Jasper
10-11-05, 12:31 PM
On the day after John Lennon's 65th birthday, it was a chance to remember old times and maybe even repair some damaged relationships.
But Yoko Ono had other things in mind.
While accepting a special award on behalf of her late husband, she gleefully renewed her long-running feud with Sir Paul McCartney.
Yoko, 72, suggested that Lennon was a far better singer than his fellow Beatle, and went on to pour scorn on McCartney's lyrics.
There were gasps of astonishment at yesterday's Q Magazine Awards in London as she took to the stage and went on the attack.
'I'll tell you a story about John,' she told the audience. 'He often used to wake up in the middle of the night and ask me, "Why do people cover Paul's songs so much, but never mine?"
'I used to tell him, "It's because you are a talented songwriter. You don't just rhyme June with spoon. And you are a very good singer - lots of people would be too afraid to cover one of your songs.
'Then I would make him a cup of tea, and he would be okay. I just miss that sort of moment that we had.'
Her stinging criticism of Lennon's former bandmate and songwriting partner stunned the room filled with stars including Jimmy Page, Ray Davies, Paul Weller, Robin Gibb, Liam and Noel Gallagher and Coldplay.
Although McCartney's lyrics have often been seen as more simplistic than Lennon's, he never actually rhymed June with spoon.
But he came pretty close. In the song She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, which featured in a medley on the Abbey Road album, Sir Paul did rhyme 'spoon' with 'lagoon'.
The first verse goes: 'She came in through the bathroom window/ Protected by a silver spoon/But now she sucks her thumb and wanders/By the banks of her own lagoon.'
Yoko's comments perpetuate a row with McCartney which has been raging since she started dating Lennon in the late 1960s.
In the last few years she has threatened to sue him when he changed the famous Lennon/ McCartney writing credit around and in December banned him from using Yesterday on a solo album of love songs because it was a Beatles number, forcing him to scrap the project.
This is also the second year in succession that the Q Awards have caused controversy. Last year Elton John criticised Madonna for miming during her live shows and the dispute gathered such momentum that he was forced to apologise publicly.
And even before Yoko took to the stage there had been another example of bad blood between the musicians gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, took his revenge on Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher for recent disparaging comments about Martin's wife Gwyneth Paltrow.
As he collected the award for Best Act in the World Today Martin made a point of raising the height of the microphone, saying: 'Sorry, Liam's a lot shorter than me.'
Oasis won two trophies, the People's Choice award and the album award for Don't Believe the Truth, at the event hosted by Jonathan Ross.
Legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was named Q Icon and the Bee Gees were also honoured for their past work with a Lifetime Achievement award, while former soldier James Blunt won the award for Best Newcomer and U2 won Best Live Act.
But Yoko Ono had other things in mind.
While accepting a special award on behalf of her late husband, she gleefully renewed her long-running feud with Sir Paul McCartney.
Yoko, 72, suggested that Lennon was a far better singer than his fellow Beatle, and went on to pour scorn on McCartney's lyrics.
There were gasps of astonishment at yesterday's Q Magazine Awards in London as she took to the stage and went on the attack.
'I'll tell you a story about John,' she told the audience. 'He often used to wake up in the middle of the night and ask me, "Why do people cover Paul's songs so much, but never mine?"
'I used to tell him, "It's because you are a talented songwriter. You don't just rhyme June with spoon. And you are a very good singer - lots of people would be too afraid to cover one of your songs.
'Then I would make him a cup of tea, and he would be okay. I just miss that sort of moment that we had.'
Her stinging criticism of Lennon's former bandmate and songwriting partner stunned the room filled with stars including Jimmy Page, Ray Davies, Paul Weller, Robin Gibb, Liam and Noel Gallagher and Coldplay.
Although McCartney's lyrics have often been seen as more simplistic than Lennon's, he never actually rhymed June with spoon.
But he came pretty close. In the song She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, which featured in a medley on the Abbey Road album, Sir Paul did rhyme 'spoon' with 'lagoon'.
The first verse goes: 'She came in through the bathroom window/ Protected by a silver spoon/But now she sucks her thumb and wanders/By the banks of her own lagoon.'
Yoko's comments perpetuate a row with McCartney which has been raging since she started dating Lennon in the late 1960s.
In the last few years she has threatened to sue him when he changed the famous Lennon/ McCartney writing credit around and in December banned him from using Yesterday on a solo album of love songs because it was a Beatles number, forcing him to scrap the project.
This is also the second year in succession that the Q Awards have caused controversy. Last year Elton John criticised Madonna for miming during her live shows and the dispute gathered such momentum that he was forced to apologise publicly.
And even before Yoko took to the stage there had been another example of bad blood between the musicians gathered at the Grosvenor House Hotel.
Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, took his revenge on Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher for recent disparaging comments about Martin's wife Gwyneth Paltrow.
As he collected the award for Best Act in the World Today Martin made a point of raising the height of the microphone, saying: 'Sorry, Liam's a lot shorter than me.'
Oasis won two trophies, the People's Choice award and the album award for Don't Believe the Truth, at the event hosted by Jonathan Ross.
Legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was named Q Icon and the Bee Gees were also honoured for their past work with a Lifetime Achievement award, while former soldier James Blunt won the award for Best Newcomer and U2 won Best Live Act.