This Date in 1969 is Truly the Day the Music Died as John Lennon Married Yoko

This is a website post that will surely upset my wife, as we've had this argument millions of times over the years.  Did Yoko truly ruin the Beatles? 

On this date in 1969, the music died.  I'm not talking about Buddy or the Big Bopper.  I'm talking about the day John Lennon married Yoko Ono.  They immediately went to Amsterdam where she proceeded to turn him into a circus sideshow.  She turned him into a cartoon character, the musician wanting to change the world from his pajamas.

As for the question itself...  Did Yoko ruin the Beatles?  No.  Ego, drugs and musical differences ruined the Beatles.  But she sure as hell didn't help.  She sped up the process of the breakdown.  Honestly, the phrase "bros before hoes" had to have started around this time.  Not only was Yoko in John's ear, telling him how he didn't need those hacks.  He was the talent.  SHE could bring it out of him.

I'm sure Linda McCartney was doing the same thing, as were Mrs. Harrison & Mrs. Starr.  History has been kinder to the others. Not so, for Yoko.  Believe me, it's deserved.  Not only did her presence in the studio end the Beatles' run, but her suffocating presence prevented any sort of reconciliation over the next decade.

Yoko was a fame whore.  Sorry.  There it is.  She wanted to be held in the same regard as her incredible husband, and when that didn't happen when she was wailing into microphones and ruining songs like "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" she decided to keep John all to herself.  She held him prisoner throughout the entire '70s.

There were numerous opportunities throughout the post-Beatles decade for a reunion, even if it was for a low-paying gig on SNL.  There was talk of a reunion on other occasions, but there was always something holding it up, despite the knowledge that John & Paul were cool with each other at this point it time.

That leaves either George or Ringo holding up a reunion.  They sure wouldn't turn down the opportunity if lil' ol' Ringo was against it.  That leaves George Harrison.  It was well known that George hated touring, and he only toured on very rare occasions as a solo artist.  That's it.  That's the only other possibility other than Yoko keeping John on a choke-chain.

Of course, it's easy to look back in hindsight.  Who knew some whackjob nut was going to gun down the legend because of his misinterpretation of a book I loved as a youth?    We can say now, "She did this or that", but honestly, John was a man.  He was in love.  That's noble.  What she did?  Not so much.  She took advantage.  She used.  She ruined.  She ruined a band, a man and any chance of a reunion.