The Origins of The Anthology Project
The Beatles Anthology is a multimedia project that chronicles The Beatles’ recording history. At its core is a series of compilation albums consisting of rare and previously unheard recordings from across the band’s career — including music from The Quarrymen, the Decca Records audition tapes, and outtakes and demos from the recording sessions for their studio albums. Alongside these albums came an expansive documentary series and an accompanying book.
For almost thirty years, Beatles fans have enjoyed three volumes of albums: Anthology 1, 2, and 3 covering the band’s early, middle, and late years respectively. Now, a new release is on the horizon: Anthology 4. Let’s take a look at the history of this ambitious project, what it represents, and what the upcoming fourth instalment adds to the collection.
Anthology 1
- Release date: 21 November 1995
- Recording period covered: 1958-1964
- Lead single: “Free As A Bird”
The first instalment explores the Beatles’ beginnings as The Quarrymen, their tenure in Hamburg, and their eventual rise to fame in the early 1960s. It covers recordings by The Quarrymen in 1958, The Beatles’ cover of “My Bonnie” with Tony Sheridan that brought them to the attention of Brian Epstein, highlights from their 1962 Decca audition (where they were famously rejected), live performances capturing the excitement of Beatlemania, and demos from Beatles For Sale. Uniquely, Anthology 1 is the only Beatles release to include former members Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe.
Anthology 2
- Release date: 18 March 1996
- Recording period covered: 1965–1968
- Lead single: “Real Love”
Anthology 2 chronicles the band’s middle period, where The Beatles broadened their sound with folk and psychedelic influences. It features early versions of songs from Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The collection showcases rare recordings, alternate takes, and live performances spanning from the 1965 Help! sessions up to the material recorded just before the band’s journey to India in February 1968.
Anthology 3
- Release date: 28 October 1996
- Recording period covered: 1968-1970
Unlike the first two volumes, Anthology 3 did not feature a “new Beatles” track based on a Lennon demo. The planned inclusion of “Now and Then” was ultimately shelved due to technological limitations, and was instead replaced by “A Beginning”, a short orchestral piece originally intended as the introduction to “Don’t Pass Me By”. The album also included demos from The White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Road sessions, documenting the band’s final years together.
Anthology 4
Set for release on 21 November 2025, Anthology 4 marks the fourth instalment in The Beatles’ celebrated series of outtakes, rarities, and live performances. Issued to coincide with the 30th-anniversary reissue of The Beatles Anthology television series, the album offers 13 previously unreleased recordings, including alternate versions of “Tell Me Why,” “If I Fell,” “Matchbox,” “Every Little Thing,” “I Need You,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “In My Life,” “Nowhere Man,” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” “All You Need Is Love,” “The Fool on the Hill,” “I Am the Walrus,” and “Hey Bulldog.”
The release also features newly remixed editions of the 1990s reunion songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” with liner notes by Beatles historian Kevin Howlett. The cover artwork, designed by longtime collaborator Klaus Voormann, presents a chronological collage of Beatles posters, photographs, and album imagery, visually tying the collection to the band’s remarkable history.
The “New” Beatles Songs
One of the most significant elements of the The Beatles Anthology project was the inclusion of two previously unreleased songs, “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love.” The surviving Beatles wished to create new material together, but only wanted to do so if it was possible for John Lennon to, in some way, be part of it.
Paul McCartney therefore asked Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, if she had any unreleased recordings. They were in luck, as Ono provided a cassette of home demos composed and recorded by Lennon in the late 1970s, which included “Free As a Bird,” “Real Love,” and “Now and Then.”
While the first two songs were completed and released in 1995 and 1996, “Now and Then” remained unfinished for decades. It was not until 2023, with the aid of advanced audio technology capable of isolating Lennon’s vocals, that the track was finally completed and released. Anthology 4 will include “Now and Then,” as well as brand-new remixes of “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love.”
The Beatles Anthology project preserves the band’s history by offering listeners a new perspective with alternative versions of songs they’ve known and loved for years, along with the excitement of material that was new at the time like “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love.” With Anthology 4 arriving thirty years later, a new generation of fans can once again rediscover the band’s story in a fresh and meaningful way.
The Documentary Series
Coinciding with the release of Anthology 1 was The Beatles Anthology documentary series. Like the Anthology book, the series presents The Beatles’ story in their own words, told entirely through first-person accounts without any external narration. The narrative unfolds through voice-over recordings from all four Beatles, alongside commentary from key figures such as producer George Martin and road manager Neil Aspinall.
Originally broadcast as a six-part series on ABC in 1995 (later expanded to eight episodes for home video), the documentary covers the band’s complete journey: from Liverpool and Hamburg to the heights of Beatlemania, the U.S. invasion, the countercultural revolution of the 1960s, and their eventual breakup. Its production was a massive undertaking, encompassing over 5,000 hours of planning and editing. The effort paid off, with Part 1 of the series drawing an average of 27.3 million viewers in the United States alone.
Now, The Beatles Anthology returns as a restored and remastered version featuring a brand-new ninth episode (number nine, number nine…). This new episode will introduce unseen behind-the-scenes footage from 1994–1995, featuring Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr reflecting on their shared legacy while working on the original Anthology project.
The restoration has been overseen by Apple Corps’ production team in collaboration with Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films and Park Road Post, with Giles Martin providing newly mixed audio for much of the featured music — bringing the story of The Beatles Anthology vividly into the present day. The series will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning 26 November 2025.
The Book
In October 2000, The Beatles Anthology book was released, serving as the definitive companion to the documentary and album series. The large-format hardback volume compiles extensive interviews with all four Beatles, offering vivid and honest accounts of their story, along with contributions from those who worked closely with them. Because of these never-before-heard accounts, the book was dubbed “the only autobiography of The Beatles” upon its publication.
Now, twenty-five years later, The Beatles Anthology returns in a 25th Anniversary Edition, to be released on 14 October 2025 by Apple Corps Ltd. and Chronicle Books. The brand-new edition will feature more than 1,300 photographs, documents, artworks, and pieces of memorabilia from the band’s archives — offering both longtime fans and new readers an opportunity to experience The Beatles Anthology anew.
The Beatles Anthology complete collection and Anthology 4 will be available to purchase at The Beatles Story Fab4 Store in November! The Anthology book will be available to buy from 23rd October.
The Beatles Story and 'Free As A Bird'
Did you know that The Beatles Story was heavily involved in the filming of the music video for "Free As A Bird", The Beatles' comeback single on Anthology 1? Learn all about the incredible story in our blog!