Yoko Ono tops the US dance chart

Yoko Ono at 80 scored a number one hit on the US Dance Chart with 'Hold Me' - a new song written in collaboration with producer Dave Aude.

Yoko's energy is impressive and life-affirming. This song also shows that she continues to treasure her love for John Lennon.

When I first heard this track I was stunned by its vibrancy, but also by the words and the touching message they convey, all the more poignant for anyone who knows the John and Yoko backstory. In the video there is the image of the word 'yes', although it is not part of the lyric. The 'yes' is surely a nod in the direction of the first meeting between Yoko and Lennon at a London art gallery when Lennon climbed a stepladder to look through a magnifying glass at a word written on the ceiling which said 'yes'. The piece of installation art was Yoko's, and the fact that it was a 'positive' message pleased Lennon and led to the couple connecting and living their lives together.

Lennon believed that Yoko's musical output was ahead of its time. In 1980, when he heard The B52's 'Rock Lobster' playing inside a Bermuda nightclub he was struck by the similarities it had to Yoko's earlier recordings. He called her in New York to tell her the world had caught up and was ready for her music.

Well, it may have taken a further 30 years, but there is no doubt that Yoko's music is gaining the popular acclaim that Lennon foresaw. In the past five years a total of 10 Yoko tracks have hit the top of the US Dance Chart. They were reworked/mixed versions of older songs recorded by Yoko, until this year's 'Hold Me' which was specifically written as a dance track.

The thumping dance beat treatment blends well with Yoko's stark vocal delivery. At 80, Yoko recently said in an interview that she feels she is starting a new life. If she continues producing songs like this (and check out her involvement in son Sean's recent 'Don't Frack Me' environmental protest track), then long may this new musical lease of life continue.