A major new John Lennon release is on the way. Power To The People, a 12-disc box set celebrating Lennon and Yoko Ono’s politically charged New York years, arrives on 10 October via Capitol/UMe. The date falls one day after what would have been Lennon’s 85th birthday, and the set offers the deepest dive yet into his most outspoken period.
The collection, curated and produced by Sean Ono Lennon, spans 123 tracks, including more than 90 previously unreleased recordings. It places a sharp focus on the couple’s activism in the early 1970s, a time when Lennon had stepped firmly away from The Beatles and was using his music as a platform for protest.
Newly remixed concerts and reimagined albums
One of the main draws is a full remix of the 1972 One To One Benefit Concerts at Madison Square Garden. These shows remain Lennon’s only full-length solo concerts after leaving The Beatles, and they were also the final performances he and Ono gave together.
The box set also includes a stripped-back, remixed version of Sometime In New York City. The reworking aims to bring fresh clarity to songs that originally divided critics, with a mix designed to reveal what Sean Ono Lennon has described as their “original essence.”
Sean Ono Lennon on hearing his father’s voice
“I was completely floored putting this collection together,” Sean Ono Lennon explained.
Hearing his father’s voice on unreleased demos and home recordings, he added, was “really deep.” He also noted that the goal with the One To One concerts was to “keep the feeling of a live show while refining the overall sound as much as possible.”
Formats and extras for collectors
The Super Deluxe edition of Power To The People includes 9 CDs, 3 Blu-Ray audio discs, and a 204-page hardback book filled with unseen photographs, interviews, and memorabilia. The release will also be available in alternative formats, including vinyl and standalone CD editions of the remixed One To One concerts.
Fans can already hear a preview of what’s to come. A newly remixed version of Lennon’s live take on The Beatles’ “Come Together” from the One To One concerts has been released ahead of the full box set.
Power To The People provides the most comprehensive overview yet of Lennon and Ono’s activist years in New York. For historians and fans alike, it represents not just a chance to hear lost Lennon recordings, but also to revisit a time when popular music was deeply intertwined with social change.
