"Power to the People" is a song written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, released as a single in 1971, credited to John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band. It was issued on Apple Records (catalogue number R5892 in the United Kingdom, 1830 in the United States) and in the US peaked at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 10 on the '' Cashbox'' Top 100. It also charted at number 6 on the

British singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song's first appearance on album was the 1975 compilation '' Shaved Fish''. The song was used as a campaign theme song for the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and the 2020 U.S. presidential campaigns of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 20 ...

Writing and recording

"Power to the People" was recorded at Ascot Sound Studios on 15 February 1971, during sessions that would produce songs for Lennon's '' Imagine'' album. The single was released on 12 March 1971 in the UK and 22 March 1971 in the US (although some sources give the British release as 8 March). The song was written by Lennon in response to an interview he gave to Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, published in ''

Red Mole :''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany). The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and support ...

'' (8–22 March 1971). As Lennon explained: "I just felt inspired by what they said, although a lot of it is gobbledygook. So I wrote 'Power to the People' the same way I wrote '

Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...

,' as something for the people to sing. I make singles like broadsheets. It was another quickie, done at Ascot." It entered the charts on 20 March 1971, and remained there for nine weeks. It was Lennon's fifth solo single, the Plastic Ono Band on this occasion comprising Lennon,

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

and

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

in addition to regulars

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

and Alan White. Backing vocals were supplied by

Rosetta Hightower Rosetta Jeanette Hightower (23 June 1944 – 2 August 2014) was an American singer and the lead singer of the 1960s girl group The Orlons. She was born in Philadelphia. As lead singer of The Orlons, the Orlons recorded several Top 10 U.S. hits ...

and "44 others". The singers also stomped their feet to make it sound more like a political rally.

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, Lennon and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

were credited as producers. Lennon's regard for the song changed during the 1970s. In ''

Skywriting by Word of Mouth ''Skywriting by Word of Mouth, and Other Writings Including the Ballad of John and Yoko'', is the third, and last, book written by English musician John Lennon. It was published posthumously in 1986 and included an afterword by Lennon's widow, ...

'', he called the song "rather embarrassing" and supported Hunter S. Thompson's claim that the anthem was "ten years too late". In 1980, he stated that the song "didn't really come off" as it had been "written in the state of being asleep and wanting to be loved by Tariq Ali and his ilk". ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Nick DeRiso rated it as Lennon's 6th greatest solo political song, calling it "one of Lennon's funkiest and hardest-hitting musical achievements."

Cover versions and references

The Minus 5 recorded a version of "Power to the People" for the 1995 tribute album '' Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon''. In 2000,

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

recorded the song for '' Steal This Movie!'', a film about

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...

. The song has been used as a theme song of the

and 2020 US presidential campaigns of

Personnel

The musicians who performed on "Power to the People" were as follows:''Imagine: The Ultimate Edition'' *

- vocals, electric guitar, piano *

- bass guitar *

- piano, keyboards *

- saxophone * Jim Gordon - drums *

and others - backing vocals

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control John Lennon songs Eric Burdon songs Apple Records singles Song recordings produced by Phil Spector 1971 singles Protest songs Songs written by John Lennon Song recordings produced by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign Plastic Ono Band songs