The track is being released today.
The Beatles’ highly-anticipated emotional farewell song Now and Then is being made available today (Thursday 2nd November), with the Peter Jackson-led music video set to premiere the following day.
This marks Jackson’s first foray into music video production, and he has admitted he was initially “reluctant” to take on such an immense challenge.
“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,” he said.
“My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down.
“This created intense insecurity in me, because I’d never made a music video before, and was not able to imagine how I could even begin to create one for a band that broke up over 50 years ago, had never actually performed the song, and had half of its members no longer with us. It was going to be far easier to do a runner.”
If you’re wondering how to listen to Now and Then, and how to watch the accompanying music video, read on for the latest information.
How to listen to The Beatles’ final song Now and Then
In the UK, Now and Then will first be played on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at 2pm on Thursday.
Simultaneously, the song will become available on various streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music, while CD, vinyl and cassette releases will debut the following day.
You can now listen to the official audio on YouTube.
From 10th November, the song will be included on the newly remastered and expanded editions of The Beatles’ Red and Blue greatest hits albums.
Now and Then was originally written and recorded in the late 1970s by the late John Lennon, but artificial intelligence has been used to separate Lennon’s vocals from an old demo.
As well as bringing the icon’s vocals back to life, the track also features electric and acoustic guitar recordings from 1995 by the late George Harrison, back-up vocals from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, drums by Starr, and bass, piano and a slide guitar solo from McCartney.
How to watch the Now and Then music video
The accompanying full music video will premiere worldwide on Friday, 3rd November at 2pm GMT on The Beatles’ YouTube channel.
Until then, we have the official audio video above.
It will also become available on 3rd November on Disney Plus.
How to watch the documentary Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song
A 12-minute documentary film has also been produced, telling the story behind the last Beatles song, featuring exclusive footage and commentary from Paul, Ringo, George, Sean Ono Lennon and Jackson.
Written and directed by Oliver Murray, the short film first premiered on 1st November on BBC One at 7pm, and is now available to watch on Disney Plus.
You can also watch it on YouTube below.
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Speaking about the short film, Oliver Murray said: “The legacy of The Beatles set one of the most important foundations for modern youth culture.
“It is a great honor 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.
“Now and Then is a story of musical archaeology and a brotherly bond between four guys that gave the world some of the most popular entertainment in history.”
Check out more of our Radio coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guideto find out what’s on.
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