Ringo Starr is setting the record straight.
The Beatles drummer clarified that “the last Beatles record” − expected to be released later this year − does not use artificially created vocals of the late John Lennon, who died in 1980. The band would “never” use AI to fake Lennon’s voice, Starr said in an upcoming episode of the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast.
He added that vocals from Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison, recorded before he died in 2001, will also appear on the farewell record. “It’s the final track you’ll ever hear with the four lads. And that’s a fact,” Starr said.
Last month, Paul McCartney said AI was used to extract Lennon’s voice from an old demo to create the upcoming Beatles song.
McCartney, 81, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate The Beatles’ voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back.”
Jackson was “able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette and a piano,” McCartney told BBC Radio. “He could separate them with AI, he’d tell the machine ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar.’ “
“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on,” he added. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”
McCartney described AI technology as “kind of scary but exciting,” adding: “We will just have to see where that leads.”
Contributing: Sylvia Hui and Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
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