In the spring of 1980, John Lennon, whose post-Beatles music career had been on hiatus for nearly five years while he helped raise his son Sean, was prompted to record again after hearing "Rock Lobster". According to Lennon, "it sounds just like Ono's music, so I said to meself, 'it's time to get out the old axe and wake the wife up!'" His return to the studio led to the release of 1980's "Double Fantasy", which would be his final album. At a 2002 B-52's concert in New York, Ono joined the band on stage for the performance of this song.