Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, was rushed to a Manhattan hospital Friday night amid fears that she suffered a stroke, sources said.
A person called 911 from Ono’s Upper West Side home at around 9 p.m. and said that the artist had “slurred speech” and was “possibly having a stroke,” the sources said.
She was then taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai West hospital.
A spokesman for Ono insisted that she did not suffer a stoke but had experienced “serious flu-like symptoms” and would be released soon.
Her son, Sean Lennon, was spotted at the hospital Friday night and tweeted: “Just dehydration/tired. She is FINE. Thank you everyone for your concern”
The hospital, formerly known as Roosevelt, is the same facility where John Lennon died after the former Beatle was shot by an assassin on Dec. 8, 1980.Ono, 83, has lived in The Dakota on West 72nd Street and Central Park West since 1973. Lennon was fatally shot by Mark David Chapman in front of the building.
The avant-garde artist last month released a new album, “Yes, I’m a Witch Too,” a covers and remixes homage to her 2007 LP.
She became a symbol of the peace movement after she met Lennon in 1966 at a preview of her art exhibition in London. Lennon said in an interview that Ono came up to him at the gallery and handed his a card which said “breathe” on it.
“So I just went [pant]. This was our meeting,” Lennon said.
The two collaborated on art and music projects in addition to their ardent activism for world peace.
John and Yoko famously staged a “bed-in” during the Vietnam War in 1969. Derived from the peaceful protests of a sit-in during the 1960s, the couple spent two weeks lying in bed at two separate hotels.
Yoko wrote and produced music with her husband under the name John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band.
Born in Japan, Ono survived the firebombing of Tokyo during World War II and came to the US at the age of 18. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, but dropped out.
An influential multimedia artist in her own right, Ono was known for her experimentation and unpredictable works.
Her 1964 performance piece titled “Cut Piece” consisted of the artist sitting on a stage next to a pair of scissors while audience members walked onstage and snipped off pieces of her clothing.
