The Beatles Are Releasing a New Song, With the Help of AI

It’s been 54 years since the world has heard a new song by The Beatles featuring all 4 members, as “The End” from the 1969 album Abbey Road was their last. But soon, a new recording will be released, including vocals by John Lennon, who passed away in 1980, all thanks to artificial intelligence. Paul McCartney explained the process in an interview.

Paul McCartney announced “the final Beatles record.”

In a radio interview, Paul McCartney revealed The Beatles had one more gift to the fans of their music: a brand-new song. The most surprising part of the announcement, however, is the fact that they used artificial intelligence to create it.

The technology was used in order to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI,” McCartney explained.

Although AI is what made the completion of the song possible, McCartney admitted that the possibilities it creates can be daunting. “I’m not on the internet that much [but] people will say to me, ’Oh, yeah, there’s a track where John’s singing one of my songs,’ and it’s just AI, you know?” the singer said. “It’s kind of scary but exciting, because it’s the future. We’ll just have to see where that leads.”

John Lennon wrote the song and recorded the demo shortly before passing.

The track is from 1978 and although McCartney didn’t name the song, it is reported to be a Lennon composition called “Now and Then”. Before his passing in 1980, Lennon recorded the song on a boombox. It was then put into a cassette labeled “For Paul”, along with other tunes, and given to McCartney by Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono.

This release isn’t the only thing that’s viral right now though. Also making the headlines is a video David Beckham posted on social media that shows him kissing his daughter on the lips. Needless to say, it caused a stir online.