Welcome! If you're new to our show we do a fun thing daily at 7:10; I Know That Song! Behind-The-Music type facts you may have never heard about your favorite songs and artists. We hope you'll join us. ~Stacey & Mike
Today's song came about after more than two years of peace activism by today’s singer and his wife Yoko Ono, that began with the 'bed-ins' they created in March and May 1969. The song was part of an international multimedia campaign launched at the height of the counterculture movement and protests against the Vietnam War.
He came up with the song as a way of continuing the idea of social unity and peaceful change while attempting to convey optimism, which comes through with 30 children aged from four to 12 from The Harlem Community Choir recorded backing vocals in the chorus.
In the UK, the song peaked at number four in 1972, and has charted many since. In 1980, in the weeks after this singer’s death, it reached number two, behind his other classic, 'Imagine'.
On its US debut in 1971, it wasn't a success. This was due to the single's late release, which resulted in limited airplay before Christmas, and a lack of promotion at the time.
This singer’s band was an English rock band, which formed in Liverpool in 1960, and is widely regarded as the most influential band of all time. They are also the best-selling music act of all time. They have seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be)
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and each principal member was inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2004 and 2011, the group topped Rolling Stone's lists of the greatest artists in history. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.
And today’s song was the first time a member of this legendary band released an original Christmas song after they had parted ways.
John Lennon/Yoko Ono...Happy (Christ)mas (War is Over)...On K103’s I Know That Song