Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon Partner With EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to Donate Net Proceeds From Plastic Ono Band's 'Give Peace a Chance' 40th Anniversary Digital Single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the unifying spirit and 40th anniversary of the Plastic Ono Band's universal anthem, "Give Peace a Chance," Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon have partnered with EMI Music and Sony/ATV Music Publishing to donate net proceeds from the sale of a commemorative 40th Anniversary digital single to the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF). Beginning today, iTunes will exclusively offer the single's special anniversary edition for download purchase, with net proceeds benefiting the PBF through December 31.

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Says Yoko Ono, "I am thrilled that so many in the music business are readily supporting 'Give Peace a Chance' on its 40th anniversary. It is indeed a time when we are all getting more aware of the necessity of doing something to achieve world peace, no matter how small. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel deeply that we are all one, regardless of where we stand."

"I am delighted to see that a song so closely identified with the pursuit of peace, will shine a light on the United Nations' peacebuilding efforts and financially support PBF projects," the Chairperson of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile said.

Written during John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 honeymoon bed-in protest against the Vietnam War, "Give Peace a Chance" was inspired by Lennon's off-the-cuff explanation to a visiting reporter of the couple's purpose for protesting the war by remaining in their honeymoon bed. From March 25 to March 31, the newlyweds invited the world's media to visit and interview them daily between the hours of 9am and 9pm in their bed at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.

The song was recorded live on June 1, 1969 in a room at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel, with several well-known friends joining Lennon and Ono to sing the chorus. Since the single's original release on July 4, 1969, it has been the world's foremost anthem for peace, beginning most notably with the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam's massive protest in Washington, DC on November 15, 1969, where more than 500,000 people gathered and sang "Give Peace a Chance."

About United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture:

The PBC (www.un.org/peace/peacebuilding) and the PBF (www.unpbf.org) were established after the 2005 World Summit to create mechanisms to assist national authorities in post-conflict countries build sustainable peace.

The PBC is an intergovernmental body that brings together relevant actors, including donors, Member States, international financial institutions (such as the World Bank) and national governments. By creating this broad platform, the PBC plays a key role in ensuring that the international community can assist countries emerging from conflict to achieve sustainable peace in a coordinated manner.

The PBF supports programmes and projects that prevent countries from relapsing into violence through fast, relevant and catalytic funding. It currently supports 100 initiatives in 14 countries and relies on voluntary funding.