Ringo Starr: He defends himself against “terrible rumors”

There is a fuss about the final Beatles song “Now and Then”, which was released at the beginning of November: Drummer Ringo Starr (83) defends himself against “terrible rumors” that the voice of John Lennon (1940-1980) was used for the song by artificial intelligence had been replicated.

“We had a great play”

The song is definitely the last of the legendary British band that made music history in the 1960s. More than 50 years after the dissolution of the Beatles, more than 40 years after the death of John Lennon and more than 20 years after the death of George Harrison (1943-2001), the two surviving members Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney (81) worked on the sensation. In an interview with AARP magazine, Starr now emphasizes that they did not recreate John Lennon’s voice using AI. He first explained how the other Beatles song came about in the first place: “Last year Paul called and said, ‘Do you remember John’s unfinished song ‘Now and Then’? Why don’t we work on it?” he explained. “He sent it to me and I played drums and sang. We had a great piece with John singing and playing piano and George playing rhythm guitar.”

But the music that was handed down was incomplete. The song was originally composed by Lennon in the late 1970s. In 1979, the legendary musician recorded an unfinished version on his grand piano in his New York apartment. Large parts of the verses were missing and the quality of the original track on a music cassette was poor. That’s why initial efforts to publish the song posthumously in the 90s failed. Only now has it been possible to eliminate the loud humming using AI. “When we came to make what will be the Beatles’ final record, it was a demo that John had [und] “We were able to take John’s voice and clean it up through this AI,” Paul McCartney told BBC 4 Radio in June. “Then we can mix the record as normal. So it gives you some leeway.”

Rumors about AI voice “nonsense”

However, many people apparently misunderstood how artificial intelligence was used in the production of the track. “There were terrible rumors that it wasn’t John, it was the AI, whatever nonsense people said,” explained Ringo Starr, emphasizing: “Paul and I wouldn’t have done that. It’s a beautiful song and a nice opportunity to finally close this door.”

Just a few days after the release of “Now and Then”, the record company Universal also announced that it would release further revised Beatles works: “1962-1966 (The Red Album)” and “1967-1970 (The Blue Album)” “. The editions will also include the song “Now and Then” and a total of 21 additional songs that were not originally heard on the best-of albums.