The Beatles in America (1966) – "More popular than Jesus"

On 13 June 2023, Sir Paul McCartney told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had used AI technology to "extricate" John Lennon's voice from an old demo in order to create what he referred to as "the final Beatles record". Months later, on 26 October, it was announced that the mystery track is a complete version of Now And Then, a demo composed and recorded by John Lennon in 1978 (two years before his death), and finally completed after four decades and featuring all four Beatles. Now and Then will be released on 2 November 2023.

This exclusive ITN News documentary film follows The Beatles – Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – on their tour of America in 1966, a tour plagued by the controversy which followed Lennon's comments that the band were 'more popular than Jesus Christ'. The report includes rare footage of Lennon defending his comments and offering an apology. It was after this US tour that the band decided to stop playing live shows, their last live gig taking place on 29 August 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California.

#TheBeatles #JohnLennon #PaulMcCartney #GeorgeHarrison #RingoStarr #BiggerThanJesus #Beatles #NowAndThen #LastBeatlesSong

To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below:

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/videos/...

To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below:

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage...

🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) -    / @itnarchive  
🎥 Follow us on Twitter -   / itnarchive  
🎥 Like us on Facebook -   / itnarchiveitnp  
🎥 Check out our TikTok -   / itnarchive1955