Looking Back at the Deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison as Beatles Release Their Final Song

The Beatles released their long-awaited final song, "Now and Then," this week, more than 50 years after their last album Let It Be.

John Lennon started working on "Now and Then" in the late '70s. At that point, it was an unfinished track featuring his piano and vocals, and it remained in that state at the time of his fatal 1980 shooting. In 1994, Yoko Ono Lennon found the demo and gave the recording to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

The trio was determined to finish the song — recording new parts on drums, guitars and bass — but struggled to produce the track with Lennon's existing audio. And in 2001, Harrison died, "which kind of took the wind out of our sails," McCartney said in the 12-minute documentary that accompanied the song. "It took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment to tackle 'Now and Then' again."

At another point in the doc, McCartney says, "how lucky was I to have those men in my life and to work with those men so intimately and to come up with such a body of music." As the world is celebrating that bond — both through the song and through Peter Jackson's new video, which reunites the Fab Four virtually — we look back at the tragic deaths that initially severed it.

John Lennon's Death

On December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot in the archway of the Dakota, his apartment building in New York City, by Beatles fan Mark David Chapman. Chapman was believed to be motivated by outrage at Lennon's fame, wealth and his comment that the band was "more popular than Jesus."

The killer shot Lennon as he was entering his building that night with Yoko Ono. Lennon was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. He was 40 years old. Following his death, at least three Beatles fans died by suicide.

Starr was in the Bahamas at the time and received the news via a phone call from his stepchildren. He flew to New York City to console Ono and played with Lennon's son, Sean, to distract him.

"After all we went through together, I had and still have great love and respect for him. I am shocked and stunned. To rob a life is the ultimate robbery in life," George Harrison wrote in a statement at the time. "The perpetual encroachment on other people's space is taken to the limit with the use of a gun. It is an outrage that people can take other people's lives when they obviously haven't got their own lives in order." He released a tribute song "All Those Years Ago," featuring Starr and McCartney, the following year.

Two years following the murder, Paul McCartney said in an interview, "How did I feel? I can't remember. I can't express it. I can't believe it. It was crazy. It was anger. It was fear. It was madness. It was the world coming to an end. And it was, 'Will it happen to me next?' I just felt everything. I still can't put into words. Shocking. And I ended up saying, 'It's a drag,' and that doesn't really sum it up."

George Harrison's Death

In 1997, Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer, which he reasoned was "purely from smoking." He was treated with radiotherapy and assumed to be in recovery. Two years later, Harrison and his wife were the victims of a home invasion and knife attack. Harrison was hospitalized with more than 40 stab wounds and a punctured lung, which was removed.

Then, the cancer came back. In 2001, Harrison had a cancerous growth removed from one of his lungs before being treated for a brain tumor. Later that year, he started radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer that spread to his brain. Harrison died soon after at 58 years old.

Upon Harrison's death, McCartney said, "He was a lovely guy and a very brave man and had a wonderful sense of humor. He is really just my baby brother. We were school friends together, you know. And we joined the Beatles together and went through all of that together so … it's a very sad day."

"I was lucky enough to see him a couple of weeks ago and he was still laughing and joking," he continued. "His music will live on forever. He was a very strong, loving man. But he didn't suffer fools gladly."

Starr added, "George was a best friend of mine. I loved him very much and I will miss him greatly … We will miss George for his sense of love, his sense of music and his sense of laughter."