Let us turn back the clock to an era long gone; the 1960s. JFK was President, the Space Race was going strong, and The Beatles were taking over the world. The Beatles are a group that needs no introduction, but I will go ahead and give a brief one anyway. The Beatles were formed in 1960 consisting of four British men; Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon. They took the world by storm, and at one point were the most famous men in the world. What culminated from their fame was a fad known as “Beatlemania,” which, as the name implies, was the name given to the craze the band had over the population. Everywhere, every show, everything, was always swarmed with fans. They were incredibly popular, with their albums consistently flying to the top of the charts. It all came to an end, though, in 1970, when the band performed their final, and possibly most famous, show on top of 3 Savile Row, after which they would part ways.

       It was a sad time, made even sadder when just ten years later, John Lennon was shot and killed, and then in 2001 George Harrison died of lung cancer. It seemed hopeless that new Beatles content would ever be released, but, as the saying goes, never say never. In October 2023, it was announced on Beatles.com that they had recovered a final recording from 1977, which was one of Lennon’s songs he had abandoned. In 1995, after Lennon’s death, the three remaining Beatles returned to the track and attempted to finish it, but it was once again abandoned. Finally, they had gotten the last two remaining Beatles, Paul, and Ringo, and had finished the song, releasing it on November 3, 2023. 

      Initially, the song received some doubts, as they had said AI (Artificial Intelligence) was involved in the production of the song, however, it was later revealed AI was only used to upscale the damaged parts of the song and to help refine the voices of John Lennon and George Harrison, rather than to replace them, which is very good in my opinion. I have been very outspoken about my opinions of AI, so I am quite happy to know they didn’t use AI to try and replicate the voices of John and George. Other such feats in this song include the aforementioned return of Paul and Ringo, who recorded new lines for the song, as well as some new instrumentals. Along with them, an entire orchestra was used to give the song an extra “oomph.” Overall, the song was met with incredible reviews, with Variety.com calling it a “worthy end to The Beatles.”

        So what does this mean for the future of The Beatles? Peter Jackson, the man who organized the whole thing, has stated restoring some old Beatles songs that were never made is “feasible” according to Salon.com. This could be huge for preservation’s sake. The amount of content from long-forgotten musicians is a terrible thing, and seeing that one of the biggest bands in the world is getting some of its long-forgotten songs and possibly more released to the world fills me with joy and hope it can happen with more musicians in the future. Michael Jackson is a great example of an artist who has an entire vault of unreleased and lost songs, so perhaps this will be a good step forward for getting more out into the world. 

       All in all, I think this is incredible. The Beatles are one of my favorite bands ever, and seeing the fact a little piece of their legacy is being preserved is wonderful. I am happy to live in a time where new Beatles news and culture is hitting the world and I can actively participate in the craze. Watching behind the scenes and the music video, you can tell this project meant a lot more than releasing a new song to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. This was a way for them to relive the magic of making music with their friends, even if it was not exactly how it used to be, one last time. And, I think, that is beautiful.