News
The Last Beatles Song is the First AI-Assisted Grammy Nominee
- By John K. Waters
- 11/12/2024
The Beatles’ song "Now and Then" has made history as the first AI-assisted song to be nominated for a Grammy Award. Released in November 2023, the track was completed using AI-powered stem separation technology, which helped clean up and isolate John Lennon's original vocals from a low-fidelity demo recorded decades earlier. This process allowed the band to enhance Lennon's vocal track without generating or "deepfaking" his voice.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison had previously worked on the track in the 1990s, but technical limitations prevented them from finishing it until this new technology became available. With the enhanced quality of Lennon’s vocals, McCartney and Starr were able to complete the song, adding their instrumental and vocal parts to produce the final version.
The song received nominations in the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance categories for the 2025 Grammy Awards.
Stem separation is a type of audio processing tech that uses learning (ML) and advanced algorithms to isolates individual elements, or "stems," from a single mixed audio track. This means it can separate vocals, instruments, and other sounds from a mono or stereo recording, creating isolated audio tracks that can be manipulated independently.
This nomination reflects a milestone in the use of AI in music production and comes amid ongoing debates over AI’s role and eligibility in the music industry. Although the use of AI has been contentious, the Recording Academy recently held discussions to consider its role in Grammy submissions, particularly around AI-generated and AI-assisted music.
Previously, stem separation technology was used in SZA’s SOS album, which received Grammy nominations, though no individual track featuring AI stem separation was nominated. The Beatles’ "Now and Then," which is being called "the last Beatles song" was the first AI-assisted song to receive a nomination in a major category.
The Beatles song was completed using ML-assisted techniques developed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's team at WingNut Films. This software was created for Jackson’s Get Back documentary to clean up and isolate audio from archival Beatles recordings. The technology, sometimes referred to as MAL (Machine-Assisted Learning),audio source separation, or simply demixing, was originally created for the Get Back documentary, which Jackson directed.
This recording, as well as two other unfinished Beatles songs, "Free as A Bird" and "Real Love," was given to Lennon’s three surviving bandmates in the ‘90s with the hopes of including it in "The Beatles Anthology" project, but the tech then available wasn't up to the task. After Lennon’s death, his wife, Yoko Ono, shared the recording with the remaining members of the band.
About the Author
John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS. He can be reached at jwaters@converge360.com.