In case you missed it, Keith Urban and John Legend were among the artists enlisted for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Tokyo. Obviously, the Olympics are still going down in a pandemic so the performance was virtual.
They collected footage and lines from artists like Keith Urban, John Legend, Angélique Kidjo and Alejandro Sanz. Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer took care of a special arrangement.
The song they all collaborated on?
None other than ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Yes, this has been done before… No it’s not as bad as that time Gal Gadot and a bunch of the world’s elite tried to tell us we’re all in this together.
#Tokyo2020
Emocionante ver a Alejandro Sanz, John Legend y Keith Urban cantando "Imagine" de John Lennon en el #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/MCgSOpoqJm— Vanessa (@vanessota26) July 23, 2021
Yoko Ono shared support for the performance.
“IMAGINE,” she wrote on Twitter.
“John and I were both artists and we were living together, so we inspired each other.
“The song ‘Imagine’ embodied what we believed together at the time.
“John and I met – he comes from the West and I come from the East – and still we are together.”
IMAGINE.
John and I were both artists and we were living together, so we inspired each other. The song ‘Imagine’ embodied what we believed together at the time. John and I met – he comes from the West and I come from the East – and still we are together.#IMAGINE50 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/mj2wJEUIiV— Yoko Ono ☁️ (@yokoono) July 23, 2021
Keith Urban shared a bit of an interview on the song to his Instagram.
“It’s one of those songs that feels like it’s just always been there,” says Urban, giving the song impossibly high praise.
“It’s sort of like a spiritual classic. It’s more a hymn than a song.”
“What lyrics stand out to me in the song?” he asks himself rhetorically. “Oh just the ones between the beginning and the end.”
