John Lennon and Muhammad Ali at Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Party (1977)

John Lennon and Muhammad Ali attends ‘Inaugural Eve Gala Performance in Washington, January 19, 1977.
In this rare and iconic moment from 1977, music legend John Lennon and boxing champion Muhammad Ali come together at President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural party in Washington, D.C. The meeting of these two cultural icons-one a peace activist and the other a sports legend-captures a unique moment in history.
The video showcases their interactions at a star-studded event that celebrated the beginning of Carter's presidency. While they may have come from different worlds, Lennon and Ali shared a deep commitment to social justice and personal freedom, making this gathering even more remarkable.
🎤 About John Lennon: One of the most influential musicians of all time, Lennon was known not just for his work with The Beatles but also for his activism, promoting peace and equality.
🥊 About Muhammad Ali: Widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers in history, Ali was also an outspoken advocate for civil rights, racial equality, and peace.
📅 Date: 1977
📍 Event: Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Party, Washington D.C.
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[@BruceJackson-lx2dw]

I was a classmate of John for five years @ high school. I remember him playing his mouth organ/harmonica in the school corridor, as we waited for a teacher to arrive to let us into the classroom. I was also in Liverpool town centre as the news of his death dawned on us...a gloomy & overcast day for sure. RIP.

[@Leo-dr4qm]

My ex went dovedale then Balderstone

[@Leo-dr4qm]

Calderstone

[@BruceJackson-lx2dw]

@@Leo-dr4qm Calder High School for Girls was right "next door" to Quarry Bank High, where John attended. The two schools were separated by a rather high red sandstone wall. The times for beginning and ending our respective school hours were different, with the girls starting and ending before the boys. We also had the occasional joint service @ the local Anglican church...all "very exciting" ! The two schools were just opposite Calderstone Park, in a very nice district [ Allerton ] of Liverpool. Both schools were grammar schools.

[@BlackPrimeMinister]

That's an amazing memory. Thanks for sharing. I didn't meet John - I was too young - but I did meet Muhammad and also went to his funeral. I prayed at the graveside with his wife, honour of a lifetime.

[@BruceJackson-lx2dw]

@@BlackPrimeMinister Thanks for this my friend. It is always so sad when any boxer suffers so much from taking punishment in his fights. And now, we have more and more retired professional football [soccer] players developing dementia/Alzheimer's -probably as a result of repeated heading of the ball. I remember John with near total clarity-even with my advancing age. We were simply classmates, not friends [nor enemies]. He was very bright, and a "character." Take care of yourself amigo. PS: I am very interested in the history of professional boxing. All thing taken into account, my # 1 boxer "of all time" was Sugar Ray Robinson: he has NO rivals-in my respectful opinion. Lastly, I have a preference for the middleweight division [ Stanley Ketchel/ Ray Robinson/Sammy Langford/Carlos Monzon/Marvin Hagler/Bob Fitzsimmons/Dick Tiger/Harry Greb...to name some of the greats.

[@richardsoderkvist6383]

John Lennon first met Muhamid Ali back in1964 with the Beatles. It's real nice they met again. And also real nice John and Oko meeting and supporting Jimmy Carter.

[@jaelge]

Who else would millionaire, limousine-liberal, elitist hypocrites support in ´77? 🙄 As far as their contributions to music is concerned, almost no one exceeds them, but when it came to their politics the Fab Four were r/etarded.

[@SuperAnimelover100]

Sorry but it's Yoko Oh NO !

[@debjorgo]

Of course John met Ali over ten years earlier when the Beatles were the biggest thing on the planet. It was before Ali had fought Liston. There is the famous photo where he is hitting one Beatle and they are all falling down. Ali said to McCartney, "You ARE pretty. You are not as pretty as me, but you are pretty."

[@BeatleRick84]

They are pictures 😊

[@richardhillier1593]

Biggest thing on the planet really 😂

[@debjorgo]

@@richardhillier1593 The Beatles had just played Ed Sullivan to the biggest TV audience ever, over 73 million. They were, and are, the best-selling entertainment act in history. Russia, China, the Arabian nations, all banned the Beatles because their culture, style, appearance..., were supplanting the culture of these nations. All the young people everywhere, wanted to be like the Beatles. Who would you say was bigger?

[@JuanLopez-ef5pr]

​@@richardhillier1593Yeah....1964

[@PeggyLynoreGodsGirlSinger]

Thanks for sharing that.

[@JoeyMayo]

This was back when politicians were civil towards each other and worked together for the greater good.

