The Beatles understandably reached back to unused material from their time together while completing early solo projects. With so much musical talent, some very good stuff got left on the cutting-room floor.

Songs that the Beatles took the longest to finish include four entries from Paul McCartney's first LP after their split in 1970. There are three more from George Harrison's and one from John Lennon's, as well.

But the Beatles had long made a habit of resurrecting unreleased material, with Lennon and McCartney including songs they'd started in their teens on band recordings. They also turned to legacy material when they found themselves struggling creatively, first because overwork and then later amid growing interpersonal issues.

After their breakup, the group's three main songwriters continued to dig around in the vaults. None of them was more determined to complete older unissued tracks than Harrison. He was still releasing songs he'd started but never finished with the Beatles into the '80s.

In compiling this countdown of 25 Beatles songs that took the longest to finish, we focused as much as possible on starting with their first run throughs of the material during band sessions. (Recollections can be rather murky about when the writing of many tracks took place.)

The results ended up touching on every period of their careers, from the mop-top and psychedelic eras through the group's dissolution and into their celebrated solo catalogs:

No. 25. "Hold Me Tight"
From: The Beatles, With The Beatles (1963)

Origin Story: McCartney started on this song sometime in 1961, with Lennon helping complete things in September 1962
Finally Released: November 1963
Time Elapsed: 14 months (more than two years)

No. 24. "Every Night"
From: Paul McCartney, McCartney (1970)

Origin Story: One of several McCartney songs premiered during the sessions that produced Let It Be, beginning on Jan. 21, 1969
Finally Released: April 1970
Time Elapsed: 15 months (more than a year)

No. 23. "Hot as Sun/Glasses"
From: Paul McCartney, McCartney (1970)

Source: ultimateclassicrock.com/Nick DeRiso

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It’s been 60 years since The Beatles released Help!, their fifth British LP. Perhaps because it was attached to a chaotic movie, or maybe because it was followed up by a series of masterpiece albums, this 1965 LP doesn’t quite get its proper due.

The Beatles were transitioning away from the simplicity of their early stuff into much more lyrically and musically complex work. Here are some tidbits about the making of the album that you might not have known.

“Yesterday” now stands as one of the most important songs in pop music history. It showed that a rock band need not release music reliant on the instrumentation we usually associate with the genre. And thanks to the touch of producer George Martin, it demonstrated a way for strings to be incorporated into a pop music structure without overdoing it. Still, The Beatles felt a little self-conscious about the whole thing at the time of its release. That’s why they chose not to release it as a single in England. In America, where they had less control over their catalog, it did come out as a single. And it soared to dizzying levels of success in the process.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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A demo version of the John Lennon song Imagine has left fans wondering if the former Beatle knew he “had a hit on his hands”.

The title track of Lennon’s 1971 album would be released to critical acclaim from the press and public. Imagine would make it to third on the Billboard 100, and while it would never top the charts in the UK or US, it would become one of Lennon’s best-known solo songs. Fans believe Lennon knew he “had a hit on his hands” because of how well-formed the song is during its demo phase. Others have praised the early version of Lennon’s much-loved song as a “wonderful listening” experience that highlights the “beauty” of the song.

One comment underneath the YouTube upload of the Imagine demo reads: “He obviously knew he had a ‘hit’ on his hands. It’s so perfect and fully formed: the lyrics, the melody, the chords. He really delivered a masterpiece.”

Another agreed, adding: “There is always something wonderful listening to demos. Often they capture the rawness and beauty of the melody and lyrics. As this does…” Other listeners were full of praise for the early years of a song which would go on to become “life changing” for many across the globe.

A fan wrote: “The best of these demos is the freshness and the feeling of joy of knowing he’s really enjoying playing the song.” Another shared: “I love listening to demos, I just love watching a track transform into something beautiful.” A third added: “Amazing how stuff like this can sit around waiting to be found.”

