In November 2023, The Beatles released what was billed as the band’s “last song,” “Now and Then.” As previously reported, the tune was built around a demo that John Lennon recorded around 1977 and that the other band members added parts to in the 1990s and the 2020s.
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In November 2024, “Now and Then” was nominated for two Grammy Awards, in the Record of the Year and the Best Rock Performance categories. Now, drummer Ringo Starr has expressed hopes that the Fab Four can take home one of the prestigious honors when the 2025 ceremony takes place on February 2.
“I’d love to win a Grammy,” Starr said in a new interview with Music Week magazine. “That’s the business I’m in—and the track is good. The last track ever by the boys.”
Ringo then talked about the long journey “Now and Then” took to be completed.
“We tried [finishing] it in the ’90s when we got [the 1995 single] ‘Free as a Bird’ out, but we didn’t take much interest because it didn’t sound like John, and George [Harrison] got a bit fed up,” Starr recalled. At the time, Starr, Harrison, and Paul McCartney had similarly finished two other raw Lennon demos—“Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”—for The Beatles Anthology compilation series.
“[Harrison] He didn’t want to do a third one and so we just put it to bed, but now they’ve got better equipment,” Ringo noted. “They lifted John’s voice off a cassette, for God’s sake—off a cassette! And it was like John was suddenly in town.”
More About Completing “Now and Then”
As previously reported, audio technology developed by director Peter Jackson and his team to enhance the sound of The Beatles: Get Back documentary series also was used to make Lennon’s vocals from the original “Now and Then” cassette bright and clear. That finally paved the way for the song to be properly finished.
Ringo explained that McCartney contacted him fairly recently to discuss plans to finish the song.
“He said, ‘You know that track we did? Well, I’ll put it together. Are you going to play drums on it?’” Starr remembered. “I said, ‘Sure, send the files over.’ That’s how we do it now—and I put the drums on and sang on the chorus.”
Ringo added, “He did a great job. He put the strings on and the lead guitar that gave the track its emotion. It worked out really great and let’s hope for a Grammy. We’ll see; a lot of people are up for Grammys.”
McCartney began playing “Now and Then” during his solo concerts in 2024. Sir Paul will finish his 2024 Get Back Tour with a December 18-19 stand at The O2 arena in London.
About The Beatles’ Grammy History
Interestingly and perhaps surprisingly, The Beatles have never taken home a Grammy for Record of the Year. Less surprising, the band hasn’t won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance either, although that trophy was given out until 2012.
The band was nominated for the honor four previous times, for “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1965, “Yesterday” in 1966, “Hey Jude” in 1970, and “Let It Be” in 1971. The Beatles have won a total of seven Grammys, and have been nominated 25 times. The Fab Four’s Grammy honors include Best New Artist of 1964 (in 1965), and Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (in 1968).
About Starr’s Upcoming Plans
As previously announced, Starr will be releasing a new studio album titled Look Up on January 10. The project, which was produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett, features Ringo exploring his passion for country music.
“I love country,” he told Music Week. “Liverpool loved country and it was a very musical city. A lot of the lads in the neighborhood were in the merchant navy; they’d go to America and come back with all these records.”
Starr added, “I think there’s a resurgence in country music, which is good for me … I’ve got a country record coming out!”
Ringo will celebrate Look Up’s release with a star-studded pair of concerts on January 14 and 15 at the Ryman Auditorium. He also recently announced a new 2025 U.S. tour with his All Starr Band.
The trek currently features 10 confirmed dates. It kicks off on June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and is mapped out through a June 25 show in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ringo Starr on his Grammy hopes for The Beatles and working with AI on the band's final single Now And Then https://t.co/4sPiqYZ7oW pic.twitter.com/rSjeQUd7N8
— Music Week (@MusicWeek) December 17, 2024
(Photo by Hans J. Hoffmann/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
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