Over half a decade after the international superstars broke up, 44 years after the death of John Lennon and 23 years after the passing of George Harrison, The Beatles released their 2025 Grammy-winning song, “Now And Then.”
During the recent Grammy Awards ceremony on Feb. 2, The Beatles won their eighth Grammy Award, receiving nominations for record of the year and best rock performance, winning the latter of the two.
Because of the death of half of the members of the mid-20th century pop group, the recording of the new Grammy-nominated record was unlike any other.
The origin of the song is derived from an unreleased demo that the late Lennon made three years before his assassination in 1980. In 1994, the three living members at that time came together to work on three previous demos: “Free as a Bird,” “Real Love,” as well as “Now and Then,” releasing the first two in 1995 and “Now And Then” in November 2023.
“Free as a Bird” was quite successful, winning best music video, short form, as well as best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal at the 1997 Grammy Awards. In addition, the single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number six on the US Billboard Hot 100.
This newest song, however, was made differently from “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” While the earlier songs were really just continuations of the early demos, “Now and Then” was almost completely remade and reworked using McCartney and Starr’s current work as well as some help from artificial intelligence to smooth out Lennon’s vocals throughout the song.
Due to the subpar recording quality of Lennon’s demo, pulling the vocals out of the mix was not an easy task, especially with the technology that was available when the band initially revisited the demo in the mid-1990s.
With the many improvements to technology and AI over the past three decades, Lennon’s vocals were finally able to be cleanly separated from the piano in the raw demo, allowing the surviving Beatles to come together and finish their final song.
Harrison compiled some guitar parts prior to his death in 2001. In the newer recording sessions, McCartney played some guitar and added on to Harrison’s work.
Giles Martin, the son of famous Beatles producer George Martin, arranged a string section for “Now and Then” reminiscent of some of their most famous songs like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Eleanor Rigby.”
All of these components coming together and creating a Grammy winning song is something that most likely will never happen again. A band with as much fame and status as The Beatles releasing a song that wins a Grammy decades after a break-up and the passing of two of their members is something that more people should be talking about.
In addition to all of this, McCartney called “Now and Then” the “the last Beatles song.” For around three generations, The Beatles have been around in some capacity, but it seems now their time is finally coming to a close. There are not many bands left with the illustrious career and impressive resume that The Beatles have, so it’s very important to acknowledge the impact that they are leaving behind, both musically, as well as socially.
Musically, the boys from Liverpool changed the way songs and albums were recorded, piloting the use of 4-track recording in 1963. They also combined multiple genres of their era, including rock ’n roll, skiffle, folk, jazz, blues and show tunes, making their music more appealing to any demographic. And even when it seemed the band was done revolutionizing music, they made one final bang with “Now and Then,” making them one of the first major bands to use AI in assistance to making music.
Socially, they completely took the world by storm in every facet of their being. The Beatles became a staple of teenage culture in the 60s and brought the idea of rebellion to the younger generation. The Beatles would transform the fashion of the 1960s with their collarless suits and unique haircuts.
They were also big believers and essential to many racial equality movements, anti-war protests and other peace-led principles. Their contributions and choice to be vocal on these topics led to other young people becoming more socially active.
With this latest achievement by The Beatles, it’s important to realize how special this Grammy is and how spectacular their career has been. Their latest Grammy became their eighth all-time, they revolutionized music, transformed a generation and now they have potentially made a big leap in music with AI. The Beatles’ careers have been truly special and now is the perfect time to talk about their multi-generational impact.