Source: cultfollowing.co.uk/Ewan Gleadow

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The Beatles have never completely vacated the charts in the United Kingdom — at least not for long. Whether as a band or via the solo work of its members, the impact of the biggest band of all time can always be felt. Reissues, vinyl exclusives, and one-off special surges in popularity keep the music of all four artists coming back. This frame, it’s John Lennon who returns to a pair of tallies with one of his most direct and politically-charged solo statements.  “Power to the People” Is Back

“Power to the People,” credited to John Lennon, Yoko Ono – as simply John & Yoko – and the Plastic Ono Band, is back on two U.K. singles rankings. The track returns at No. 29 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart and at No. 36 on the Official Physical Singles list. A top 40 comeback more than half a century after the tune’s drop is the kind of surge any artist hopes for.  A Late Arrival to the Charts

 Though “Power to the People” was first issued in 1971, it didn’t become a charting hit in the U.K. until April 2025. It debuted that month on both the Official Vinyl Singles and Official Physical Singles charts, and even found room on the Official Singles Sales ranking as well, for two weeks. 

This isn’t the cut’s first reentry since its April debut. In June, “Power to the People” climbed to No. 24 on the Official Vinyl Singles chart and No. 27 on the Official Physical Singles ranking, and then disappeared. A No. 5 Peak for “Power to the People”

To date, “Power to the People” has spent seven weeks on the vinyl tally and eight on the physical singles list. Its best showing was in the cut’s first week on the rosters, when it opened at No. 5 on both charts — a peak it hasn’t matched since.

Source: forbes.com/Hugh McIntyre

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During her 70-year reign, it would be easier to ask which celebrities Queen Elizabeth didn't meet. She rubbed shoulders with everyone from Elton John to Lady Gaga at events like the Royal Variety Performance, movie premieres and charity galas. She also presented plenty of honors during royal investitures, and in 1965, she awarded the members of The Beatles with their MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire). According to Craig Brown's biography Q: A Voyage Around The Queen, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison—who were in their early twenties at the time—had quite the crush on Queen Elizabeth before their trip to Buckingham Palace.

The late Queen was just 27 during her 1953 coronation, and Brown wrote that the four Beatles "had entertained lustful thoughts about the young Princess Elizabeth" when they were teenagers. In 2017, Paul McCartney reflected on their feelings about the monarch during an interview with 60 Minutes Australia, sharing, "They were very formative teenage years, and The Queen was, sort of, 24 or something, so, to us, she was a babe."

"We were like, 'Phowar!'" he continued, adding "there was a certain lustfulness in us teenagers" when it came to Elizabeth. "Just look at the heat on her!" he said, repeating a phrase "we used to say in Liverpool."

When it came to their MBE ceremony, Brown wrote that either the foursome's "teenage infatuations clouded their brains" or else it "might have been the marijuana that John Lennon later claimed they had smoked in the palace loo before the ceremony." No matter what happened, the author noted that the band's "conversation with The Queen proved awkward."

Source: marieclaire.com/Kristin Contino

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Both Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are doing something they've never done when it comes to the new biopics that are in the works, and that's not only backing the project but actively getting involved. They are both promoting the films on their social media, and Starr, in particular, has had several meetings with the cast and crew. Recently, while he was interviewed during a show in celebration of his 85th birthday, he opened up about his feelings regarding Barry Keoghan being cast to play him in the biopic. He said he doesn't know exactly how he will choose to play the part, but that he has "spent time with him" and was reassured that the Irish actor "knows what he's doing."

"He's fabulous. He has a great love of The Beatles."

Ringo Starr's involvement in the upcoming movies extends beyond just meetings with the cast. He's also been working closely with the writers and has spoken candidly whenever he disagrees with their decisions. In a recent interview with Variety, he revealed that Sam Mendes had given him the chance to read the four scripts and had asked for his thoughts. Some things, Starr admitted, were not up to his standards. Especially the characterization of him and his family. “He had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” Starr explained, referring to his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett.

Source: collider.com/Val Barone

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