Paul McCartney clears up ‘confusion and speculation’ over Beatles AI reunion

Paul McCartney has cleared up “confusion and speculation” surrounding the forthcoming Beatles single, created with the assistance of AI.

Earlier this month, it was announced that a “final” song from the iconic band would be released, and would feature all four members, including vocals from McCartney and the late John Lennon.

To assemble the track, Lennon’s voice was reportedly being stripped from an old demo using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Lennon was shot and killed in 1980.

In a tweet shared on Thursday (22 June) McCartney, 81, wrote: “Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year.

“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it. Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings - a process which has gone on for years. We hope you love it as much as we do.”

The musician also promised that there would be “more news in due course”.

It has not yet been announced what the new song will be called. However, it has been widely suggested that the track could be “Now and Then”, a number first devised by Lennon in 1978 but never completed.

Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, provided McCartney with the unfinished demo in 1994. The song had been included on a tape marked “For Paul”.

McCartney is one of two surviving members of the Beatles, alongside drummer Ringo Starr. George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001 at the age of 58.

In 2021, Disney released the three-part series Get Back, which featured extensive never-before-seen footage of the Beatles captured during the Let it Be recording sessions in January 1969. The acclaimed documentary was directed by Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson.

Footage of the band was digitally enhanced using computer technology, while dialogue editor Emile de la Rey used was able to digitally “extricate” voices from existing recordings.

“[Jackson] was able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette,” McCartney explained. “We had John’s voice and a piano and he could separate them with AI. They tell the machine, ‘That’s the voice. This is a guitar. Lose the guitar.’

“So when we came to to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had. 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. So it gives you some sort of leeway,” the artist told BBC Radio 2.