John Lennon’s social media pages are teasing a special announcement scheduled for Thursday, August 14, at 9 a.m. ET. After a series of enigmatic posts, a new message appeared on Lennon’s socials on August 13 confirming that the announcement will feature details about a new release involving the late Beatles legend’s historic One to One concerts. The events took place on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The shows served as a focal point for the recent documentary One to One: John & Yoko, which premiered in April. The film looks at the 18-month period Lennon and wife Yoko Ono spent living in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1971 and ’72.
Around the same time as the documentary’s premiere, it was announced that a box set titled Power to the People featuring the audio from the concerts would be released later in 2025.
The new social media post features a video promo along with a note that reads, in part, “POWER TO THE PEOPLE. Join us tomorrow, Thursday 14 August at 2pm UK, 9am NY, 6am LA, 10pm Tokyo for the premiere of the film for ‘Come Together’ and the full announcement and track listing.”
More About the Video Promo
The video begins with audio of Lennon’s 1971 protest single “Power to the Power.” We then hear an archival promotional ad featuring Lennon and Ono revealing that the One to One benefit concert was sold out, and announcing that a matinee performance had been added that same day.
The clip also includes text with information about the event and the upcoming release. It reads, “On August 30th, 1972 … John Lennon & Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory and Special Guests headlined two One to One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden … to a combined audience of 40,000 people. The concerts raised over $1.5 million … for schoolchildren with physical and intellectual disabilities. They were to become John Lennon’s final and only full-length concerts after leaving The Beatles and the last two full-length concerts that John & Yoko performed together.”
The video also includes a snippet of film footage of Lennon performing the Beatles classic “Come Together” at one of the shows.
As the clip nears its end, the title and various details about the apparent box set flash on the screen. The release was produced by John and Yoko’s son, Sean Ono Lennon. The Power to the People collection was mixed and engineered by Paul Hicks and Sam Gannon, and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios in London.
The audio was mixed in the High Definition Stereo, 5. 1 and Dolby Atmos formats. The standard release apparently will feature “31 live tracks from the One to One concerts,” while a deluxe box set will include “92 bonus tracks.”
More About the One to One Concerts
Lennon and Ono were inspired to play the One to One concerts after watching a TV exposé focused on the awful conditions and questionable medical care endured by mentally handicapped children housed at the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York, a state-supported institution.
In an interview around that time, Lennon explained that he hoped the concerts would help inspire young people to get involved in making the world a better place.
“To change the apathy that all the youth have, we must get them excited about what we can do again,” he said. “Speak to them, sing to them, and do anything to get them alive again.”
At the shows, John and Yoko were accompanied by members of their backing group the Plastic Ono Band, the New York City rock act Elephant’s Memory, and other special guests.
Other One to One Concert-Related Releases
In April 2025, a limited-edition vinyl EP offering a preview of the upcoming full-length Power to the People collection was released as part of the 2025 Record Store Day event.
The Live at the One to One Concert, New York City, 1972 EP features recordings of four songs from the shows. They included versions of the Lennon solo tunes “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On),” “Cold Turkey,” and “Well Well Well.” Rounding out the EP is a version of Ono’s 1969 song “Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow).”
Around the same to that the One to One: John & Yoko documentary debuted, it also was announced that newly re-edited and remixed films of the One to One concerts were being prepared for release sometime after the audio collections.
Visit JohnLennon.com on August 14 to find out complete details of the Power to the People releases.
(Photo by Sahm Doherty /ABC via Getty Images)