It’s pretty incredible to say that there’s a brand new Beatles song, never-before-heard outside of a studio.
When Yoko Ono showed Paul McCartney a personal tape that John Lennon recorded at his home, the remaining Beatles were excited to turn it into a true song. But the poor recording quality and piano sound made it impossible to extract Lennon’s voice from the scratchy recording.
Decades later, and with the help of state-of-the-art audio tools, McCartney, Ringo Starr and team were able to smoothly isolate John’s voice, and record the additional parts of the song.
“Now and Then” is a true Beatles song, and we’re pretty sure John Lennon and George Harrison would be happy to have it shared with the world.
“The Beatles have, at last, unveiled their final song, “Now and Then.” The track is centered on a John Lennon vocal that was unearthed in 1994. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr worked on the track together surrounding the creation of “Real Love” and “Free as a Bird” in 1995.
The track was originally shelved due to the poor audio quality, but revived when AI helped better enhance Lennon’s performance. Listen to the Beatles’ “Now and Then” below.”
Watch a short film about the inception of the song, and how it took decades to finally make it complete.
““When we started ‘Now and Then,’ it was very difficult because John was sort of hidden in a way,” Starr said in a short film accompanying the song’s official release.
McCartney explained that the recording of Lennon’s piano was muffling his vocals, and, in 1995, the trio decided to walk away after finishing two of the three songs. The sessions “languished in a cupboard,” McCartney claimed until last year.”
