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Yoko Ono Health Update: Music Legend Suffering ‘Extreme Flu Symptoms’ But Did Not Have Stroke, Son Sean Lennon Says

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 19:39 PST, Feb 26, 2016

Yoko Ono had a positive health update early on Saturday with reports that she did not suffer a stroke, but was instead rushed to a New York City hospital with what was described as “extreme flu symptoms.”

An initial report from just after 10 p.m. on Friday claimed that Yoko Ono had suffered a stroke and was rushed to a hospital. Various other news outlets claimed that the stroke could be life-threatening, but there was no official word from doctors as to her condition.

But, later, family members and others close to Yoko Ono said that she was instead suffering extreme flu-like symptoms and went to the hospital on advice of her doctor.

Ono’s publicist, Elliot Mintz, said that she was not in serious condition.

“The earlier reports were erroneous,” Mintz told New York Daily News. “There is no stroke and there are no life-threatening circumstances as has been described to me.”

Mintz did not see Yoko Ono directly, but did talk to someone at the hospital who confirmed that she was OK, other than the flu symptoms.

Mintz later released a full statement to ABC News saying that Yoko Ono’s trip to the hospital was more routine than emergency.

“To the best of my knowledge, she had symptoms along the lines of a serious flu, and her doctor thought it was best that she would get a check-up at the hospital. There is no stroke and there are no life threatening circumstances as has been described to me.

“It’s just an advanced case of the flu.”

Later Sean Ono Lennon, the son Yoko shared with late husband John Lennon, took to Twitter to dispel the lingering rumors that she had suffered a stroke.

The update came at a time when speculation was starting to grow rampant on Twitter and across social media, where some claimed that she could be near death.

Yoko Ono turned 83 last week and had just published a listicle in Us Weekly covering a number of different topics. In the story, she listed 25 things about herself, including her role in the breakup of The Beatles.

“I had nothing to do with breaking up the Beatles,” she said. “And I think Paul [McCartney] is a pretty cool dude.”

Yoko Ono also described her strange sleeping habits.

“I have never slept more than three or four hours at a time,” she said. “According to doctors, that’s not anything bad. In the middle of the night, it’s silent, it makes me feel like writing a song.”

And even at 83, Yoko Ono is still busy with projects. She recently released an album of remixes called Yes, I’m a Witch, Too, and also opened an art exhibit in Mexico City’s Memory and Tolerance Museum titled “Land of Hope.” The exhibit, which contained 19 pieces from Yoko Ono, was intended to promote peace and tolerance.

Yoko Ono is expected to recover from the flu and be released shortly. She is admitted to Mount Sinai Roosevelt hospital, the same one where husband John Lennon died after being shot in 1980.

[Picture by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]

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