Songfacts®:

• "Now And Then" is a single by The Beatles released on November 2, 2023. Apple Records calls it "the last Beatles song," as it's the last recording all four members contributed to. The double A-side single pairs the last Beatles song with the first: the band's 1962 debut UK single "Love Me Do."
• "Now and Then" was originally written and recorded by John Lennon around 1977 as a solo piano track. After his death in 1980, the unfinished demo floated in limbo until 1994 when his widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, gave the recording to the three surviving Beatles, along with Lennon's demos for "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love."
  
  Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr considered "Now and Then" as the third Beatles reunion single for their 1995–1996 retrospective project The Beatles Anthology, following "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love." After two days of recording, it was scrapped, largely because Harrison's didn't like it.
  
  In 2022, using advanced technology and a curatorial touch, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr completed the track. The same AI restoration technology Peter Jackson used on the Beatles documentary Get Back was applied to Lennon's vocal take.
  
  "Back in 1995, after several days in the studio working on the track, George felt the technical issues with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track to a high enough standard," Harrison's widow, Olivia, said. "If he were here today, Dhani and I know he would have whole-heartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of 'Now And Then.'"
• Paul McCartney counts in to kick off the psychedelic rock ballad, just as he counted "One, two, three, four!" on "I Saw Her Standing There," the very first track on the Beatles' first album, released in 1963. McCartney's voice fades after saying "One, two," highlighting how by 2023, the Fab Four had been reduced to just him and Ringo Starr.
• An apologetic love song, this track is a classic example of John Lennon's 1970s solo work. It's a love letter, likely a serenade to his beloved wife, Yoko Ono. After years of ups and downs, Lennon had finally found domestic harmony with her.
• Now and then
  I miss you
  Oh, now and then
  I want you to be there for me
  Always to return to me
  
  Lennon's chorus carries a possible duality. While it's a sweet ode to Yoko, it may be also be a tender call from Lennon to his former bandmates - McCartney in particular.
  
  "Just a loving feeling. that's often what we were trying to do with our record was we're trying to spread love," said McCartney to BBC Radio 1's Clare Amfo. "And in this one, it is very poignant. This John talking about I miss you and stuff like that, so, I think emotion. I think that's that would be the key word. For people to take away from it. Emotion."
• Besides Lennon's John's vocals, "Now And Then" includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded from the scrapped 1995 sessions by Harrison, a new drum part by Starr, and bass, guitar and piano from McCartney that matches Lennon's original playing. McCartney added a slide guitar solo in Harrison's style "as a tribute to George."
  
  McCartney and producer Giles Martin added vocal harmonies from the original recordings of "Here, There And Everywhere," "Eleanor Rigby" and "Because" for the bridge. They are woven into the new song using the techniques perfected during the making of the remix album Love.
  
  There's also a string section written by McCartney, Martin and composer Ben Foster, recorded at Capitol Studios.
• New Zealand film director Peter Jackson directed the video. He is best known for his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jackson has also directed other successful films, such as Heavenly Creatures and King Kong.
  
  The visual incorporates unseen shots of the Beatles, including footage provided by Pete Best, and scenes filmed during the 1995 recording sessions for Anthology. There's also unseen home movie footage of Harrison and Lennon and new footage of McCartney and Starr performing.
• "Now and Then" climbed from #42 to #1 in its second week on the UK Official Chart. Some stats about the song's ascension to the peak position:
  
  1) "Now And Then" is the Fab Four's 18th #1 UK song. The Beatles further solidify their record as the British act with the highest number of UK #1 singles in Official Charts history. Only Elvis Presley, boasting 21 #1 hits, surpasses their achievement.
  
  2) The song's one-week physical sales of 38,000 is the biggest since The X Factor 2014 winner Ben Haenow's "Something I Need" sold 47,000 nearly a decade earlier.
  
  3) The Beatles' previous chart-topper, "The Ballad of John and Yoko," reached #1 in 1969. The gap of 54 years broke the record for the longest wait between #1s, previously held by Kate Bush. There was a 44-year gap between "Wuthering Heights" and "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)."
  
  4) The Beatles' first #1 single was "From Me to You" in May 1963. The 60-years-and-6-month gap between their debut visit to the chart summit and "Now And Then" surpassed Elvis Presley's record for the longest time span between an artist's first and last #1 single. There were 47 years and 6 months between Elvis' "All Shook Up" (1957) and a reissue of "It's Now Or Never" (2005).
  
  5) Sir Paul McCartney was 82 and Sir Ringo Starr 83 when they released the song, making them the oldest band to hit #1. They are also the second and third-oldest chart-topping artists, after 99-year-old Sir Captain Tom Moore topped the chart in 2020 with his cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone."
• In the latter part of April 2022, a mysterious summons reached over a dozen musicians in Los Angeles, asking if they could hit the studio in just three days' time. The catch? They were told they'd be working for none other than Paul McCartney. The twist? The sheet music they received bore the title "Give & Take," a decoy for what was to come.
  
  Musicians like violinist Caroline Buckman (known for collaborating with Brian Wilson, Neil Young, and R.E.M.) dropped everything and answered the call. After the recording session, Buckman proudly returned home, clutching a copy of the sheet music personally signed by McCartney.
  
  Tragically, 11 months later, Caroline Buckman succumbed to breast cancer. The revelation that she played a crucial role in the string section of "Now and Then" only unfolded after the song was released. For her family, it was bittersweet.
  
  Erika Buckman, Caroline's mother, grapples with conflicting emotions. "It is sad," she acknowledged to CBC, as her daughter passed away without knowing she'd played on the last song ever released by the Beatles. Yet, she adds, she's "very proud," finding solace in the remarkable legacy Caroline left behind.
• Paul McCartney played "Now And Then" live for the first time during his set at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay on October 1, 2024. The performance marked the opening night of his Got Back tour.
• "Now And Then" became the first AI-assisted song to earn a Grammy nomination, and the first to win, when it took the award for Best Rock Performance at the 2025 ceremony. It was also nominated for Record Of The Year, which went to "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar.