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Beatles win Grammy for 'Now and Then' with help of artificial intelligence

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Published  February 3, 2025 2:40pm CST
Entertainment
FOX TV Digital Team

How the Grammy Awards voting process works

Here's how the voting process works for the Grammy Awards, which involves Recording Academy members made up of producers, musicians, songwriters and engineers.

The Brief

    • The Beatles won Best Rock Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards for "Now and Then."
    • The song, built from a 1970s John Lennon demo, was completed using AI technology to isolate his vocals.
    • This marks the eighth competitive Grammy win for the band and the first Grammy for a song using AI assistance.

LOS ANGELES - The Beatles have won their eighth competitive Grammy Award, thanks in part to advancements in artificial intelligence. Their 2023 track "Now and Then" was awarded Best Rock Performance at the 2024 Grammys, beating out Green Day, Pearl Jam, The Black Keys, Idles, and St. Vincent.

The win marks a historic moment in music history, as "Now and Then" is believed to be the first Grammy-winning song knowingly created with AI assistance, according to Billboard.

Sean Ono Lennon accepted the award on behalf of The Beatles, honoring his father’s legacy during the Grammy ceremony.

How AI helped complete the song

The backstory:

The origins of "Now and Then" date back to the late 1970s, when John Lennon recorded a rough demo at his New York apartment. In the mid-1990s, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison attempted to complete the song for The Beatles Anthology project, but technological limitations prevented them from separating Lennon's vocals from the lo-fi piano track.

Sean Ono Lennon accepts the Best Rock Performance award on behalf of The Beatles for "Now and Then" onstage during the 67th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Fast-forward to 2021, and filmmaker Peter Jackson—known for "The Beatles: Get Back"—developed machine-learning technology capable of isolating and enhancing Lennon's voice. This allowed McCartney and Starr to finally finish the track, adding fresh instrumentals and harmonies to create what is now considered The Beatles' "final song."

Did AI create the song? McCartney clarifies its role

What they're saying:

When "Now and Then" was released in November 2023, some fans speculated that AI was used to recreate Lennon's voice. However, Paul McCartney quickly addressed the controversy, explaining that AI was only used to "clean up" existing recordings, not generate artificial vocals.

"To be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it," McCartney said in 2023. "We cleaned up some existing recordings—a process which has gone on for years."

How does this win compare to The Beatles' Grammy history?

By the numbers:

  • The Beatles won their first Grammy in 1965 for "A Hard Day’s Night."
  • The band has now won eight competitive Grammy Awards, plus four lifetime achievement honors.
  • Their last competitive win was in 1997 for "Free as a Bird."

The Source: This article is based on reporting from the Associated Press and Billboard.

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