The last ever singles from the Beatles comes 60+ years after their first and uses AI to retrieve long-lost vocals from John Lennon.

A new double-sided single is coming from The Beatles. Their last ever, new release pairs a never-before heard song with their first single ‘Love Me Do’. The two surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr recorded the song with the help of AI.

The single features a new version of The Beatles’ first ever release Love Me Do. The track has been mixed in stereo with Dolby Atmos for a new experience of the classic song, over 60 years since its release.

The single will be followed by new editions of their compilations ‘The Red Album’ and ‘The Blue Album’. 21 new tracks will be added between the two collection. The compilations will begin with Love Me Do and end with the new, final single Now and Then.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon said: “It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after all the years that Dad had been gone. It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George, and Ringo got to make together. It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be.”

The new release comes as musicians discuss how a future with AI can serve us. Whilst AI can be used to enhance music, such as in this case, there also concerns over the threat of AI replicating voices and overshadowing ‘human’ music.

Using AI to bring back John Lennon

The new track is titled ‘Now and Then’ and comes from an old demo written by John Lennon. Lennon recorded the track onto a boombox in 1978. Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, then sent the demo to the surviving Beatles in 1994, which at the time included George Harrison.

Despite their best efforts, they weren’t able to extract anything of good-enough quality from the demo and it was shelved. Thanks to recent advancements in AI, particularly the vocal isolating technology used in Peter Jackson’s docuseries Get Back, a new opportunity arose.

Jackson’s team were able to seperate Lennon’s vocals from the old recording. McCartney and Starr came back together to complete the track at long last with Lennon’s vocals finally useable. It’s now fully mixed, mastered, and releases today – November 1st.

McCartney said of finally having Lennon’s isolated vocals: “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. 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.”

Ringo Starr added: “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having [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 new single includes electric and acoustic guitar that was recorded by George Harrison in 1995. Starr added drums and McCartney recorded bass, guitar, and piano for the track. They matched Lennon’s original recording as much as possible, expanding with their own input.

Find the new release on your favourite streaming service and listen now.