The Beatles’ “Now And Then” earned two nominations at the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards: Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance. It was not the band’s first-ever GRAMMY nomination; the Recording Academy said the group was nominated for the first time in 28 years. Machine learning helped separate John Lennon’s voice from an old demo, allowing the surviving Beatles to finish the recording—not generate Lennon’s singing.
What the Beatles were nominated for
“Now And Then” appeared among the nominees for Record of the Year in the Recording Academy’s Nov. 8, 2024 announcement. The Beatles’ own announcement on Nov. 11 confirmed the song also received a Best Rock Performance nomination. The Academy’s nominations announcement and the band’s announcement identify the two categories.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
The Beatles - Now and Then Exclusive Limited Red Color Vinyl | $46.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Now and Then[7' Single]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31WjgWT+TZL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Now and Then[7" Single] | $16.98 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
The Beatles -Now And Then, Limited Blue/White Marble 7" Single Vinyl LP | $38.45 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
![Let It Be (Special Edition)[LP]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512BpL1jxVL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Let It Be (Special Edition)[LP] | $31.99 | Buy on Amazon |
These were nominations, not awards won. The Recording Academy says first-round voting determines nominees and final-round voting determines winners; its awards-process page describes that distinction. The 67th GRAMMY Awards ceremony was scheduled for Feb. 2, 2025.
Was this the Beatles’ first GRAMMY nomination?
No. The wording “first-ever” is inaccurate for the group’s history. In its 2025 nominations retrospective, the Recording Academy described the Beatles as receiving a nomination for the first time in 28 years. The accurate distinction is that “Now And Then” marked the band’s return to the nominations after that interval, not its first nomination ever. The Academy’s retrospective provides that context.
#1 Best Overall
How AI helped finish “Now And Then”
The song began with a John Lennon home demo recorded to cassette in the 1970s. After Lennon died, Yoko Ono passed the tapes to the other Beatles. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison worked with songs from the demos in 1995, but “Now And Then” remained unfinished because Lennon’s voice could not be cleanly separated from the piano with the tools then available.
In 2022, engineers used machine-learning technology developed by Peter Jackson’s team for the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back to isolate Lennon’s vocal from the recording. The Associated Press reported on the process and the track’s completion in its account of the song’s release; Apple Music lists the recording as a Beatles single released Nov. 2, 2023.
Rank #2
- The Beatles' double-A-side single for "Now And Then" & "Love Me Do" pairs the last Beatles song with their first UK single
What the technology did—and did not do
The machine-learning work separated and restored an existing vocal in a difficult source recording. The available accounts do not say that AI generated Lennon’s singing, wrote the song, or independently produced the finished track. McCartney and Starr completed the recording, incorporating Harrison’s earlier guitar work and new contributions. Producer Giles Martin helped assemble the recording and its string arrangement.
McCartney said the Beatles would have been interested in “state-of-the-art technology,” as quoted by the AP. The distinction matters: “AI-assisted” describes a tool used to recover an existing performance, not a newly synthesized Lennon performance.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Why the song was described as the Beatles’ final track
The Beatles released “Now And Then” on Nov. 2, 2023, as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do.” The band described it as bringing the group back together on record for a final time. Starr, quoted by the AP, called it the last track on which listeners would get John, Paul, George and Ringo together on a track. The recording combines Lennon’s demo vocal with contributions made by the surviving members across different periods; “final” refers to this last Beatles recording assembled with all four members represented, not to a claim that every element was recorded together at once.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
- The Let It Be album has been newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
