In order to explain how a true Beatles song was produced and released in 2023, we must go back to 1994. John Lennon was killed in 1980. But, fourteen years later, his wife, Yoko Ono, found tapes of unreleased and unfinished songs that Lennon had been working on. Ono gave these tapes to Paul McCartney, who had asked the other remaining members to help finish the songs. 

There were three previously unreleased demos that Lennon had written and recorded in 1977: “Real Love,” “Free as a Bird,” and “Now and Then.” In 1995, The Beatles released “The Anthology Sessions,” which included more music and recording session outtakes, a documentary, and interviews with the three remaining members. With the three unreleased songs that Lennon had recorded, the three bandmates attempted to finish the lyrics and add Starr’s drumming, McCartney’s bass, and Harrison’s Guitar. “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” were released in 1995 with the Anthology Albums; however, “Now and Then” had piano parts and vocals that were muffled with bad sound quality.

 But in 2022, during the production of the documentary “Get Back,” McCartney and Starr were introduced to AI technology that could isolate specific sounds in recorded songs. They used this technology to separate the piano and vocals in the “Now and Then” recording and clean up the background sounds, explaining why they could not release the finished song until 2023. After they cleaned up the sound of the recording, McCartney and Starr used the guitar instrumental that the late George Harrison had recorded back in 1994 and added new bass and drums to finish the song. 

Before he died, Lennon had written “For Paul” on the cassette of the “Now and Then” demo, making it incredibly special for McCartney to work on, given the significance of the song’s lyrics. Lennon sings, “It’s all because of you, and if I make it through, it’s all because of you. And now and then, if we must start again, well, we will know for sure that I will love you. Now and then, I miss you.” These lyrics are especially fitting for their last song. 

Many Beatles fans who weren’t alive during the 60s, or even for the anthology albums released in the 90s, position themselves as people who missed out on the height and excitement of the Beatles. But, now, they are included in the “Now and Then” of The Beatles’ career. In other words, they get to participate in the excitement of having a new Beatles song released now, in their lifetime, written then. 

• Paul McCartney 
• Elton John
• Joan Jett
• P!NK
• Brandi Carlile
• Stevie Nicks
• Cyndi Lauper
• Annie Lennox
• Steven Tyler
• Steve Perry
• John Fogerty
• Miley Cyrus

These artists she listed as collaborators with her album have many histories with collaborations with modern day artists. 

Paul McCartney worked with Kanye West and Rihanna in 2015 for their song “FourFiveSeconds,” which is McCartney’s most streamed song on Spotify. He has also worked with Hollywood Vampires, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, etc. Back in the 80s and 90s, he worked with Stevie Wonder, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Micheal Jackson, Billy Preston and so many more classic artists who have shaped the way rock music is heard and thought of today. Paul McCartney is perhaps one of the most influential artists because of his creation of The Beatles, Wings, and his amazing solo career, where he has written/co-written at least 500 songs. 

Elton John has worked with pop artists of his generation, such as Britney Spears, Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran.  He has also worked with Stevie Wonder, Ozzy Osbourne, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin and Kiki Dee in the iconic “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Elton John has also worked with many artists from Dolly Parton’s list, including Stevie Nicks. 

Joan Jett is an iconic rockstar from the 70s, who continues to collaborate with the rockstars of this generation, including Dolly Parton’s Goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, who will also be in the album.

Everyone  else on this list has had incredible success and collaborations, and people are eagerly awaiting to see what they will do on this album. 

There are many songs that will be covered on the album that people are really excited to hear her sing, including, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones and “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin. With Dolly Parton’s career originating from country music, it is really exciting to see how her music has changed and been shaped by the rock music and all the stars she will be working with.

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” 

Following this press release, Ye lost his billionaire status, according to Forbes. Further, Adidas themselves expect a net loss of $246 million in 2022, and their shares have already been down by 8%. This cut tie was extremely important because it highlights how issues of antisemitism are more important than the loss of money that Adidas is now suffering. Adidas made an active choice to speak out against Ye’s horrible actions, instead of remaining complacent and prioritizing the profit that Yeezy brings to the company. In fact, following Adidas’s cut from Ye on Oct. 26, TJ Maxx, Footlocker and Gap, which were stores that carried Ye Products, have also put out statements saying that they were no longer going to sell any products associated with Ye. Additionally on Oct. 26, Ye attempted to enter Skechers Headquarters to pitch Yeezy for a new brand deal. He was escorted out of the building, and Skechers announced that they have no intention of working with him. 

In mid-October, Ye stated in a podcast, “The thing about it being Adidas is like, I can say antisemitic shit and they can’t drop me … I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me. Now what?” This statement makes Adidas’ decision so much more impactful, because the more that celebrities think they can get away with being bad and promoting hate, the more they will do it. This also places an important burden on us as consumers to collectively stop listening to Ye’s music, so that he loses money and fame in the place that got him started. 

