(Original Caption) The Beatles are shown at a press conference at the Warwick Hotel. Standing left to right are: Ringo Starr, (wearing polka dot shirt), Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.
Bettmann Archive
55 years after The Beatles called it quits, fans today are in a near-constant state of speculation about what the rock legends—and their estates—will release next.
In recent years, that’s included deluxe, remixed box sets of their classic albums; a treasure trove of remastered, never-before seen footage in Disney+’s Get Back docuseries; and of course, the “last” Beatles song, “Now and Then,” released in 2023.
The latest moptop missive arrived Tuesday morning on the band’s website: a teaser image of the back of a canvas, with the numbers “1,” “2,” “3,” and “4?” cycling in the center. On Instagram, the band went further, filling the numbers with imagery seen on the cover of a 1995 release.
All signs point to a 3oth anniversary re-release of The Beatles Anthology. In 1995, surviving members Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr told the band’s story in a six-part TV docuseries, and also released a three-volume CD set of the same name, packed with demos, rarities, live and unreleased versions of their songs.
But the Anthology project gained most notice for its two “new” Beatles songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” They were based on home demo recordings by co-founder John Lennon, made shortly before his murder in 1980. The surviving Beatles and producer Jeff Lynne utilized then-cutting-edge tech to combine Lennon’s voice and piano with their new instrumentation and backing vocals.
When the songs were unveiled in 1995, public response was mixed. Many listeners felt the quality of Lennon’s home recordings left the singer muddy and indecipherable in the mix.
“Now and Then” was actually planned for Anthology as well, but sessions were abandoned partway through (Harrison, according to his bandmates, wasn’t enjoying himself). Instead, McCartney and Starr picked things up nearly 30 years later to finish the recording—and it was immediately clear just how far audio technology had advanced in the decades since. AI tech allowed Lennon’s voice and piano to be separated onto their own tracks and cleaned up to near-studio quality.
The success of “Now and Then” led to immediate speculation: would the band attempt to remix “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” using today’s tech? A huge clue arrived earlier this month, when Spotify and other DSPs amended those songs’ titles with the words “1995 Mix.”
Tuesday’s announcement not only strengthens that theory, but points to an entire re-release of the Anthology album set—along with a brand-new fourth volume. The band has stuck to anniversaries for their re-releases, and 2025 marks thirty years since Anthology arrived. The canvas graphic used in the announcement is the same used for the back covers of the original collection.
Other points are less clear: Will this endeavor include a reissue (and possible remaster) of the Anthology docuseries? And when can we expect any of this to drop? For now, the band’s simply asking for fans to “Stay Tuned” on its teaser page.