Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney plans to release a composition by his former bandmate John Lennon as the “last” Beatles song later this year. The song was completed with the help of artificial intelligence.
Paul McCartney has announced a “final” Beatles song completed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). The song will be released this year, the ex-Beatle, who turns 81 on Sunday, told BBC Radio 4 in an interview.
Thanks to AI, it was possible to complete an old demo recording by John Lennon, who died in 1980. McCartney reported that Lennon’s voice could be filtered out cleanly from the recording. “You tell the machine, ‘That’s the voice. That’s a guitar. Put the guitar away.'” After that, Lennon’s voice and instruments could have been mixed into a new song as normal.
McCartney did not name the song, but the BBC suspects it is Lennon’s 1978 composition “Now and Then”.
Song probably comes from a cassette of Lennon
According to the BBC, the tape with the song was presented to McCartney by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono in 1994, and Lennon compiled the cassette along with other songs for McCartney shortly before his death.
Two of the songs on this cassette – “Free as a bird” and “Real love” – had previously been released in the 1990s. A revival of “Now and then” is said to have failed due to the veto of ex-Beatles guitarist George Harrison.
The Beatles are considered the most successful band in music history. The four musicians from the English port city of Liverpool recorded countless hits that are still world-famous today. In 1970 the band broke up. Of the four previous members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are still alive.
