Some 51 years ago John Lennon, along with his other Beatles members, was awarded a Member of the British Empire medal. As history has shown, Lennon returned it.
But now, in an extraordinary find, a draft of the letter he actually sent with the medal he returned has been found in a record sleeve a man had stored in his attic. Experts have now verified that it’s the real deal and it’s been valued at a cool $96,000 AUD – not bad considering the man paid about $16 AUD for it and a whole lot of other records several years ago.
The letter. PHOTO: The Beatles Story.
The anonymous owner took the document to a valuation day at The Beatles Story in Liverpool last week.
It reads: “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.”
He then signs off with hand written “with love, John Lennon” and a typed title, “John Lennon of Bag”. The “Bag” part refers to a term he and partner Yoko Ono created to satirise prejudice and stereotyping. Bagism literally involved wearing a bag over your entire body so, said John and Yoko, a person was not judged by their skin colour, gender, hairstyle, clothing or age.
The Cold Turkey reference relates to a song John wrote in 1969 which was released as a single by the Plastic Ono Band formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 as a vehicle for their collaborative and solo projects.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono promoting “bagism” in 1969. PHOTO: Getty
John Lennon originally accepted the honour from the Queen in 1965, before returning it four years later.
The Beatles receiving their MBEs in 1965. PHOTO: Getty
Music memorabilia expert Darren Julien told the BBC it was an “incredible find”.
“My theory is that John Lennon never sent this draft because of the smeared ink. This suggests that he wrote a second version of the letter, which was the one that was actually sent.”
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