Their final song was mixed with John Lennon's voice. The Beatles' return to the Grammys has come with an assist from artificial intelligence. "Now and Then" is nominated for record of the year and best rock performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards, making it the first nominated song ever to use AI in its production.
The song utilized AI to clean up old demo recordings of John Lennon singing and playing piano, recorded in the late 1970s, as well as a guitar track from George Harrison, recorded six years before his death in 2001. "To me, this is a cool example of how AI can function in our current environment," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
2025 GRAMMY NOMINEES TAYLOR SWIFT, BEATLES GO HEAD-TO-HEAD FOR RECORD OF THE YEAR The Beatles' final song, "Now and Then," featuring contributions from the late John Lennon and George Harrison, was nominated for two Grammys. (Apple Corps Ltd) Mason took pains to clarify that a new academy rule allowing AI-assisted music to be submitted for Grammy consideration stipulates that the use of AI must enhance rather than replace the work of humans. In this case, he said, AI was "really like an editing tool" that enabled the Beatles to isolate a John Lennon vocal recording from the late ’70s "that was previously maybe unusable.
" "When we think of AI as a tool for artists and not a replacement for them, people are more open to AI becoming part of creative work, " Eric Burgess, CEO and co-founder of Cre.