Not All Beatles Would Receive Grammys If ‘Now and Then’ Wins

The Recording Academy made Beatlemaniacs happy on Nov. 8, when The Fab Four’s “Now and Then” was nominated for two awards – record of the year and best rock performance. But only the two living Beatles — Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr — are nominated for those awards. John Lennon, who died in 1980, and George Harrison, who died in 2001, are not.

Because Lennon and Harrison have each been dead for more than five years, they cannot meet the Grammy test for “new recordings” – “material that has been recorded within five years of the release date.” There is precedent for this. Nat “King” Cole was not nominated when daughter Natalie Cole won record of the year and best traditional pop performance in 1992 for their studio-created duet “Unforgettable.” He had died in 1965.

Lennon’s last Grammy nomination was at the 1985 ceremony – best spoken word or non-musical recording for Heart Play (Unfinished Dialogue), a collab with Yoko Ono. The album, which reached No. 94 on the Billboard 200, consisted of excerpts from a Playboy magazine interview done shortly before Lennon’s death.

Harrison’s last Grammy nominations were at the 2004 ceremony, where Brainwashed, his posthumously released 12th and final studio album, was nominated for best pop vocal album. Two tracks from the album were also honored. “Marwa Blues” won best pop instrumental performance, while “Any Road” was nominated for best male pop vocal performance.

McCartney co-produced “Now and Then” with Giles Martin, the son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin, who produced the band’s four previous record of the year nominees, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be.” Martin also produced McCartney’s one post-Beatles record of the year nominee, “Ebony and Ivory,” a 1982 collab with Stevie Wonder.

Both McCartney and Giles Martin are nominated for record of the year as producers of the single, as are eight engineer/mixers and a mastering engineer – but not John and George.

Bonus factoid: If “Now and Then” wins record of the year, McCartney will complete his sweep of the Big Four awards, though it will have taken him longer to do so than any other act in Grammy history. He won best new artist in 1965 (with The Beatles), song of the year in 1967 for “Michelle” (in tandem with Lennon) and album of the year in 1968 for The Beatles’ landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.