Today, the world-famous musical group the Beatles are releasing a new song. It’s called “Now and Then”. The “new” song was written around 45 years ago, and has taken a very long time to finish. It’s special because it’s the last song the Beatles will ever make.
The Beatles were a British rock band that was extremely popular in the 1960s and 70s. They are one of the most popular and best-selling bands of all time. Their songs are famous around the world. The Beatles had over 20 number one songs, and completely changed pop music.
The four members of the band were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They all sang and played instruments. John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote most of the band’s songs.
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The Beatles were a British rock band that was extremely popular in the 1960s and 70s. They are one of the most popular and best-selling bands of all time. Today, the Beatles are releasing their first “new” song in 28 years. It’s called “Now and Then”.
The Beatles broke up as a group in 1970, but all of the band members continued to make music on their own. But now, only two of the band members, Mr. McCartney and Mr. Starr, are still alive.
In 1980, John Lennon was killed. But in the years before that, he recorded “demos” (rough versions) of several new songs that he was working on. The songs remained on a tape for 15 years.
But in 1994, Mr. Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, passed the tape along to Mr. McCartney. The tape was labeled “For Paul”, and had demos of Mr. Lennon playing and singing several songs, including “Now and Then”.
(Source: Henry Grossman [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)
In 1995, the three living Beatles got together again and began to work on recording new versions of Mr. Lennon’s demos. They were able to use the recordings of Mr. Lennon’s voice from two of those songs, which they later released. At the time, these songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, were the first new Beatles songs in 25 years.
The group recorded some music for “Now and Then”, but they were unable to finish the song. The recording of Mr. Lennon singing had a loud electric humming sound that meant it couldn’t be used on a finished record.
But in June of this year, Mr. McCartney announced that the Beatles would soon be releasing one final song. He was talking about “Now and Then”. New computer methods had made it possible to separate out Mr. Lennon’s voice and clean up the recording to get rid of the hum.
(Source: The Beatles.)
Mr. McCartney wrote more verses to complete the song. He and Mr. Starr worked together to add new bass, drums, and vocal parts to the song. “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him [Mr. Lennon] back in the room,” said Mr. Starr, “So it was very emotional for all of us.”
Mr. Harrison died in 2001, but the group was able to use some of the guitar parts he had recorded in 1995. The record producers also used some background vocals from some of the band’s old recordings.
The result is the last Beatles song ever. “We all play on it,” said Mr. McCartney. “It’s a genuine Beatles recording.”
Did You Know…?
“Now and Then” will be released today along with an improved recording of “Love Me Do”, the band’s first hit. The group will also release a music video for the song as well as a short film about how the song was made.