Yesterday the final Beatles song Now and Then, which Express.co.uk reviewed, was released thanks to the wonders of modern technology.
John Lennon’s vocals from before his 1980 death were mixed together with George Harrison’s 1995 guitar and finished by Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr in 2023 to complete their last track together as the Fab Four.
If that wasn’t enough of a treat, Peter Jackson (who directed The Beatles: Get Back) has this afternoon released the official music video for Now and Then, which is full of surprises that were well worth the wait.
Recording sessions from the mid-1990s when the project was originally abandoned are depicted, plus previously unseen footage of The Beatles.
But nothing had fans prepared for what would come next.
Sir Paul and Sir Ringo are captured singing Now and Then together before younger versions of the late Lennon and Harrison join them to perform together as The Beatles one last time.
It’s simultaneously touching and emotional, with young McCartney and Starr also joining in the fun later on.
The whole thing ends with a bow from their Ed Sullivan Show debut before the Fab Four fade away for the final time; a touching goodbye to the best-selling band in history.
Reflecting on his Now and Then music video, Jackson said: “[I found] a collection of unseen outtakes in the vault, where the Beatles are relaxed, funny and rather candid. We wove humour into some footage shot in 2023. The result is pretty nutty and provided the video with much-needed balance between the sad and the funny.
“I realised we needed the imagination of every viewer to create their own personal moment of farewell to The Beatles”.
The Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings director concluded by saying he had “genuine pride” in the finished footage, which was his first-ever music video “and I’ll cherish that for years to come”.
