'New' Beatles record coming out next week
Former Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr revealed on Thursday that they will be releasing a "new" Beatles record, created with the help of artificial intelligence. "Now And Then", first written and sung by ex-Beatle John Lennon and developed by the rest of the band, has now been finally finished by McCartney and Starr -- and AI -- decades after its original recording. McCartney, 81, announced its imminent release in June, in what has been dubbed in a promotional trailer "the last Beatles song". The track will be unveiled at 1300 GMT (2100 HKT) on November 2 by Apple, Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), with a music video debuting the following day. A 12-minute documentary written and directed by Oliver Murray -- best known for a 2022 biopic mini-series on The Rolling Stones -- will premiere on YouTube the evening, before featuring commentary from McCartney and Starr. "Now And Then" was recorded by Lennon in the late 1970s at his home in New York's Dakota Building, and also features piano music. Working with Peter Jackson, the film director behind the 2021 documentary series "The Beatles: Get Back", AI was used to separate Lennon's voice from the piano chords. "There it was, John's voice, crystal clear," McCartney said, in comments published alongside the announcement of the release date. "It's quite emotional and we all play on it, it's a genuine Beatles recording," he added. "In 2023, to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven't heard, I think it's an exciting thing." McCartney and Starr finished the song last year, including fellow ex-Beatle George Harrison's electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995. Recording at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, they also added Starr's drum part alongside bass, piano, a slide guitar solo by McCartney -- inspired by Harrison -- and more backing vocals. Starr added the process "was the closest we'll ever come to having him (Lennon) back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us. "It was like John was there, you know. It's far out." The Beatles -- Lennon, McCartney, Starr and Harrison -- split in 1970, with each going on to have solo careers, but they never reunited. Lennon was shot dead in New York in 1980 aged 40 while Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001, aged 58. (AFP)