The Beatles' new song, "Now and Then," has debuted atop Billboard's Digital Song Sales and Rock Digital Song Sales charts.
It also sits at number-37 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.1 million audience impressions the day it was released, last Thursday, November 2nd. Across all formats (that play The Beatles), "Now and Then" was heard by 2.6 million people that same day, as well as being streamed 2.3-million times that day.
It's also making waves on Billboard's:
- Hot Rock Songs chart at seven
- Hot Rock & Alternative Songs - 11
- Hot 100’s Bubbling Under chart - five
- And it debuts at number-152 on the Global 200 with 6.4 million streams and 30,000 sold worldwide, all on November 2nd.
By comparison, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" -- the other two John Lennon demos that were finished in 1995 for the Anthology collection when they initially worked on "Now and Then" -- each debuted at number-five on Billboard's then-active Hot Singles Sales chart, which tracked physical singles before downloads became songs’ main sales currency in the 2000s. “Free as a Bird” began with 59,000 copies sold in its first week (December 30th, 1995) and “Real Love,” with 67,000 (March 23rd, 1996).
Meanwhile, over in the UK, “Now and Then,” is on target to top the British charts. It would be their 18th UK number-one and first since “The Ballad of John and Yoko” in 1969.