The Beatles, with the help of AI, have released their final song and Disney+ is streaming the behind-the-scenes documentary.
Written and directed by Oliver Murray, Now And The – The Last Beatles Song, tells the story behind the final Beatles song, with exclusive footage and commentary from Paul, Ringo, George, Sean Ono Lennon, and Peter Jackson.
Speaking about the short film, Oliver Murray said “It is a great honour to be given the responsibility of telling this story and I think it will conjure up a lot of different emotions for people as we all have a very personal relationship to the band’s work.”
The last Beatles song “Now And Then” was released last week, along with the accompanying music video directed by three-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson.
“We wanted the music video to bring a few tears to the eye, but generating emotion using only archive footage is a tricky thing. Fortunately, the simple power of this beautiful song did a lot of the work for us. I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come,” said Peter Jackson
The eventful journey of Now And Then took place over five decades and is the product of conversations and collaborations between the four Beatles that go on to this day. The long mythologized John Lennon demo was first worked on in February 1995 by Paul, George, and Ringo as part of The Beatles Anthology project but it remained unfinished, partly because of the impossible technological challenges involved in working with the vocal John had recorded on tape in the 1970s.
For years it looked like the song could never be completed. But in 2022 there was a stroke of serendipity. A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, used throughout the production of the documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back,” finally opened the way for the uncoupling of John’s vocals from his piano part. As a result, the original recording could be brought to life and worked on anew with contributions from all four Beatles. This remarkable story of musical archaeology reflects The Beatles’ endless creative curiosity and shared fascination with technology. It marks the completion of the last recording that John, Paul, George, and Ringo will get to make together and celebrates the legacy of the foremost and most influential band in popular music history.
