-edit Directed by Simon Hilton + ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO
Documentary Directed By Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edwards +
Limited Edition With 2 Postcards
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is the highly acclaimed 2026 multiscreen concert film of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s legendary One-To-One live shows at Madison Square Garden, NYC in 1972 with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests – newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennons’ seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team, with music produced by Sean Ono Lennon.
Accompanying the concert film is Kevin Macdonald and Sam Rice-Edward’s award-winning documentary ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO, a rare and immersive look at the couple’s first year in New York City, exploring the creativity and activism that led up to these landmark performances.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is available as a 2-Blu-ray edition with a 20 page booklet. This exclusive edition also includes 2 additional postcards.
Track Listings
THE ONE TO ONE CONCERT
HYBRID SHOW
BLU-RAY 1
THE ONE TO ONE CONCERT
AFTERNOON SHOW
BLU-RAY 2
THE ONE TO ONE CONCERT
EVENING SHOW
BLU-RAY 3
ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO
DOCUMENTARY
BLU-RAY 4
NME: “The thrilling concert footage is utterly electrifying” – link
Variety: “I was glad to see the generous and accomplished use of split screen. A sizzling concert doc. “New York City” has a propulsive bravado. Lennon’s riveting performance of “Mother” in which the silences between lines are as dramatically musical as the song’s primal piano chords. The band is so good! They rock out with a fervor worthy of the slovenly glory of the “Exile on Main St.” era.”
Spill Magazine: “Hilton has assembled the most complete version of the shows yet. Both performances are breathtaking and leave one marveling at the power of these two artists. The use of split screen is brilliant, and it is a feast for the eyes. It also takes people like me back to a time when concerts were very different from what they are now.” – link
Uncut: “In many ways, Lennon seems better attuned to New York’s coming punk storm than to the softer, more settled work that followed later in the decade. Ono, meanwhile, is a formidable rock frontwoman – glamorous and ferociously controlled in the harrying ululations of “Don’t Worry Kyoko”. “Imagine” sounds anything but saccharine here; we see the clarity in his eyes behind those blue Lennon specs, and the warmth with which he kisses Ono afterwards. It’s hope, rather than nostalgia, that carries the day.” ★★★★ – link
The Times: “Lennon at his best. Always compelling, occasionally frustrating and deeply moving. That’s what you get from this gorgeous documentary that pings you into a front row seat at Madison Square Garden on August 30, 1972. It’s an exquisite portrait of a musical genius at work.” ★★★★ – link
Salon: “‘Power to the People’ revives John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s most defiant era. Produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and re-engineered from the original multitrack tapes by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon, the audio from the “One to One” concerts is a feast for the ears.”
Radio Times: “It’s a visual treat, often employing split-screen effects that give viewers a more intimate sense of proceedings, and the man of the hour, alongside Yoko Ono and backed by the New York-based band Elephant’s Memory, is effortlessly charismatic throughout. The combined audience of 40,000 is clearly thrilled to witness a landmark event” ★★★★ – link
Book and Film Globe: “It’s expressionism a-go-go on the Madison Square Garden stage. A fierce, almost feral take on “Come Together” where the double drummers (Jim Keltner joined the regular Elephant’s Memory crew) really earn their money. We’re reminded that America hadn’t yet extricated itself from Vietnam when John shouts “stop the war” mid-song. This expertly souped-up snapshot of him at the peak of his powers in his only “real” solo show seems especially precious.” – link
POWER TO THE PEOPLE is the highly acclaimed 2026 multiscreen concert film of John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s legendary One-To-One live shows at Madison Square Garden, NYC in 1972 with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests – newly restored, re-edited and remixed by the Lennons’ seven-times GRAMMY®-Award winning team. Directed by Simon Hilton with music produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed and engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon. Hits include ‘Imagine’, ‘Mother’ and ‘Come Together’. Rousing encore ‘Give Peace a Chance’ features Stevie Wonder, Melanie and special guests. These were the only full-length concerts John (with Yoko) performed after leaving The Beatles.
The Guardian: “A collection of staggering TV clips and amazing audio of Lennon and Ono’s life in 1970s NYC, this film is a mosaic of countercultural moments. If only more nostalgic music documentaries could muster such a fun, fierce and full-blooded take on old, familiar material. Macdonald’s film is more immersive, more dreamlike. Bracingly alive in a way few other documentaries have managed.” ★★★★ – link
BFI: “In shining a light on a kind of interstitial moment, an in-between period of definite endings and uncertain beginnings, this year (and a bit) in the life of John Lennon and Yoko Ono finds just enough new angles and details.” – link
NME: “Remarkable documentary. The thrilling concert footage is utterly electrifying. In short, this is a terrific documentary from start to finish” – link
Time Out: “One to One goes further than fan service for Beatlemaniacs. It’s a document of a febrile time and a wake-up call for a fizzled revolution.” – link
Roger Ebert: “A compelling portrait of two famous artists” – link
Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com: “Exhilarating, compelling, fascinating, impressive”
LA Times: “Macdonald doesn’t want us to be awed by history unfolding. Rather, he embeds us in the warm, casual messiness of the couple’s domestic life” – link
Financial Times: “Riveting portrait of post-Beatles idealism, activism and binge-watching” – link
Rolling Stone: “It’s the movie you didn’t think you’d want that turns out to be one of the few recent Beatles products you’ll need.” – link
Rotten Tomatoes.com: 90% Tomatometer, 95% Popcornmeter
On August 30, 1972, in New York City, John Lennon played his only full-length show after leaving The Beatles, the One to One benefit concert at Madison Square Garden, a rollicking, dazzling performance from him and Yoko Ono. Kevin Macdonald’s riveting documentary takes that legendary musical event and uses it as the starting point to explore eighteen defining months in the lives of John and Yoko. By 1971 the couple was newly arrived in the United States— living in a tiny apartment in Greenwich Village and watching a huge amount of American television. The film uses a riotous mélange of American TV to conjure the era through what the two would have been seeing on the screen: the Vietnam War, The Price is Right, Nixon, Coca-Cola ads, Cronkite, The Waltons. As they experience a year of love and transformation in the US, John & Yoko begin to change their approach to protest — ultimately leading to the One to One concert, which was inspired by a Geraldo Rivera exposé they watched on TV. Filmed in a meticulously faithful reproduction of the NYC apartment the duo shared, ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO offers a bold new take on a seminal time in the lives of two of history’s most influential artists.
