Former member of the Beatles, Paul McCartney, revealed that a “last” song by the famous band, with the voice of the late member John Lennon, will be released this year thanks to the use of artificial intelligence technology.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4 broadcast on Tuesday, McCartney did not name the song but said the technology used “initial work by John and we’ve completed it”.
The 80-year-old singer-songwriter added, “It will be the last Beatles recording… We were able to take John’s voice and refine it through this artificial intelligence, so that we can then mix the recording,” adding, “We just finished it, and it will be released this year.”
The BBC said in an online article that the song is likely to be “Now And Then” which Lennon recorded demos in 1978, two years before his death in 1980.
McCartney said that director Peter Jackson used the technology in the 2021 documentary series known as “The Beatles… Come Back”, which shows footage of the band preparing for its 1970 album “Lt.B.”.
“He was able to get John’s voice from a small cassette tape,” McCartney said.
“There was John’s voice and a piano, and he was able to separate them using artificial intelligence,” he added.
The use of AI in music has sparked both excitement and fear of what the technology can achieve.
“It’s a very interesting thing… it’s something we’re all dealing with right now (…)” McCartney said, when asked about it.
“There’s a good side to it (this new technology) and then a scary side, and we’ll just have to see where that leads us.”
