The Beatles surviving band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr announced Thursday that the band will release a “last” new song, with the help of AI technology.
The song, “Now and Then”, will debut Nov. 2; it is written and sung by late singer-songwriter John Lennon. McCartney and Starr produced new parts for the song, which features guitar parts recorded by Harrison in 1995. A series of social media posts shared the details: “NOW AND THEN. THE LAST BEATLES SONG. OUT 02.11.23. #NowAndThen New expanded and mixed editions of the “Red and Blue” albums to be released 10.11.23.
Pre-order now: https://TheBeatles.lnk.to/NowAndThen”
According to The Guardian, McCartney and Starr completed the track more than four decades later with the help of the same technology used to enhance the audio in Peter Jackson’s docuseries The Beatles: Get Back. Jackson and a sound team led by Emile de la Rey used the software to isolate Lennon’s vocals from the original demo, which Lennon recorded in New York City in the late 1970s. McCartney said in a statement: “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023, to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.” Starr added: “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”
In addition, on Nov. 10, The Beatles/1962-1966 (often called The Red Album) and The Beatles/1967-1970 (The Blue Album) will be released in 2023 Edition packages. The original editions were released in 1973, three years after The Beatles’ break-up, and reached No. 3 and No. 1, respectively, on the Billboard 200. Preorder and pre-save 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (2023 Editions) here.
To pre-order ‘Now and Then’, head here: https://TheBeatles.lnk.to/NowAndThen.
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