The consequences of Ye’s actions were extreme and dangerous. Ye, as a huge figure in popular culture, spewing antisemitic hate speech has been an inspiration for neo-Nazis now. There was a recent incident on a Los Angeles Freeway involving targeting Jewish individuals with one sign even saying, “Kanye was right about the Jews.” Thus, the response by numerous brands and social media sites to condemn his actions is particularly important  — but not enough. There must be more work done to prevent the mobilization of hate groups motivated by Ye’s speeches, tweets and Instagram posts. Furthermore, I think that the reason Ye was able to have such a large impact was because of the platforms that his viewers created for him. We idolize celebrities, talented or not, that do not deserve consistent praise. People are willing to put their ideology behind to support someone that makes good music, which just gives them the power to act in bad ways without consequence. These platforms that we give them give celebrities the opportunity to act politically. Some people use that influence to promote change, but Ye’s actions proves how dangerous it is to give strangers a way to speak to an entire world of eager consumers. 

Beyond the series itself, the response to it was shocking. Dahmer’s victim was a black gay man. Reactions from people on social media and speaking on podcasts, mostly straight white women, claimed that the show was not violent enough and  they had no problem watching the graphic murders. They had no stake in the murders because it was not happening to people like them. They were able to watch this show without fear because Dahmer would have never victimized them. People are constantly watching the horrors that Black people face completely unphased because it is not happening to them, so they are not getting retraumatized by it the way that Black people are. “‘Dahmer”’ isn’t the only problem, there are at least 134 podcasts on Apple Music, Spotify and Soundcloud about true crime in the US. The entertainment aspect that people associate with murder causes desensitization of brutality in a way that absolutely can be avoided. 

A lot of people justify making media about real serial killers by saying that it (1) raises awareness and (2) allows us to understand the mind of a killer. I, however, justify the extent to which an average American needs to do either of those things. It is not the role of the citizen to understand the way killers think, that is what we have psychologists and detectives for. Further, there is not any education happening when people are only learning about the victims in relation to Dahmer and only 2% of people who watched the show actually researched the victims. 

Lastly, it is important to acknowledge the effects the show had on the victims of the families. The mother of one of Dahmer’s victims has spoken out against the series saying that “it didn’t happen that way.” Despite the outcry from the families of victims, the directors and writers of the show felt no need to consult families because these cases are public records. Rita Isbell, a sister of one of the victims has made a true claim about how the show is using murder as a way of making money, claiming “It’s sad that they’re just making money off of this tragedy.” I imagine creators in Hollywood sitting in a room watching the news thinking about how much money each story is going to make them. The profit outcomes that come from horrific events change the way people view such events. 

Dahmer is no longer alive, but he has been immortalized through the 21+ pieces of media created about him. This is exactly what he wanted, and by making movies, books and shows we are displaying his name and making it so that everyone knows his name. We should stop giving terrible people the power and attention that they killed for.

The movie was meant to be dramatic, but one aspect of Tom Hanks’ character caused many to not be able to take it seriously. Most viewers had a hard time with his character’s historically inaccurate Dutch accent. Hanks read that Parker was the name Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk gave to himself after illegally immigrating to the US and just ran with it. Parker did not want people to know that he was not born in the United States. After joining the military and spending most of his life in the United States, he did not keep a Dutch accent for his time as Elvis’s manager. After watching many interviews that the actual Colonel gave, it is clear that the accent portrayed in the movie really did not have a reason to be there. 

The star of the show, Austin Butler really was just that: a star. He played Elvis Presley to a tee, mirroring his every voice crack, hand gesture and mannerism. Butler certainly had big shoes to fill, and he knew that. As many people impersonate him for a living, along with his references in the media, it is hard to not know Elvis. “Elvis” was Butler’s big break after having more minimal roles in television shows. Knowing  what being cast as Elvis meant for his career, he went above and beyond in preparation to ensure he did The King justice. 

Austin Butler tells us in a Press Conference with the Cannes Film Festival how he transformed from a former child actor to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. 

Butler explains how in becoming Elvis, he had to isolate for two years during the filming of the movie. Butler watched every single public and archived interview and all videos and recordings of Elvis’ singing and dancing. But that wasn’t enough. In order to do Elvis justice, he needed to get every movement right. Butler gave the example of how he prepared for “Hound Dog,” one of Elvis’s most famous songs. “I would watch Milton Berle ‘Hound Dog,’ I watched one second of this clip over and over and over, looking at what his eyes were doing and the angle of his head, what his hand was doing and try to find it exactly and practice that until it was in my marrow,” Butler explained. 

In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Austin Butler showed off his knowledge of Elvis in how easy it is for him to change into his voice, even with the subtle differences of each decade of his fame. Butler explains that there are nuances in how Elvis’ voice changes from merely aging (Elvis’ first live performance at the Louisiana Hayride was at just 19 years old) and from the constant use of his voice. 

Unlike many other musical biopics, such as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” it was Austin Butler’s voice we heard singing. Later in the film there was some voice mixing, but most of the film featured Butler belting. This is something fascinating because despite Elvis having such a unique singing style, Butler was able to match it almost perfectly. 

The praise received not only by fans but also by Presley’s family is a testament to the incredible work that Butler put into the movie. With award season approaching, Butler’s Elvis may reach new levels of recognition by the higher strands of Hollywood. .