On November 2, 2023, Music legends, The Beatles, released “Now & Then“. The band’s final song was released on all musical streaming sites on November 2, 2023. “Now & Then” will be the final song to feature all four Beatles: Singer John Lennon, Bassist Paul McCartney, Guitarist George Harrison, and Drummer Ringo Starr.
According to the short film, “NOW AND THEN – The Last Beatles Song”, this is because John Lennon was assassinated on December 8, 1980, and George Harrison passed away from lung cancer on November 29, 2001. “Now & Then” started as one of many house demos John created after The Beatles disbanded in 1970. After his death, John’s wife (Yoko Ono) gave the remaining Beatles the demo to complete. However, they could never finish it due to a sound problem regarding John’s vocals, that they couldn’t fix due to the limited technology of the 1990’s
After George passed away, the project was abandoned and the remaining Beatles (Paul and Ringo) continued with their own solo projects. That was until over 20 years later with the rise of A.I. that Paul and Ringo got back together to finish their work. They used A.I. to clean up John’s vocals, and they managed to use as much of George’s guitar work as they could. This entire story was captured in the previously mentioned documentary, “NOW AND THEN – The Last Beatles Song”, directed by Peter Jackson, who previously made the Beatles’ concert film, “The Beatles: Get Back – The Rooftop Concert.”
“Now & Then” was met with incredibly positive reviews throughout social media and great financial success, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Top 100 in both the US and UK. The song also gained popularity on Tik Tok, with many emotional fans creating edits using the song in honor of John Lennon and George Harrison. Along with the new single, The Beatles also reissued the famous Red and Blue compilation albums, with “Now & Then” included on the tracklist.
As The Beatles’ final piece, the song is very emotional and raw, but feels fittingly more like a John Lennon solo project that features the other Beatles. The instrumental work is very good, especially Paul and Ringo’s parts. George’s guitar parts are good as well, but it doesn’t really feel like him, since most of his work was done by a session musician imitating George’s playing style. John Lennon’s vocals are also good but still seem a bit off, and could definitely need a bit more cleaning up then what was already done. Overall, “Now & Then” is a beautiful song that I highly recommend you listen to if you have the time.
