The Beatles: The Story Behind “Now And Then” (The Last Beatles Song)

AI can do some pretty incredible things. While it’s being used in some controversial ways, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr did something pretty cool with it.

In this video posted to The Beatles’ YouTube channel yesterday, the story behind “the last Beatles song” is shared.

It all started out with a cassette tape demo recorded by John Lennon in the 1970s. After multiple years of trying and failing, the remaining Beatles finally succeeded using new technology. All told, this story spans over four decades.

This story takes a significant turn thanks to Peter Jackson. Jackson’s work on Get Back utilized audio separation technology. That technology was used to isolate Lennon’s voice and remove the piano.

“So in the mix, we could lift John’s voice without lifting the piano, which had always been one of the problems,” McCartney shared. “Now we could mix it and make a proper record of it. I pulled it out, had a listen to it, and thought, ‘Oh, I could actually do the bass a bit better. So why don’t I start there?’”

“Now and Then” is out today.