- Monday, April 29, 2024
The last song by The Beatles is actually a demo given to band member Sir Paul McCartney by the late John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono.
By: Mohnish Singh
“Now and Then,” the final song by the popular English rock band The Beatles, released today at 2 pm GMT.
The fans of the music band all across the world had been waiting for the moment for some time now.
The last song by The Beatles is actually a demo given to band member Sir Paul McCartney by the late John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, recorded on a cassette while Lennon played the piano.
McCartney had earlier told BBC that he had employed artificial intelligence to help create what he calls “the final Beatles record”.
He said the technology had been used to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo so he could complete the song.
“So, when we came to make what will be the last Beatles’ record, it was a demo that John had and we were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI,” said the legendary musician.
Sir Paul had received the demo in 1994 from Yoko Ono. It was one of several songs on a cassette labelled “For Paul” that Lennon had made shortly before his death.
It was written and sung by Lennon at his home in New York City’s Dakota building, where he was murdered in 1980.
Talking about the release of “Now and Then,” Dr. Holly Tessler of the University of Liverpool, who specialises in the Beatles’ history and legacy, said, “It’s a big moment. It’s strange to think that a band that broke up more than 50 years ago is telling you that this is our last song … in a way, Paul and Ringo, who are both in their 80s, are drawing a line. It’s a very sweet moment I suspect for almost all Beatles fans; it feels like an ending. So, I do think it’s significant.”
For the uninitiated, McCartney previously worked on Lennon’s compositions “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” using AI.
Stay tuned to this space for more updates.
