The 'last' Beatles song is coming — here's what to know

Fans of the Beatles are getting something they likely never expected — a new Beatles song.

Though the Fab Four were done as a band by 1970, one final song they collaborated on, "Now And Then," is set for worldwide release at 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 2, a press release on the official Beatles website announced Oct. 26.

The song will be released as a double A-side single along with “Love Me Do,” the Beatles' official 1962 debut U.K. single, pairing the band's first and last singles together.

A new music video for “Now And Then” will debut on Nov. 3.

“Now And Then,” which is billed as “the last Beatles song,” was written and recorded as a demo by John Lennon, who died in 1980. Over the decades, Lennon’s former bandmates, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, worked to bring the song to life.

The song will make its world premiere at 10 a.m. ET on Nov. 2 on hundreds of iHeartRadio stations across the U.S., according to a press release from the company. It will also be included in a rerelease of the "1967-1970" compilation out Nov. 10.

How "Now And Then" came to be is a story in itself.

In the late 1970s, Lennon recorded a demo of the song on piano at his home in New York’s Dakota building. In 1994, Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, gave the demo, along with Lennon's demos for "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," to his former bandmates, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

The trio added their parts to “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” and released them as new Beatles songs in 1995 and 1996, as part of "The Beatles Anthology" project.

They'd hoped to do the same for "Now And Then."

They recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for the song with producer Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra and Traveling Wilburys fame.

However, technology at that time wasn't able to separate Lennon's vocals and piano to give the song a clear mix. So “Now And Then” was shelved.

But after director Peter Jackson wowed fans with his 2021 docuseries "The Beatles: Get Back," which featured pristine audio restoration of documentary footage recorded in 1969, it suddenly seemed possible to save "Now And Then."

Jackson and his sound team worked their magic on the demo, preserving the clarity of Lennon's original vocal track by separating it from the piano.

“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording," McCartney explains in the release.

"In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing," he added.

Hearing Lennon's voice so clearly was also a moving experience for Starr.

“It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out," said the drummer.

In 2022, McCartney and Starr finished the song, which includes electric and acoustic guitar parts recorded in 1995 by Harrison, who died in 2001, as well as a new drum part by Starr and bass, guitar and piano parts courtesy of McCartney.

McCartney also added a slide guitar solo inspired by Harrison, and he and Starr sang backing vocals on the chorus.

To make "Now And Then" sound even more like a classic Fab Four song, a “quintessentially” Beatles string arrangement was added, as well as backing vocals from the original recordings of “Here, There And Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because."

Fans can learn more about how the song came to be in the 12-minute documentary “Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song,” which premieres at 3:30 p.m. ET Nov. 1 on the Beatles’ YouTube channel.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com