[@sebasdebordeaux8347]

This was another world.. the previous one.. better of course.. we were around 4 billion on the planet, wich means half of today.. let's realize it ! Internet didn't exist, you couldn't access to anything by a simple click, or click and collect! You had to move yourself, to talk with real people.. I won't even mention the social media wich will lead us all to civil war and destruction.. and this was only 47 years ago ! I was 8.. Oh , what good times !!

[@gregwalker1913]

A shame this is not well known. Thanks for your video.

[@isaganicasis2148]

Thnks for this wonderful. video.

[@dirtylemon3379]

I remember watching this live.

[@janewilmer6396]

Carter hailing Imagine as a great song answers a lot of questions.

[@JuanLopez-ef5pr]

Imagine there's no questions...

[@mickeyray3793]

And no religion toooo.😅

[@jaelge]

Yep, Communism and utter hypocrisy.

[@ARichardP]

Jesus, it was just a song.

[@janewilmer6396]

@ you talk to Him, too, huh?

[@rorymurray256]

John Lennon and The Beatles had met Muhammed Ali 12 years earlier, when he was known as Cassius Clay.

[@captainape6807]

They didn't like the way they were treated by Ali/Clay, that's why Sunny Liston is on the Sgt. Pepper album cover and not Ali. True story.

[@burtramone765]

@@captainape6807 That could be true, but it's ''Sonny'' , not Sunny.

[@captainape6807]

@@burtramone765 sorry, recalling from memory.

[@j.st.jamesesq.9599]

Supposedly, Ali didn't know who The Beatles were. After several staged moments of Ali clowning with The Beatles were photographed, and after The Beatles had left, Ali is reported to have asked, "Say, who were those faggots anyway?"

[@TomSchoenke]

Actually, it's Charles for "Sonny." He was also nicknamed "The Big Bear."

[@gettinhungrig2]

He somehow failed to mention Ali refused to serve in Vietnam. That was the big connection between he and peacenik Lennon.

[@azadmajors2098]

Ali refused to bomb and kill innocent people. He was a hero. By the way I was a Vietnam Vet. So I know the truth..

[@scottthurman6135]

We all knew Ali would not see combat and yes I'm a Vietnam Vet also...

[@zenglider2145]

@@azadmajors2098 Would Ali have done the same if living in South Africa and being recruited by black people to kill whites in South Africa? Yes? No? Don't pop my bubble?

[@StephenStafford-r2y]

Two cowards

[@FlipDahlenburg]

@@azadmajors2098 No, he was chicken-shit. That explains his conversion to Islam; just to avoid the draft and make money. What a hero! Being a vet doesn't make you brilliant, buddy. You wouldn't know the truth if it bit you on the arse!

[@bunny9272]

After watching in the 2006 documentary film The U.S.vs. John Lennon. I was inspired ! What if the Democratic Party had won re-election in 1980 with President Carter ? I believe the assassination on the night of December 8th might not have happened. Rest In Peace John Winston Lennon(1940-1980)🙏

[@LongHeadedAnimal-ko2sh]

Thank you, Mr. AI. Well done.

[@cesarfederico6691]

John Lennon y Muhamad Ali foto única maravillosa 😊😊😊😊❤❤🎉🎉🎉

[@Yeldarb4]

Once upon a time.

[@slappyabromowitz]

Very well done thanx

[@mollycuddle9990]

❤ thank you 🌱

[@stuartrubin5730]

I believe that Gerald Ford had George Harrison pay a visit because one of Ford's sons was a Beatles fan.

[@Inglese001]

2:36 “Now, as a proud America citizen.” No, he never became an American citizen, he was just given a green card to stay in the USA.

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

Can a foreign person vote in a US Presidential with a Green Card?

[@pintpot]

@@romans52345-cy3tq No

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

@@pintpot John Lennon could because of his celebrity

[@pintpot]

@@romans52345-cy3tq Don't be silly.

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

@@pintpot it was quite obvious The Department of Immigration were not Beatles fans, because if they were, John would not have needed a Green Card

[@thereunionparty]

Ali wanted the Beatles to reform for a concert to raise $200 million to create an agency focused on "feeding and clothing the poor people of the world" and put the idea to John at the Gala meeting. John invited Ali "to come meet with us" at the Dakota and talk about it some more. Although there were behind the scenes meetings with representatives of John and Ali, the sit down at the Dakota never happened.

[@janewilmer6396]

@@thereunionparty I wonder who bailed on who?

[@thereunionparty]

@@janewilmer6396 Well, the decision on a re-union wasn't just down to John.

