- Three-time NBA champion Green retires
- MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- S.Sudan floods affect 893,000, over 241,000 displaced: UN
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Windies sweat on injury to 'crucial' Taylor at World Cup
- Lebanon says 11 dead, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
- Panama lashes out at EU over tax haven 'outrage'
- Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- TD Bank to pay more than $3 bn to US in money-laundering case
- SAfrica prosecutors drop criminal complaint against president
- 'Good opportunity': Nagelsmann upbeat despite Germany's long injury list
- Hurricane whips up bitter US election battle
- Cameroon bans media talk of president's health amid rumours
- NFL MVP Jackson and rookie phenom Daniels set for showdown
- Chad's capital under threat as floodwaters rise
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut
- No answers on strike on reporters in Lebanon one year on: watchdog
- Ramharack picks four wickets as Windies beat Bangladesh in Women's T20 World Cup
- France's City of Light switches to climate-resilient power cables
- Djokovic hails Nadal 'legacy' as Alcaraz in 'shock' over retirement
- Obama hits campaign trail for Harris
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Djokovic tells Nadal: 'Your legacy will live forever'
- Ethel Kennedy, wife of RFK, dead at 96
- Zelensky denies ceasefire with Russia under discussion on trip
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- After long fight for glory, Nadal leaves with a legacy of memories
- Home hopes Zheng and Wang through to last-eight in Wuhan Open
- UN peacekeepers say Israel fired on Lebanon HQ, injuring 2
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Alcaraz out as top players pay tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters
- Racing's Farrell 'not thinking' about British and Irish Lions
- Alcaraz, Sinner pay tribute to 'unbelievable' Nadal at Shanghai Masters
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- After K-pop, K-novels? South Korean Nobel win sparks joy, hope at home
- After Nadal exit, Djokovic left to rage against dying of the light
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Triple centurion Brook happy to break Dad's club record
- Zelensky touts 'victory plan' against Russia in Macron talks
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- UN peacekeepers accuses Israel of firing on Lebanon HQ
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- Southgate taking year out from coaching
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- Zelensky meets Macron in Paris as part of European tour
- Hurricane Milton shreds Florida stadium roof
- UN probe accuses Israel of seeking to 'destroy' Gaza healthcare
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- England in sight of victory after Brook's triple hundred
- Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt
RBGPF | 4.03% | 63.35 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 6.9 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.15% | 24.557 | $ | |
BCC | -2.88% | 138.41 | $ | |
SCS | -3.7% | 12.565 | $ | |
BTI | -0.97% | 35.14 | $ | |
AZN | -0.99% | 76.745 | $ | |
NGG | 0.14% | 65.72 | $ | |
RIO | 0.53% | 66.705 | $ | |
GSK | -2.85% | 39.125 | $ | |
RELX | -0.77% | 46.355 | $ | |
JRI | -0.1% | 13.207 | $ | |
VOD | -0.31% | 9.7 | $ | |
BCE | -1.71% | 32.75 | $ | |
BP | 0.9% | 32.27 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.27% | 24.746 | $ |
'Last' Beatles song set for release next week
A much-anticipated "new" Beatles record, created with the help of artificial intelligence, will be released next week on November 2, former band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr revealed Thursday.
"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 on November 2 by Apple Corps, 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.
- 'Emotional' -
"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.
- 'Meant to be' -
"Now And Then" was one of several tracks on a cassette that Lennon had recorded for McCartney a year before his death. It was given to him by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono in 1994.
Two other songs, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love", were cleaned up by the producer Jeff Lynne, and released in 1995 and 1996.
An attempt was made to do the same with "Now And Then" but the project was abandoned because of background noise on the demo.
AI has now made that possible, though its use in music is the subject of industry-wide debate, with some denouncing copyright abuses and others praising its prowess.
McCartney said earlier this year that the technology's use was "kind of scary but exciting because it's the future".
Sean Ono Lennon, the son of Lennon and Ono, said it was "incredibly touching" to hear the former Beatles working together again "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," he added.
"Now And Then" will be released as a double A-side, with the band's 1962 debut single "Love Me Do", and cover art by US artist Ed Ruscha.
O.Karlsson--AMWN