INSTANT KARMA
ABOUT

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of artists covering iconic John Lennon songs benefitting Amnesty International's efforts to alleviate the crisis in Darfur. The album and campaign were part of Amnesty International's "Make Some Noise" human rights project.  

The physical and digital album went to number one in many countries, raised over 4 million dollars for Amnesty International, and included artists such as U2, Green Day, R.E.M. Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Jakob Dylan, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Black Eyed Peas, Willie Nelson, The Cure, Jack Johnson and Snow Patrol.

Of the project, Yoko Ono stated, "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation. John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, and selling more records, we really can make the world a better place."
ABOUT

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of artists covering iconic John Lennon songs benefitting Amnesty International's efforts to alleviate the crisis in Darfur. The album and campaign were part of Amnesty International's "Make Some Noise" human rights project.  

The physical and digital album went to number one in many countries, raised over 4 million dollars for Amnesty International, and included artists such as U2, Green Day, R.E.M. Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Jakob Dylan, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Black Eyed Peas, Willie Nelson, The Cure, Jack Johnson and Snow Patrol.

Of the project, Yoko Ono stated, "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation. John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, and selling more records, we really can make the world a better place."
ABOUT

Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of artists covering iconic John Lennon songs benefitting Amnesty International's efforts to alleviate the crisis in Darfur. The album and campaign were part of Amnesty International's "Make Some Noise" human rights project.  

The physical and digital album went to number one in many countries, raised over 4 million dollars for Amnesty International, and included artists such as U2, Green Day, R.E.M. Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Jakob Dylan, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Black Eyed Peas, Willie Nelson, The Cure, Jack Johnson and Snow Patrol.

Of the project, Yoko Ono stated, "It's wonderful that, through this campaign, music that is so familiar to many people of my era will now be embraced by a whole new generation. John's music set out to inspire change, and in standing up for human rights, and selling more records, we really can make the world a better place."
THE ORIGIN

After the success of the 46664 Cause Brand that David Clark had created with President Nelson Mandela, Clark was hired to serve as the global CEO of Amnesty International’s Art for Amnesty in 2003, where he created and managed all global art and music initiatives for the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization out of their Dublin Office.

At the time, a regional project called “Make Some Noise” was already underway where Yoko Ono had gifted the song “Imagine” to Art for Amnesty, so they could solicit an all-star lineup of bands to record a CD featuring twelve versions of the same immortal song. 

It was an interesting idea, but Clark believed that if the project had a larger vision, it could be expanded to create impact on a global scale.
THE ORIGIN

After the success of the 46664 Cause Brand that David Clark had created with President Nelson Mandela, Clark was hired to serve as the global CEO of Amnesty International’s Art for Amnesty in 2003, where he created and managed all global art and music initiatives for the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization out of their Dublin Office.

At the time, a regional project called “Make Some Noise” was already underway where Yoko Ono had gifted the song “Imagine” to Art for Amnesty, so they could solicit an all-star lineup of bands to record a CD featuring twelve versions of the same immortal song. 

It was an interesting idea, but Clark believed that if the project had a larger vision, it could be expanded to create impact on a global scale.
THE ORIGIN

After the success of the 46664 Cause Brand that David Clark had created with President Nelson Mandela, Clark was hired to serve as the global CEO of Amnesty International’s Art for Amnesty in 2003, where he created and managed all global art and music initiatives for the Nobel Peace Prize winning organization out of their Dublin Office.

At the time, a regional project called “Make Some Noise” was already underway where Yoko Ono had gifted the song “Imagine” to Art for Amnesty, so they could solicit an all-star lineup of bands to record a CD featuring twelve versions of the same immortal song. 

It was an interesting idea, but Clark believed that if the project had a larger vision, it could be expanded to create impact on a global scale.
THE EXPANDED PROJECT

Clark had a thought. Given that Yoko Ono had already been gracious enough to allow Amnesty permission to use the song “Imagine,” Clark wondered how she would feel about giving the human rights organization access to her husband’s entire music catalogue – so they could let the individual artists and bands pick the Lennon song that most resonated with them. Instead of asking artists to only perform “Imagine,” Clark felt asking artists to cover the song of their choice would be more effective at capturing their interest, imagination and participation.

Even though the global scale of Clark’s idea appealed to Amnesty, they felt it was asking too much of Yoko. Clark then pointed out that both Yoko Ono and John Lennon paid their annual Amnesty International dues – so they were literally card carrying members of Amnesty, as well as passionate supporters and identified closely with the social justice causes that Amnesty supported.

Amnesty agreed, and Yoko was asked  to let Amnesty use her husband’s entire catalogue of music. She graciously agreed, and 66 amazing bands and musicians came together to record 34 immortal John Lennon Songs. The result: a double album, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. 
Irene Khan the Secretary General of Amnesty International presents Yoko Ono with a platinum record.
THE EXPANDED PROJECT

Clark had a thought. Given that Yoko Ono had already been gracious enough to allow Amnesty permission to use the song “Imagine,” Clark wondered how she would feel about giving the human rights organization access to her husband’s entire music catalogue – so they could let the individual artists and bands pick the Lennon song that most resonated with them. Instead of asking artists to only perform “Imagine,” Clark felt asking artists to cover the song of their choice would be more effective at capturing their interest, imagination and participation.

Even though the global scale of Clark’s idea appealed to Amnesty, they felt it was asking too much of Yoko. Clark then pointed out that both Yoko Ono and John Lennon paid their annual Amnesty International dues – so they were literally card carrying members of Amnesty, as well as passionate supporters and identified closely with the social justice causes that Amnesty supported.

Amnesty finally agreed, and Clark oversaw the ‘ask’ that went to Yoko to let Amnesty use her husband’s entire catalogue of music. Yoko graciously agreed, and 66 amazing bands and musicians came together to record 34 immortal John Lennon Songs. The result: a double album, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. 
Irene Khan the Secretary General of Amnesty International presents Yoko Ono with a platinum record.
Irene Khan the Secretary General of Amnesty International presents Yoko Ono with a platinum record.
THE EXPANDED PROJECT

Clark had a thought. Given that Yoko Ono had already been gracious enough to allow Amnesty permission to use the song “Imagine,” Clark wondered how she would feel about giving the human rights organization access to her husband’s entire music catalogue – so they could let the individual artists and bands pick the Lennon song that most resonated with them. Instead of asking artists to only perform “Imagine,” Clark felt asking artists to cover the song of their choice would be more effective at capturing their interest, imagination and participation.

Even though the global scale of Clark’s idea appealed to Amnesty, they felt it was asking too much of Yoko. Clark then pointed out that both Yoko Ono and John Lennon paid their annual Amnesty International dues – so they were literally card carrying members of Amnesty, as well as passionate supporters and identified closely with the social justice causes that Amnesty supported.

Amnesty finally agreed, and Clark oversaw the ‘ask’ that went to Yoko to let Amnesty use her husband’s entire catalogue of music. Yoko graciously agreed, and 66 amazing bands and musicians came together to record 34 immortal John Lennon Songs. The result: a double album, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. 

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