Six decades after dropping their first studio album, the English rock band declares that their final song 'celebrates the legacy of the foremost and most influential band in popular music history.'
- Nov 3, 2023
AceShowbiz - The Beatles has released their last song titled "Now and Then". Six decades after dropping their debut studio album "Please Please Me", the English rock band, which was formed in Liverpool in 1960, made use of Artificial Intelligence to include their late member John Lennon's voice on the final track.
The group dropped the final song on Thursday, November 2 in several platforms, including YouTube. Along with the track, they elaborated how they created the particular song. "Now and Then's eventful journey to fruition took place over five decades and is the product of conversations and collaborations between the four Beatles that go on to this day," the band wrote in the description box.
"The long mythologised John Lennon demo was first worked on in February 1995 by [Paul McCartney], [George Harrison] and [Ringo Starr] as part of The Beatles Anthology project but it remained unfinished, partly because of the impossible technological challenges involved in working with the vocal John had recorded on tape in the 1970s," it continued. "For years it looked like the song could never be completed. But in 2022 there was a stroke of serendipity."
"A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, used throughout the production of the documentary series 'Get Back', finally opened the way for the uncoupling of John's vocal from his piano part. As a result, the original recording could be brought to life and worked on anew with contributions from all four Beatles," it added.
"This remarkable story of musical archaeology reflects The Beatles' endless creative curiosity and shared fascination with technology. It marks the completion of the last recording that John, Paul and George and Ringo will get to make together and celebrates the legacy of the foremost and most influential band in popular music history," it concluded.
Prior to the release, Paul declared that there will be nothing "artificially or synthetically created" on the final song despite using AI. In June, he penned via X, formerly known as Twitter, "Can't say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It's all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings - a process which has gone on for years."
