The band featured a rotating line-up of musicians including Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Billy Preston, Jim Keltner, Keith Moon, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, and Lennon's former Beatles bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

The track was subsequently titled "I Remember Jeep" and the artist credit on the EMI tape box was changed to George Harrison for inclusion on the bonus disc of his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass.

[12] There is written and photographic evidence to suggest, however, that the original Plastic Ono Band was a sound and light installation set up in the Apple press office.

In the 26 July 1969 edition of Disc and Music Echo, Derek Taylor, the Beatles press officer, wrote the following article: The band was made in perspex in Hoylake, in Cheshire (where Selwyn Lloyd and I were brought up separately) by an inventor I know called Charles Melling.

[15] On Harrison's recommendation, Lennon recruited Eric Clapton for the role;[16] bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Alan White filled out the first performing line-up of the Plastic Ono Band.

[15] The band rehearsed on the plane to Toronto, and performed both rock songs sung by Lennon and experimental pieces led by Ono.

[17] A recording of the show was released in December as Live Peace in Toronto 1969, the first LP credited to the Plastic Ono Band.

[20] "Cold Turkey" and its B-side "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" featured a Plastic Ono Band almost identical to the Toronto line-up except White was replaced by Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

The B-side was a 1968 Lennon song recorded by him, Harrison and Ono, and originally intended for inclusion on the White Album.

[22] On 15 December, the Plastic Ono Band took part in a benefit concert for UNICEF at the Lyceum Ballroom in London,[23] titled "Peace for Christmas".

[24][25] Following the Lyceum show, Lennon and Ono engaged in a media blitz and advertising campaign for peace, taking out billboards in major cities saying "WAR IS OVER!

[27] On Harrison's suggestion, American producer Phil Spector was hired, beginning a working relationship that extended for several years into both his and Lennon's careers.

[29] During the summer of 1970, Lennon and Ono undertook primal therapy under the guidance of Arthur Janov in Los Angeles.

In early 1971, Lennon recorded "Power to the People" with a line-up of Billy Preston, Bobby Keys, Klaus Voormann and Alan White.

Using the same "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" and "Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band" artist credits,[34] the albums featured contributions from George Harrison, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon, and Phil Spector co-produced Imagine.

Credited to "John & Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band", the recording featured drummer Jim Keltner, pianist Nicky Hopkins and guitarists Hugh McCracken, Chris Osbourne (who had played on Fly), Teddy Irwin and Stuart Scharf.

The B-side, "Listen, the Snow Is Falling", featured the same musicians as "Happy Xmas", with the addition of Klaus Voormann on bass.

As backing, they enlisted the help of New York band Elephant's Memory, consisting of guitarist Wayne 'Tex' Gabriel, bassist Gary Van Scyoc,[38] saxophonist Stan Bronstein, keyboardist Adam Ippolito, keyboardist John La Boosca, and drummer Richard Frank Jr.[36] Phil Spector co-produced, and Jim Keltner also played on the album.

Some Time in New York City included a second disc, titled Live Jam, consisting of the recordings from the 1969 Peace for Christmas concert and, with bass overdubs by Klaus Voormann, the 1971 performance with Frank Zappa.

On 30 August, as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band (which also included Jim Keltner), they performed two "One to One" benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden.

[42] By the beginning of 1973, recording had begun on Ono's next album, Feeling the Space, featuring a new group of studio musicians.

This incarnation of the Plastic Ono Band featured guitarist David Spinozza, keyboardist Ken Ascher, bassist Gordon Edwards, percussionists Arthur Jenkins and David Friedman, saxophonist Michael Brecker, pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow, as well as regular contributor Jim Keltner.

In October, Lennon began the recording of an album of rock 'n' roll oldies (a contractual obligation due to a lawsuit).

The new "Plastic Ono Nuclear Band" featured Jim Keltner, Kenneth Ascher and Arthur Jenkins continuing from Mind Games, the returns of Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins and Bobby Keys, and the addition of guitarists Jesse Ed Davis and Eddie Mottau.

Lennon subsequently returned to his marriage with Ono and retired from music following the birth of his son Sean in October 1975.

From 2009, the band performed live concerts, with additional members including bassist Shimmy Hirotaka Shimizu, horn player Michael Leonhart, cellist Erik Friedlander and drummer Yuko Araki.