‘Final Beatles record’ to drop later this year thanks to AI

A new Beatles song will be released later this year, featuring the voice of the late John Lennon thanks to cutting-edge technology. See how.

Paul McCartney has revealed he used artificial intelligence to reclaim John Lennon’s voice from an old demo tape to finish a long-lost Beatles song.

McCartney and New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson used the same AI-based “de-mixing” technology which isolated the voices for the Beatles members from old film stock to make the mesmerising Get Back doco series.

“He was able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette — it had John’s voice and a piano — he could separate them with AI,“ McCartney told the BBC.

“They tell the machine, ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar.’ And he did that. So it has great uses.”

Sir Paul McCartney has revealed how AI has helped him produce the “final Beatles record. Picture: Getty Images

McCartney did not reveal the title of the track he described as the “final Beatles record” but shared it would be released later this year.

Pundits have speculated the song is a 1978 Lennon composition called Now And Then.

John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr formed the band in Liverpool in 1960.

Recognised worldwide with iconic tracks like Yesterday, Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever and Let It Be going down in history.

The Beatles wave to fans assembled below their Plaza Hotel window after they arrived in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964 for a short tour of the United States. Picture: AP Photo

In the late 1960s, the band split up, with each artist carving out their own musical careers.

On December 8, 1980, Lennon – who was 40 at the time – was shot and killed by a fan at his residence in Manhattan, New York.

Harrison died on November 29 2001 of lung cancer, aged 58.

Both McCartney, 80, and Starr, 82, are still producing music.

Originally published as ‘Final Beatles record’ to drop later this year thanks to AI