STARTING OVER WITH JOHN AND YOKO Book Release at City Winery

The Loft at City Winery will host a brunch book release celebration for "Starting Over With John and Yoko: The Photographs" (Rutgers University Press) by Roger Farrington and Kenneth Womack on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 11:30 am ET. Tickets are available here.

"Starting Over With John and Yoko" recounts the incredible story behind John Lennon's return to music - as told by the Boston photographer who was there to document it. On August 7, 1980, John Lennon and Yoko Ono made their triumphant return to the recording studio after a self-imposed five-year absence. Roger Farrington, an up-and-coming photographer from Boston, was hired to get 'the shot' that would announce their comeback. It would be Lennon's most intense press scrutiny since the heady days of the Beatles' maiden voyage to America in 1964, and for Farrington, it would be the assignment of a lifetime. Just four months later, Lennon's assassination would plunge the world into mourning.

Reproducing, for the first time, the entire run of Farrington's iconic photographs from that day, the book transports readers back to 1980 and into Manhattan's Hit Factory, where Lennon and Ono recorded their acclaimed LP "Double Fantasy." With supporting photos and other ephemeras, Farrington and renowned Beatles historian Kenneth Womack capture a poignant moment in music history and provide an insider's look at celebrity photography in the pre-digital age

Farrington and Womack will present a live presentation, along with live music and an audience Q&A exploring Lennon's return, the making of his and Ono's final album together, and the story behind Farrington's photographs. Books will be available for purchase, with Farrington and Womack available for book signing.