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After four decades, the much-anticipated demo Now and Then, written by John Lennon, was finally released last Thursday, and is now on its way to topping the United Kingdom’s charts.
Described as ‘The Beatles’ last song’ – the emotionally powerful track was written by John in his home in New York City in the late 1970s, before being developed by other band members in 1995.
After his death, John’s widow Yoko Ono gave the demo to the remaining Beatles members in 1994, but the project was later abandoned as the demo proved more difficult to work with.
After many years later and with the help of artificial intelligence, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr, the track was finally finished, featuring John’s vocals and bringing back touching and emotional memories.
“It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us,” drummer Ringo said in a statement on the band’s website.
Sir Paul described the song as poignant, and said he wanted fans to take a ‘loving feeling’ away from it.
“That’s what we were trying to do with our records, we were trying to spread love,” the English singer-songwriter said.
Now and Then is currently on track for the UK chart title. According to the Official Charts Company, the single is on its way to outselling the rest of the top five combined based on sales and streaming data.
It is the band’s first chart-topper in 54 years, the last being The Ballad of John and Yoko in 1969.
Even though the single debuted at 42 in the UK last week based on just 10 hours of sales, it now has the chance to become the Beatles’18th UK chart-leader, as the song is expected to jump 41 places to the top of the Official Singles Chart on Friday when it’s published.
