Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono began as an avant garde conceptual artist in the '60s, part of the neo-Dadaist Fluxus crowd, and was a highly esteemed player in those circles. She was thrust into a much larger arena when she fell in love with and married John Lennon. Misunderstood in the early years of their relationship, she was blamed for the Beatles' inevitable breakup and her experimental compositions were widely misapprehended by pop audiences. Her more accessible work with Lennon, like DOUBLE FANTASY, won her more mainstream acceptance, and even after her husband's death she has continued as a vital solo artist.

• pop