The final song by the legendary pop-rock group, The Beatles, has been unveiled, titled “Now and Then.” This remarkable track showcases the voices of all four band members, made possible through the utilization of AI software crafted by the renowned filmmaker Peter Jackson.
More info about the Last-Ever song by The Beatles
The official audio track uploaded on YouTube provides insight into the history of the long-mythologized John Lennon demo, which was initially revisited in February 1995 by the three surviving band members at the time. Tragically, John Lennon was fatally shot by Mark David Chapman in the archway of his New York City residence in 1980.
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr expressed a desire to incorporate a song John had worked on during his time in New York City into The Beatles Anthology project. However, the track remained unfinished, largely due to the technological challenges posed by the vocals John Lennon had recorded on tape in the 1970s.
The demo’s boisterous and unrefined piano notes presented difficulties in isolating Lennon’s voice without substantial editing. Furthermore, the loss of George Harrison to lung cancer in 2001 further hindered progress in completing the song.
“For many years, it seemed as though the song could never be brought to fruition,” as the YouTube description elucidates. “But in 2022, a stroke of serendipity finally made it possible.”
The band elaborated that an innovative software system, developed by the renowned director of The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, and his team, played a crucial role during the production of the documentary series Get Back. This software enabled the separation of John Lennon’s vocals from his piano performance.
This particular software was employed to rejuvenate old footage of The Beatles captured on sixteen-millimeter film in 1969 for Jackson’s highly acclaimed docuseries. It had previously been utilized in another acclaimed documentary by Jackson, They Shall Not Grow Old, which involved the restoration and colorization of World War I footage.
Consequently, the original recording was revitalized and could be reworked with contributions from all four members of The Beatles. As described in the song’s information, this marks the completion of the final recording that John, Paul, George, and Ringo would ever create together, celebrating the enduring legacy of the most prominent and influential band in the history of popular music.
You can find the last-ever song by The Beatles, “Now and Then,” featured in the video below:
The description on YouTube also pointed out that this remarkable tale of musical “archaeology” reflects The Beatles‘ unending creative curiosity and their mutual fascination with technology.
Lennon’s younger son is firmly convinced that his father would have embraced the song, as he had a history of fearlessly experimenting with recording technology.
Peter Jackson’s groundbreaking cinematic technology has attracted attention before. In the highly successful and critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson and Weta FX’s Stephen Regelous developed software known as “Massive” to create armies consisting of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, each capable of responding individually to their surroundings.
This software played a pivotal role in elevating the trilogy to a visual masterpiece, leading to all three titles winning the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in the years following their respective releases.
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