The Beatles release 'final song' Now and Then - 45 years in the making

The Beatles have released what they have called their 'final song' Now and Then, which was first written by John Lennon in 1978.

11:54 ET, Thu, Nov 2, 2023 | UPDATED: 13:41 ET, Thu, Nov 2, 2023

Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song official trailer

After months of fans waiting in high anticipation, The Beatles' have finally released what they call their "final song."

Now And Then has dropped after being left unfinished for 45 years, ushering in the closing chapter in the classic rock group's musical history.

John Lennon - who was murdered in 1980 - wrote the new tune's first bars in 1978 and the song was finally completed last year.

All four Beatles feature on the track, and it's therefore credited to Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

In a full-circle moment, Now and Then has been issued as a double A-side single with their 1962 debut Love Me Do.

Fans can listen to the new track on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music.

The Beatles posing.

The Beatles have released their 'final song.' (Image: Getty)

CD, vinyl and cassette copies will be available the following day.

From 10 November, the song will be included on the newly remastered and expanded versions of The Beatles' Red and Blue greatest hits albums.

The original demo has circulated as a bootleg for decades and includes Lennon's vocals and piano, which were recorded at his home in New York City.

Now and Then is an apologetic love song, typical of Lennon's solo work of the 1970s.

He penned it just two years before he released his final album Double Fantasy and his death on December 8, 1980.

Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, gave the demo to McCartney and Starr, the remaining Beatles, and the pair finished it last year thanks to previously recorded vocals and a form of AI.

Harrison will appear via rhythm guitar parts he recorded in 1995, and producer Giles Martin, son of The Beatles' original producer George Martin, has added a new string arrangement.

Don't miss...
Inside The Beatles George Harrison's close friendship with Robbie Robertson [REPORT]
Moment boy mistakes John Lennon for Harry Potter, leaving dad in stitches [LATEST]
Who is the richest member of One Direction? Singers ranked [INSIGHT]

The Beatles at the London Airport.

The Beatles' 'final song' was first written in 1978. (Image: Getty)

Recording the tune was very emotional for McCartney and Starr.

In the teaser trailer, the group's bassist said that once Lennon died, the remaining members thought their chance of reuniting was over.

However, the cassette that Yoko handed them, which had Now and Then on it, also had Real Love and Free As A Bird, the first tracks they released with Lennon's demos in 1995-96, marking their first songs in 25 years.

At the time, the band also attempted to record Now And Then, but the session was abandoned.

"It was one day - one afternoon, really - messing with it," producer Jeff Lynne recalled.

"The song had a chorus but is almost totally lacking in verses. We did the backing track, a rough go that we really didn't finish."

In the end, the quality of the recording was considered too poor to use, with Harrison reportedly calling it "rubbish."

However, McCartney never forgot about it.

While making of The Beatles' Get Back documentary, director Peter Jackson's film company developed a piece of software that allowed them to "de-mix" muddled recordings of overlapping sounds.

The group used the technology last year to create a new mix of Revolver.

"It has to learn what the sound of John Lennon's guitar is, for instance, and the more information you can give it, the better it becomes," Martin told the BBC.

For Now And Then, the software was able to "lift" Lennon's voice from the original cassette recording, removing the background hiss and hum of electricity that had stopped the band from recording it earlier.

McCartney says Lennon's voice is "crystal clear" on Now And Then.

"It was the closest we'll ever come to having him back in the room," said Starr. "Far out."

"All those memories came flooding back," added McCartney. "My God, how lucky was I to have those men in my life?

"To still be working on Beatles music in 2023? Wow."

Jackson has also created a new music video for the song, which will be unveiled on Friday, and will contain previously-unseen footage, including "a few precious seconds" of the earliest known film of The Beatles, provided by original drummer Pete Best and his brother Roag.