John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave a late-night interview to WPLJ-FM on 9 June 1971.
They were in New York City throughout June and the first half of July 1971.
They were interviewed on this day by Alex Bennett, whom Ono knew from her previous years spent living in NYC. The couple played records and read excerpts from Ono’s book Grapefruit, but midway through Lennon had to leave to be sick. Although he claimed to have “smoked too many cigarettes and drank too much tea,” it is more likely he was using heroin still at this time.
While on air, Lennon also received a summons to appear in court in London, as part ATV’s lawsuit against Paul and Linda McCartney. As Lennon later explained, “Northern Songs is suing Paul and Linda and they think I was a director of Maclen… since I’m not a director, it’s a waste of time to summon me; they could’ve just called the office.”