Fans have been reacting to John Lennon and George Harrison’s omission from The Beatles’ new Grammy nomination for ‘Now And Then’.
The 2023 song, dubbed ‘the last Beatles’ song, was released last November and was pieced together using an archive demo recording of Lennon that was recorded around 1977. It also included overdubs of guitar tracks laid down by Harrison in 1995.
Earlier today, the song was nominated for Record Of The Year at the 67th Grammy Awards, setting the record for the longest span between nominations for any artist in history. However, Lennon and Harrison, who died in 1980 and 2001 respectively, do not meet Grammy eligibility requirements as they did not contribute newly recorded elements to the track, and are not listed in the official nomination.
The Beatles’ ‘Now and Then’ has officially been nominated for both Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards.
John Lennon’s 1977 demo tape was worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr in 1995, and was finally completed in 2023. pic.twitter.com/HAJmaJmmw9
— The Beatles Earth (@BeatlesEarth) November 8, 2024
Lennon’s son Sean Ono Lennon celebrated the nomination on his X/Twitter account on Thursday, writing: “Amazing!!! Grammy Noms! Nom nom nom…”
Amazing!!! Grammy Noms! Nom nom nom… pic.twitter.com/XoB2m9KCwH
— Seán Ono Lennon (@seanonolennon) November 8, 2024
However, some others have drawn attention to the use of AI to isolate Lennon’s original demo recording in the song. One post on X/Twitter noted (in Spanish): “Everything is fine with The Beatles…But this Grammy nomination is quite forced… And on top of that with AI to try to separate John Lennon’s vocals from the piano of the original demo.”
Todo bien con los beatles… Pero es bastante forzosa esta nominación al Grammy… Y encima con IA para tratar de separar las voces de John Lennon del piano del demo original… https://t.co/w1LF0h1hgA
— the old young emir ™️ is ready to djo 3 (@EmirYogmman) November 8, 2024
“This nomination is already shameful, a win will be even more disgraceful and a huge slap to real artists,” added another.
this nomination is already shameful. a win will be even more disgraceful and a huge slap to real artists
— Honest Andrew 🥀 (@andrewscomet) November 8, 2024
This was countered by another X user, however, who argued: “The Beatles DID NOT USE AI to create a song but rather to isolate John Lennon’s voice from a record that already existed and recorded new parts in a traditional way. winning the Grammy would be the least they could do for the last song made by the greatest band of all time.”
the beatles DID NOT USE AI to create a song but rather to isolate john lennon’s voice from a record that already existed and recorded new parts in a traditional way. winning the grammy would be the least they could do for the last song made by the greatest band of all time
— ingryd ♡ ㅡ ((°⍸°))♟️ (@ceofjohnlennon) November 8, 2024
Others have reacted to the omission of Lennon and Harrison from the official nomination, with one X user asking, “Beatles get Grammy nod for final song – but why aren’t Lennon and Harrison nominated?”
Beatles get Grammy nod for final song – but why aren’t Lennon and Harrison nominated?#TheBeatles #Beatles https://t.co/w6yp5v3wbb
— Amy (@amypeck2011) November 8, 2024
The nominations for the Grammy awards were announced in a YouTube livestream earlier today (November 8), with the winners set to be revealed at the 68th Grammy Awards ceremony on February 2, 2025 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Beyoncé leads the way with 11 nominations, making her the most nominated artist of all time with a lifetime total of 99. She will compete against Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift for the covered Record Of The Year prize, as well as the Fab Four for ‘Now And Then’.
Both Roan and Carpenter have been nominated for best new artist, meaning they are in the running for all four categories open to recording artists across genres. If either artist won that category as well as record, song and album of the year – they’d become the first to do that since Eilish’s landmark sweep in 2020.
In other Beatles-related news, McCartney paid his tributes to Quincy Jones this week, remembering his “very positive, loving spirit”.
It was also reported recently that Yoko Ono was warned that her late husband was “in danger” prior to his death.
A new Beatles documentary film Beatles ‘64 from producer Martin Scorsese and director David Tedeschi is also coming to Disney+ on November 29.