[@StephenStafford-r2y]

Both were bull shit artists

[@ThomasPicone]

John was said to have shook hands, said you might remember me In a band called The BeaTles, Felt somewhat slighted, Carter didn't say much, Smiled politely

[@jaelge]

Carter was a mope, and Lennon was an egomaniac.

[@ThomasPicone]

@jaelge McCartney The true Egomaniac: BUT yes Lennon could Be ,he was A genius/ As Yoko said after the murder, also had a huge Inferiority Complex

[@jaelge]

@@ThomasPicone: He was no more or less an egomaniac or genius than McCartney. Many arguments for both sides of the issue, though they'd be pointless.

[@ignatiusjk]

Haha you know your big when "celebrities" ask for YOUR autograph.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Yeah, but Lennon and Clay had previously met each other in black & white, while John was still a Beatle.

[@paulvd2815]

Thanks for this story. Must have been an incredible evening... With some of our Peace Heroes.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Lot of narcissism out there!

[@jaelge]

🙄🤣

[@jaelge]

@@FlipDahlenburg: And utter hypocrisy. The party of ¨do as I say, not as I do¨ Limousine-Liberals.

[@michaelorenstein9165]

Wow....roughly 10 years after the release of Sgt. Pepper. Where has all the time gone since?

[@joeybonin7691]

2:34 I see James Taylor with Carly Simon. Taylor actually recorded on Apple records for a time.

[@gettinhungrig2]

John and JT were heroin buddies in London, in late 60s.

[@cynthy3]

Apple gave him his big break. Read about him (and much more from that later Beatles' era) in the book Miss O'Dell.

[@Blinki18284]

Something in the way she moves...;-)

[@MikeDavis-be8gf]

John wayne john lennon paul Newman Muhammed ali etc... damn that's alot of star power

[@ahill4642]

What was Clark Griswald doing there? 🐿️

[@JoeyMayo]

He was vacationing in Washington DC with his family and decided to drop in.

[@lawrencenoctor2703]

It was a time of hope.

[@bobgordon236]

And high inflation, gas lines, price controls and an idiot peanut farmer. Not to mention bad Lennon music.

[@FlipDahlenburg]

It was a time of delusion, and self-deception. And the dawn of disco.

[@LouieBeethoven]

They had met before in the early Beatles years.

[@jaceconverse6337]

Music also has the power to get you shot. Some people like Chapman took Lennon's song Imagine seriously and felt Lennon was a hypocrite

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Lennon was always a huge hypocrite, always. And a liar.

[@marcyfan-tz4wj]

@@FlipDahlenburg lennon was always a stellar human being that made the world better. you? a knucklehead.

[@manny4552]

He was never a hypocrite or liar ...the opposite infact..mkay flip

[@paulsolon6229]

Good video, helpful

[@leodrosia4369]

2 legends , one of them would not live past 40 and the other had brain damage by 1977

[@Dan0__]

I miss 1977.

[@LucyLennon909]

⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️ 😎✨️L🤍Ve this presentation🫶😎 ✨️ You did well, NeboSha Music✨️

[@yowzephyr]

Paul McCartney sort of overshadowed John Lennon as time passed. John was weighed down by personal issues. It gratifies me tho that John came out on top with the best song, "Imagine".

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Not his best song.

[@yowzephyr]

@@FlipDahlenburg John's favorite was "I Am the Walrus". I think ET really liked "Across the Universe" and that's why they came to look at John on Aug. 23, 1974.

[@roywatson8133]

@@FlipDahlenburg 9 dream is best solo song for me

[@trburns2]

Lennon wasn't an American citizen. He was a resident

[@owendarby2172]

Don’t worry about it. ✌🏼

[@xav9258]

And?

[@houndlander]

Yes he had his green card by then!

[@Venusandjupiteinunion6434]

​@@houndlanderYes he had his green card that makes him a permanent resident and a citizen of the United States. It means his passport now said Birthplace: Liverpool, England. Country of Residence: United States of America. An American citizen okay.

[@zenglider2145]

You do his nine to five Drag yourself home half alive And there on the screen A man with a dream I heard it was you Talking 'bout a world where all is free It just couldn't be And only a fool would say that ... Steely Dan

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Yep!

[@Jorge-r3x]

Este comentario viene desde muchos kilómetros de distancia de donde la mayoría de Uds. están. Simplemente quisiera reflexionar. Cuántas expectativas y esperanzas aparecían en aquel enero de 1977, no? Me imagino la atmósfera plena de ilusión y fe, de buenos propósitos. Han pasado casi 47 años. En qué quedó todo aquello? Creo que en todos lados hay gente buena. Creo en las buenas intenciones pero, a mis 63 años me he dado cuenta que las buenas intenciones las han comprado siempre aquellos que están por detrás de los que aparecen usufructuando el poder con la anuencia de nosotros, los ilusos. Me llamó la atención que en esa velada tan "demócrata", estuviese presente una figura tan "republicana", como John Wayne. No digo que no pudiese estar, pero me llama la atención, nada más.

