The Beatles' surviving members are gearing up to drop the last song John Lennon wrote and sang before his death.
Decades after The Beatles' disbandment, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr started working on "Now And Then" again. Lennon, who was murdered on December 8, 1980, sang and wrote the track in the late 1970s while McCartney and Starr developed it with the other late The Beatles member George Harrison in 1995.
The Beatles' Last Song With John Lennon Will Be Released Soon
The Beatles will formally drop "Now And Then" on Thursday, November 2, over four decades after Lennon worked on it.
McCartney and Starr used technology so they could use Lennon's demo recording as clearly as possible before releasing it.
"There it was, John's voice, crystal clear. It's quite emotional," McCartney said. "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."
Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, recalled the time that the late The Beatles member worked on the track for several days in the studio in 1995. However, the technical issues led him to think that it was not possible for them to finish the track.
She added that Harrison would have joined McCartney and Starr in the project if he were still here today.
The "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" songwriter died on November 29, 2001, at the age of 58, following his battle with lung cancer. He passed away two years after surviving a near-fatal knife attack by an intruder who tried to steal things from his Friar Park home.
READ ALSO: Paul McCartney Finally Reveals How He and John Lennon Patched Things Up Before Tragic Murder
How The Three Beatles Members Started Working on the Track Revealed
The project began after Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, handed the recording clip to his surviving bandmates in 1994. She also gave them "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love" demos, which they previously completed and released as The Beatles songs in 1995 and 1996.
After failing to finalize "Now And Then" in 1995, McCartney and Starr worked on it again following the release of "The Beatles: Get Back" documentary series in 2021. The flick's director, Peter Jackson, and his sound team used WingNut Films' MAL audio technology in Lennon's home recording before McCartney and Starr completed the song the following year.
READ MORE: Yoko Ono's Presence in The Beatles Studio Was Disturbing, Paul McCartney Reveals
