Give Peace A Chance - 39th Anniversary

On May 26th, 1969, John Lennon and Yoko Ono checked into the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal to stage their second bed-in and record the song. They were originally going to record in New York, but couldn't get visas due to Lennon's arrest for marijuana possession six months before. Their second choice was the Bahamas, which turned out to be too hot for a week under the covers. Thus, Montreal turned out to be the charm.

Gail Renard, then 16, snuck into the hotel with a friend, climbing the fire escape to a floor above Lennon's suite, slipping inside and then going downstairs to the right floor. They rushed the door when the security guards changed shift. Welcomed by Yoko Ono, who answered the door, they were ushered in. Renard offered the hungry Lennon a chocolate bar and they chatted. Renard stayed for the week, going home only at night. Renard had a box Brownie camera with her and shot over 150 photographs. She was the one who contacted the Hare Krishnas for tambourines and vocals to be used on the track. Lennon wrote the lyrics for Give Peace A Chance on May 31st and and recorded it on June 1st. He gave Renard the lyrics and told her it would be worth something someday.

Today Renard is a TV and radio writer, aided in her journalism career at the start by Lennon. He placed her article about the bed-in in Beatles Montly magazine. She has decided to sell the lyric sheet and some prints of the bed-in. Christie's will be conducting a rock and pop memorabilia auction sale on July 10th, with the lyric sheet as the centerpiece. It's expected to sell for upwards of $400K. It you're in London in July, it will be on public view starting July 5th.