The Beatles are certainly one of the greatest and most successful bands of all time. They influenced a world of artists throughout the 60s, revolutionizing music in an unbelievably astonishing and unprecedented way. Although only two of the Fab Four are still around today, the Beatles still manage to influence new generations with new music. 

You may be wondering, how can a band that broke up in 1970 with 2 dead members release new music? After the murder of John Lennon in 1980, all hopes for a Beatles reunion were demolished. However, before John died, he had been working on a few unfinished songs. They were “Real Love,” “Free as a Bird,” and “Now and Then”,  recorded as demos by John in his New York apartment. In 1994, the remaining Beatles came together for their anthology project. Yoko Ono (John’s wife) told George about old tapes she had of John. They listened to them and decided to work on them and in 1995 and 1996 they finished and released “Free as a Bird,” and “Real Love.” They had some extra time and worked a little on “Now and Then,” but it was abandoned because of the demo’s poor audio quality. The piano was too loud, and John’s vocals were drowned out. When George passed away in 2001, hopes for finishing the song were nearly lost, until now.

In 2021, an incredible documentary series on the Beatles was released, titled Get Back. It was directed by Peter Jackson, who came across old footage of the band in the studio, arranged it, and cleaned up and separated parts of its audio using newly developed technology. This technology prompted the remaining Beatles to start re-working on “Now and Then.” Jackson was able to separate the piano from Lennon’s demo, clearly revealing his vocals which allowed it to be properly mixed like other songs. Paul put the bass on, Ringo recorded the drums, and in addition to the guitar parts that George recorded in the 90s, the Beatles were together again. To capture the classic Beatles’ sound further, Paul added a slide guitar solo in George’s style and got Giles Martin to put on string orchestrations like the orchestrations his father George Martin contributed to so many great Beatles’ songs as their producer.

The song was released November 2^nd as a single along with their first single from 1962, “Love me Do.” This truly gives it the now and then effect by bookending the band’s catalogue. It was released along with a short film documentary and a music video that brings about feelings of nostalgia for Beatles fans, with John and George edited in. The song immediately brought back Beatlemania, becoming a number 1 single, the fastest selling single of 2023 so far, as well as the fastest-selling vinyl single of the century.

“Now and Then” is an extraordinary example of the potential of technology in music. Their new song brought the Beatles back to life and has sparked attention from new listeners, while taking existing fans down an emotional road as their musical journey with The Beatles came to a close.