[@heh9392]

Rip Carter

[@wisnuadiputra4843]

2:29 John Lennon , Yoko Ono , & James Ingram ( background ) 🤔

[@petejones879]

Carly Simon back then.... I would 😊

[@liamroddy8988]

Pity about the hokey commentary! Dial a cliche

[@bobgordon236]

Freddy Prince ?? Bet he was a high as a kite. lol

[@bh9225]

They met first at a photo shoot in 1964.

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

They first met in 1964.

[@mjhzen8313]

America in 1976 was not ready for Carter. America in 2024 is still not ready.

[@leodrosia4369]

The late 70s sucked with inflation. Branden and Carter were lousy 1 term President's

[@owenstunes5804]

John looks about 60 in these photos

[@roywatson8133]

ono looks vile

[@tedtimothy9074]

In 1980, they both wound up voting for Ronald Reagan

[@adamdost1876]

I watched because the name of Muhammad Ali was in the title.

[@antoniosantorini9355]

Nixon meet Elvis

[@jaimesilvano3587]

Well well well, in communist Cuba the Beatles were forbidden together with the rest of anglosaxon culture, and the statue of Lennon came 20 years after his death. Cuba is not the idilic paradise described in Imagine, but a brutal dictatorship which still has people in jail for raise a sign against the regime or have a pacific sit down protest. Besides that, an interesting video.

[@Rob-z7k]

This is new to see. I thought john had become a brain-washed recluse due to yoko around that time! I honestly wiill continue to believe yoko had used the occult to bewitch john!

[@TheHaratashi]

I think I liked Carter more than any other president personally, but unfortunately, he was one of the worst presidents we've ever had.

[@antoniosantorini9355]

They meet clay in Miami Feb 1964, know your business

[@roywatson8133]

lennon should have toke to the stage but his confidence was gone when he went back to the controling ono

[@samsungtap4183]

So nauseating. Carter thrown out on his ear. Lenon celebrates his citizenship five times in the back and Ali losers his mind and the blob takes over.

[@api9714]

Ali supported Ford; Lennon years later reportedly supported Reagan...

[@LoyalOpposition]

the source of that is the man who stole all of Lennon's diaries.

[@BlackAndWhiteBand]

Lennon never made any public comments supporting Reagan. He did however make some very poignant remarks about how the 60s protest moment, although well-meaning, was misguided. And he went on to say we can only make a societal difference one household at a time.

[@myla6135]

American values?? What are they? You know they don't exist, right? Lennon and Ali both knew that but hoped things might change. Well, I can tell you they haven't.

[@erepsekahs]

The most important Beatles were Brian Epstein and George Martin.

[@BrokenneckYgor]

I think Toko could kick jimmys ass

[@Andrew-w1t4e]

America was so much different back then.....a time when Trump was not in politics!!!

[@alfiedocherty3038]

A time when president's Weren't. In power ., yes okay

[@janewilmer6396]

@@Andrew-w1t4e but the stage was being set. Many in government were not what we thought they were.

[@1burnman]

Absolutely I would love to go back to that time that's when America was stronger than people remember

[@LynneFowler-h1g]

LEARN Your American History & THANK G.O.D. For PRESIDENT T.R.U.M.P.✝️🇺🇸

[@tenrec24]

why do bozos always interpret Imagine as lennon saying "you shouldn't have any possessions" etc? He was just saying imagine it! and when he wrote it he would have been musing about it to himself . . . not preaching like chapman etc concluded

[@FlipDahlenburg]

Wrong. He meant it for others, but not for himself. Get over it. And angel he was definitely not.

[@canadianfortrump4057]

I saw Freddie Prinze in one of the photos. He died only ten days later by suicide.

[@bobgordon236]

What a national treasure and a lost for the planet. Who ?

[@canadianfortrump4057]

@@bobgordon236 You seem to be dripping with sarcasm. Freddie Prinze was a well known stand-up comedian at the time. You're probably too young to remember since it was back in 1977.

[@justinherbert9146]

History has been way to kind and re-written for Jimmy Carter - he was an awful President in reality, weak and ineffective - also when he left office he cozied up to the Saudi Arabian Oil Sheiks who paid to build his Presidential Library - the fact that the Saudi Monarchy oppresses their people with human rights violations was disregarded by Jimmy -- so as i say, not as i do.

