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The Beatles have become the first artists to gain a Grammy nomination for a song created with the assistance of AI.
The English rock band, which soared to stardom in the 60s, has seen its newest release, Now and Then, be nominated for ‘Record Of The Year’ for the 2025 GRAMMYs.
When it first became clear that AI would be used to help bring out a song by the band, there was an uproar as some fans wrongly assumed the track would feature a deepfake of the late John Lennon.
That wasn’t the case though, as a form of AI known as ‘stem separation’ was used to help clean up a low-fidelity demo which was recorded almost 60 years ago.
The song was written and sung by John Lennon in the late 1970s, but while other singles by the songwriter have been worked on and completed by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, this track was shelved.
The singer’s vocals and piano work couldn’t be separated, so new parts couldn’t be added.
Lennon’s voice able to be extracted through AI, leading to The Beatles Grammy nomination
It was more than a quarter of a century later when AI software was used to make the release of Now and Then possible. Once released, the song became the band’s first Number One in 54 years.
Paul McCartney told BBC Radio 4 that AI had been used to ‘extricate’ Lennon’s voice and he said: “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI.
“Then we can mix the record, as you would normally do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”
The same software was used for a documentary by Peter Jackson, with the original audio from Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 footage of The Beatles recording their final album able to be isolated and made clearer.
This nomination comes as the rise of AI continues, with companies worldwide starting to work with AI music companies for a variety of reasons. At the end of October, Universal Music announced a strategic collaboration with the AI music company KLAY Vision Inc.
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
