The Beatles have once again made history, earning their eighth competitive Grammy Award with the help of artificial intelligence. Their 2023 song, “Now and Then,” became the first track knowingly crafted with AI assistance to receive a Grammy nomination, according to Billboard. On Sunday, the track triumphed in the Best Rock Performance category, surpassing notable competitors such as Green Day, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Idles, and St. Vincent.
The origins of “Now and Then” trace back to a demo recorded by John Lennon in the late 1970s. In the mid-1990s, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison attempted to develop the song for The Beatles Anthology project but were ultimately hindered by technological limitations. At the time, separating Lennon’s vocals from the lo-fi demo’s piano proved impossible, leading to the track being shelved.
Fast forward to 2021, McCartney and Starr revived the project with the assistance of filmmaker Peter Jackson and his sound engineering team. They employed advanced machine-learning techniques to isolate and enhance Lennon’s original vocal recording, making it possible to finalize the song while maintaining its authenticity. Unlike generative AI, which can fabricate entirely new music in an artist’s style, this process was purely restorative, extracting and refining pre-existing elements.
However, the involvement of AI sparked some controversy and misunderstandings. Many speculated that artificial intelligence had synthetically recreated Lennon’s voice. Addressing these concerns, McCartney clarified in 2023: “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.”
With this landmark Grammy win, The Beatles continue to prove their enduring legacy, not only as pioneers of music but also as innovators embracing modern technology to preserve their timeless sound.
