{"id":402779,"date":"2026-01-11T15:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402779\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T15:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T15:10:10","slug":"what-was-the-final-beatles-song-recorded-together-as-a-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402779\/","title":{"rendered":"What was the final Beatles song recorded together as a band?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Paul<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n

Sun 11 January 2026 10:06, UK <\/p>\n

On August 20th, 1969, the four members of The Beatles<\/a> gathered in Studio 2 of Abbey Road with producer George Martin. <\/p>\n

They were putting the finishing touches to a song as they often did, overdubbing harmonised backing vocals and instrumental takes the same way they\u2019d done since their early singles. At the time, though some might have had an inkling, no one was aware that this would be the last time they\u2019d all be making music together.<\/p>\n

In the days that followed, John Lennon went on holiday before performing at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in mid-September. He had effectively left the group and informed his bandmates of the decision formally at a meeting to renew The Beatles\u2019 contract with Capitol Records in the United States on September 20th.<\/p>\n

Paul McCartney explained in the band\u2019s Anthology documentary that he was trying to encourage Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to return to the \u201clittle gigs\u201d of their early days. But Lennon had a surprise for him. \u201cWell, I think you\u2019re daft,\u201d he told his songwriting partner. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going to tell you till we signed the Capitol deal, but I\u2019m leaving the group!\u201d<\/p>\n

McCartney and then-Beatles manager Allen Klein pressed Lennon to keep the news quiet. He stuck to his word despite a slew of single releases making it obvious to the public that his solo career had already begun. Yet McCartney got the public relations jump on Lennon, Klein and the rest of The Beatles the following April when he announced he was quitting the band immediately prior to the release of his debut solo album.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Beatles in 1969. (Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)But what was the band recording in that final session?<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the very last thing the four members of The Beatles recorded together was the very end of their song \u2018The End\u2019, the full stop at the end of an expansive eight-song medley on the second side of the album they\u2019d named after their famous studio, Abbey Road. On August 20th, they recorded the three-part, wordless vocal harmony heard during the climax of the song, which unusually included Starr alongside the other three Beatles.<\/p>\n

Last-minute short instrumental overdubs to polish off the song were likely also recorded during the same session. The main instrumental material for the song, including intertwining guitar licks from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, and Starr\u2019s only drum solo<\/a> for the band, had already been completed earlier in the month.<\/p>\n

Two days before that last session, the track\u2019s famous final lyrics, an epigrammatic couplet that seemed to signify the end of an age, was put down on tape, as well as its piano accompaniment. What better way for the four teenage friends from Liverpool, who\u2019d brought us seminal moments of the 1960s like \u2018She Loves You\u2019 and \u2018All You Need Is Love\u2019, to give one another a final send-off? Singing in unison: \u201cThe love you take \/ is equal to the love you make.\u201d It was almost too perfect.<\/p>\n

The Beatles decided it was\u00a0and tacked the hidden track \u2018Her Majesty\u2019, a throwaway McCartney ditty cut from the final listing for\u00a0Abbey Road, on the end of the LP. It was irreverent to the last, but an ending fit for rock royalty.<\/p>\n

Is \u2018The End\u2019 a good song?<\/p>\n

It is certainly one of the band\u2019s most beautiful moments. Not only in the song, which is tuneful and bodacious at every turn, making use of the orchestra at hand, but also contextually within the band. Aptly titled \u2018The End\u2019 it was a clear representation of things to come. <\/p>\n

Duelling guitar solos form every member of the band and a rare Ringo Starr drum solo, it\u2019s a lot to put in just over two minutes, but \u2018The End\u2019 still stands as an iconic Beatles composition. It\u2019s the perfect capper to the album\u2019s ending medley, giving each member a chance to shine on his own while still showing off the unity and chemistry that came so naturally to them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy) Sun 11 January 2026 10:06, UK On August 20th, 1969, the four members…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[169774,49,48,75,341,169775],"class_list":{"0":"post-402779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-abbey-road","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-the-end"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}