Power to the People: John Lennon & Yoko Ono Unseal 12-Disc NYC Archive With 90 Unheard Tracks

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s most political, New York–charged era is getting the deep-dive it deserves. Power to the People—a 12-disc box set due October 10 via Universal—collects 90 previously unreleased recordings spanning demos, home tapes, studio jams, and live cuts, placing you inside the creative storm that swirled around the pair, the Plastic Ono Band, and their Lower East Side orbit.

What’s Inside

• 90 unreleased tracks: raw demos, living-room sketches, rehearsal jams, studio alternates, and stage recordings from the period.
• Madison Square Garden, 1972: a new One to One concert compilation, capturing the Lennon/Ono live moment in New York at full volume.
• Reimagined album: a newly mixed and re-conceived take on Sometime in New York City (1972), reframing one of rock’s most outspoken records.
• The circle: credited to John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band, with key turns from Elephant’s Memory and Invisible Strings, plus appearances by Frank Zappa & the Mothers, David Peel & the Lower East Side, and Phil Ochs.
• Curated by family: Sean Ono Lennon heads the production team, shepherding the vaults with an ear for story and fidelity.

Yoko Ono’s preface sets the tone, recalling the One to One show as a grassroots push—“rock for peace and enlightenment”—and a milestone performance for the couple. The message is clear: peace is power, and these tapes carry that charge.

MainEvent.News | Backstage Take

This set smartly repositions the New York years as a complete narrative—not just headlines and protest posters, but workshop-grade creativity where Lennon and Ono tested songs, causes, and sounds in real time. A reimagined Sometime in New York City is the swing that could redraw opinions on a divisive record; cleaner mixes and context may let the songwriting (and the fearlessness) breathe. The One to One curation feels like the emotional spine—historically significant, musically rough-edged in the right ways, and a reminder that the Plastic Ono ethos was as live and communal as it was studio-intense. With Sean Ono Lennon steering, expect archival care, thoughtful sequencing, and a through-line that makes this more than a dump of rarities—it’s a story.

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