Yoko Ono to receive songwriting credit on John Lennon's 'Imagine'

Yoko Ono, widow of former Beatles' John Lennon, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo November 2, 2006. (Reuters)

Yoko Ono is lined up to receive a songwriting credit on her late husband John Lennon’s 1971 hit “Imagine” 46 years after it was originally written.

Variety reported that at the annual meeting of the National Music Publishers Association in New York on Wednesday, the 84-year-old and her son received the organization’s new Centennial Song Award for the beloved single.

NMPA CEO David Israelite also showed a video from 1980 where the Beatle said Ono deserved a songwriting credit for “Imagine” because of her influence and inspiration on it.

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Israelite announced that in accordance with Lennon’s wish, Ono will be added to the song as a co-writer. However, he told the magazine that while the process is already under way, there may be some opposition to the move.

Israelite explained that a song enters the public domain 70 years after the death of its last creator, and adding Ono will significantly extend the number of years the song will generate income for its writers. He added the NMPA and Downtown Music Publishing, which administers both Ono’s and Lennon’s solo compositions, are hopeful the process will be approved.

At the ceremony, Ono took to the stage in a wheelchair that was pushed by her 41-year-old son. She is suffering from an unclear flu-like ailment.

“This is the best time of my life,” she said.

Lennon was murdered on December 9, 1980 at the age of 40 by Mark David Chapman.