[@LearnMusclescom]

Many presidents have cozied up to Saudi Arabia

[@edwardmeradith2419]

@@LearnMusclescomespecially the Bushes, I understand

[@MikeDavis-be8gf]

Trump was voted the worst president in American history by all the presidential historians but go on princess 👸

[@justinherbert9146]

@@MikeDavis-be8gf haha The American People have spoken and Trump was voted by the majority to a second term - a clean sweep for the Republicans winning the White House, The Senate and The Congress -- who is the princess now lmfao @ u - in the modern era the all time worst President is Biden , the Bush's father and son and Carter aint far behind sweetie pie haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[@jamessilver6429]

Those great experts would have told Columbus, " the world is flat".😅😅😅​@MikeDavis-be8gf

[@thomasdaniel1661]

Yeah, it probably would and cuba, since it had communist overtones

[@zenglider2145]

Yes, communist principles embodied in Imagine's uplifting lyrics have provided humanity with a prosperous, productive, fair, free-spirited socio-economic system most everywhere it has been tried. It is the envy of the world. That's why people who have adopted it never abandon it. Cuba's amazing progress in alliance with its socialist trading partners since their revolution serves as proof.

[@jimanders6666]

Ali = Mr Show Boat

[@Валентин-в3з7о]

Йоко - роковая любовь Джона. Все получила через него - славу , деньги , творческую свободу , пусть даже сомнительного качества. Вообщем жаль Джона .😢

[@mryt090909]

The first evidence that celebs know nothing politically, as Carter turned out to be a huge disappointment as a president

[@chrisnolan5607]

BULLSHIT

[@LearnMusclescom]

Celebs are people like anyone else, including you and me, and have supported people of all political types

[@coloneljackmustard]

Imagine is essentially a Communist theme song. It doesn't surprise me that Cuba honored Lennon.

[@LearnMusclescom]

Oh my, what a limited view of this iconic song

[@hyacinthlynch843]

You're funny.

[@MikeDavis-be8gf]

Imagine you living in your parent's basement angry at a guy who's been dead since 1980

[@barbatkinson7347]

You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?

[@PeggyLynoreGodsGirlSinger]

Aww, that wasn't very nice. And it certainly wasn't/isn't true.

[@ManolocLopez]

Fairy tales 😂

[@robhappe2705]

Ali the real man and Lennon a fake!

[@Stublinsky]

Muhammad Ali wasn't very bright at all. Cassius Clay was a slave name and Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay to protest this ! Yes, and then this genius followed the teachings of the prophet of Islam who owned and sold black slaves! Just check out what Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and his followers said about blacks. Just read how Muhammad's "Whiteness" is constantly emphasised in Islam's holy books! Then again Muhammad Ali was a boxer who made his living by taking punches to his head !

[@pacz8114]

Compared to the magnificent Ali, JL's 1970's significance is slight: his faux-activism was just him being pu$$y-whipped by Yoko into being a celebrity. Ali was a world-class athlete while Lennon recorded a series of mediocre LPs (including one truly awful record and one "therapy" record -- both of which should probably have never been released). JC turned out to be "too nice" (and was thus ineffective; i.e. he was no LBJ or Harry S.) to be president and only won because Ford pardoned RMN. Whoever wrote the commentary is a clown.

[@ArkyMalarkey]

You’re just a jealous guy…

[@pacz8114]

@@ArkyMalarkey Nah...you're just crippled inside cuz I found out.

[@LearnMusclescom]

Lennon was always politically oriented. And he had a great number of excellent songs in the 70s. I am amazed at people who troll on the internet.

[@matthewhiggins2699]

Right - the opinions of a nobody.

[@pacz8114]

@@matthewhiggins2699 He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody. (JL '65)

[@cameraman655]

“Imagine” was a song praising Communism…Sheezh…😏

[@MikeDavis-be8gf]

Only through an idiots eyes

[@LynneFowler-h1g]

N.O.P.E.

[@brycenuttall6144]

I think that a drugo like Lennon had no business attending such an important event

[@Paul-Opinion]

l think a idiot like brycenutall6144 had no business being here on you tube

[@markbailey1970]

Except he was obviously invited.

[@MarceloTomorrowneverknows]

He used drugs and was more popular than Jesus Christ.

[@lthompson7625]

Check out Sir Winston Churchill. He attended some important world events over the years and apparently was into booze, laughing gas etc ..

[@ThomasPicone]

John apparently shook hands With Carter, felt somewhat slighted, Jimmy said Little,Smiled politely