In 1965, The Beatles earned their first Grammy nomination for Record of the Year with their hit “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” Now, 60 years later, the Fab Four have once again secured a nomination in the same category, this time for their historic comeback-and-farewell single from last year, “Now and Then.”
That’s right — alongside releases by the likes of Beyoncé, Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, and more, The Beatles and their “last song” have been nominated for Record of the Year at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, which will take place on February 2nd, 2025. It was also nominated for Best Rock Performance.
With these nods, the band now has a career total of 25 competitive Grammy nominations. If they take home the award for Record of the Year, it’ll not only bump up their total number of competitive Grammy wins to eight, but it will (amazingly) mark the very first time they actually win in that category. “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was nominated for it in 1965, “Hey Jude” in 1969, and “Let It Be” in 1971, but none of those three songs won the award.
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Beyond competitive categories, The Beatles have received many special honors from the Recording Academy, including a lifetime achievement award, a Grammy Trustees award, and several Grammy Hall of Fame recognitions, as well as awards in a number of technical or historical categories.
But the nomination of “Now and Then” is a unique occurrence in the band’s history. Not only is the song itself a historic technological feat — incorporating decades-old recordings of late members John Lennon and George Harrison, augmented by AI technology — but now, it’s going toe-to-toe with songs released by some of today’s most popular artists.
In the Record of the Year category, “Now and Then” is going up against “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Texas Hold ‘Em” by Beyoncé, “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “360” by Charli XCX, “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish, and “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift and Post Malone. The Beatles may be one of the great musical acts of all time, but considering that the nomination arrives in a post-“Eras Tour,” post-Kendrick vs Drake feud, post-brat summer world, it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out.
In the meantime, stay up to date with all things Grammys by checking out the full list of this year’s nominees.
For more on “Now and Then,” revisit Consequence’s write-up from when it first arrived, celebrating the single as our Song of the Week.
