"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 written by Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 (credited to Lennon–McCartney) that originally appeared on The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' 20th and last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet. "The Long and Winding Road" was listed with "For You Blue" as a double-sided hit when the single hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in 1970.

While the released version of the song was very successful, the post-production modifications to the song by producer Phil Spector

Phil Spector

Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

 angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court for breaking up The Beatles as a legal entity

The Beatles' breakup

The Beatles' break-up describes the events related to the break-up of The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential musical groups in history. The break-up has become almost as much of a legend as the band itself or the music they created while together...

, McCartney cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so.