Stars Celebrate Yoko Ono at Yoko Only Tribute Concert

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As the summer cultural calendar hits its stride, Los Angeles’s Broad Museum is playing host to a convergence of avant-garde history and contemporary indie artists. On August 8, 2026, music curator Yuka Honda assembled a supergroup featuring Yo La Tengo, Nels Cline, and an array of guest vocalists for a tribute concert titled “Yoko Only,” celebrating the enduring sonic legacy of Yoko Ono.

Curating the Avant-Garde at the Broad Museum

The tribute concert was organized in conjunction with “Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind,” a major exhibition opening at the contemporary art museum, according to coverage from Pollstar. The exhibition marks Ono’s first solo museum exhibition in Southern California and was organized in collaboration with London’s Tate Modern. For cultural institutions mounting exhibitions of this scale, managing public relations and large-scale visitor experiences requires meticulous planning.

Inside the Plastic Ono Band Reimagining

Yuka Honda, known for her work in Cibo Matto, assembled an impressive lineup to interpret selections spanning from Ono’s early avant-garde recordings to her Billboard hits. According to Pollstar, the East West Bank Plaza concert featured guest performances and vocal interpretations from Sleater-Kinney, Sylvan Esso, Tune-Yards, Rufus Wainwright, Theo Bleckmann, Finom, Emi Helfrich, Satomi Matsuzaki, Maggie Parkins, and Patrick Shiroishi. Honda noted in a statement provided to Pollstar that Ono’s artistic footprint began during her childhood and expanded across decades of boundary-pushing work alongside John Lennon in the late-1960s Plastic Ono Band collective.

“Like dandelion seeds, her ideas flew and landed in our hearts, opening our mind’s eye to new skies,” Honda said regarding the curation of the event, as reported by Pollstar. The resulting performances bridged the gap between historical conceptual art and modern indie rock sensibilities, drawing on Ono’s extensive catalog of sound art, film scores, and activist anthems.

Exhibition Scope and Public Engagement

Beyond the single-night “Yoko Only” concert, the broader exhibition offers visitors an immersive look at Ono’s seven-decade career. According to Ed Patuto, the Broad’s Director of Audience Engagement, the programming provides audiences across Southern California with opportunities to experience the full breadth of Ono’s artistic production, ranging from Fluxus activations to interactive installations. Patuto noted that Honda was specifically invited to curate the musical tribute due to her intimate knowledge of Ono’s creative intentions.

Ticket holders for the outdoor plaza concert gained full access to “Yoko Only” alongside admission to the museum’s rotating collection galleries and the main exhibition spaces.