For the first time in 54 years, Beatles they returned to the top of the UK charts with the song "Now and then", a track that uses Artificial Intelligence to bring together the legendary British band, it was announced today.
Released on Thursday, the track, recorded by John Lennon and completed after his death by the other members of the group, is currently outperforming its rivals, according to Official Charts.
Based on this trend, it could be on track to take the top spot in the next weekly chart, published next Friday, dethroning US superstar Taylor Swift.
This is the Liverpool band's 18th single to reach the top of the chart. The first was "From me to you", in 1963, and the previous one was "The Ballad of John and Yoko", in 1969, shortly before the band's split in April 1970.
The new song, which Lennon and George Harrison worked on in the 1970s, and which Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr completed last year, was worked on using Artificial Intelligence to remove John Lennon's voice from the original 'demo' recording. , McCartney told the BBC.
"There was John's voice, crystal clear. It's very moving," the musician told the British station, highlighting that the final edition brings together all the band's elements. "Now and Then" will also be part of the reissue of the "Red Album" and "Blue Album", collections of hits by The Beatles launched for the first time in 1973, covering the years 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, respectively.
AI technology has recently made it possible to isolate Lennon's voice and mix it with recordings by other singers, including George Harrison before his death in 2001. The song was completed and released by the two surviving members, Paul McCartney, 81, and Ringo Starr, 83 years old.
On October 26, Paul McCartney announced the release on November 2 of the new song "Now and Then", which will also be part of the reissue of the "Red Album" and "Blue Album", collections of hits by The Beatles launched for the first time in 1973, covering the years 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, respectively.
"Now and Then" was written by John Lennon after the band's split. Beatles, in 1970.
After the musician's death, murdered in New York in December 1980, his widow, Yoko Ono, gave McCartney a cassette that had the inscription "For Paul". This 'demo', in addition to "Now and Then", also contained the first versions of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Sees it", which were published as a single and on the 1995 album "Anthology".