The Beatles Now and Then: when is new song released, does John Lennon sing on it, music video date

A new song from the Beatles is set to be released today. The track - Now and Then - has been dubbed "the last Beatles song" and anticipation is high for the track. The song was written and sung by the late John Lennon and later developed by the other band members Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison.

It will be the first new song from the Beatles since Free As A Bird and Real Love dropped in the 1990s. Peter Jackson, the legendary filmmaker, has created a music video to go along with the song. But when can you hear Now and Then? Here's all you need to know:

When is new the Beatles song released?

The song will be released at 2pm on 2 November as a double A-side with the band’s 1962 debut single Love Me Do, and cover art by US artist Ed Ruscha. Fans will be able to listen on all the usual platforms - such as Spotify, Apple Music and more.

Now and Then will also feature on the expanded re-issue of the 1973 compilation 1967–1970. The album will drop on 10 November.

A 12-minute documentary, written and directed by Oliver Murray, known for My Life As A Rolling Stone, and with commentary from Sir Ringo and Sir Paul, was released at 7.30pm on Wednesday (1 November) on The Beatles’ YouTube channel.

Does John Lennon sing on the track?

The track was sourced from a Lennon vocal and piano demo recorded in the late 1970s, using technology to extricate and isolate his voice. After the death of Lennon in 1980 aged 40, his wife Yoko Ono gave the recording to the remaining Beatles in 1994 along with Free As A Bird and Real Love, which were released by the band in the same decade.

During this period, Harrison, Sir Paul and Sir Ringo recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for Now And Then in 1995 with producer and musician Jeff Lynne. However, the band did not release the song, citing issues extracting Lennon’s vocals and piano in a clear mix due to limited technology at the time. Harrison later died in November 2001 aged 58.

Jackson’s recent Beatles documentary used audio restoration technology that allowed for vocals, music and conservations by the band to be isolated, a technique which they have now used for Now And Then, which helped separate the vocal from the piano.

When is the music video released?

A visualiser will be released to accompany the track - Now and Then - and was directed by Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings filmmaker has linked up with the band again for what will be his first music video following the success of his 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back.

It will feature recently “unearthed” and “unseen” footage of the Fab Four. The director admitted he was initially “very reluctant” to take on creating a music video for the song due to scale of the task.

In a statement shared to the Beatles website, he wrote: “To be honest, just thinking about the responsibility of having to make a music video worthy of the last song The Beatles will ever release produced a collection of anxieties almost too overwhelming to deal with.

“My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down.”

After voicing his concerns about the challenges due to a lack of footage and half of the members of the band being no longer alive, he said Apple “unearthed over 14 hours of long forgotten film shot during the 1995 recording sessions” and Sir Paul and Sir Ringo filmed footage of themselves performing.

He said he was also supplied with “a few precious seconds of The Beatles performing in their leather suits, the earliest known film of The Beatles and never-seen-before”.

The filmmaker said the intention behind the video was to “bring a few tears to the eye” and feels the “simple power of this beautiful song” did a lot of work for them. Alongside the poignant moments, it will feature unseen outtakes of the Beatles acting “relaxed, funny and rather candid”.