loudwire.com
The Beatles Make History With First of Its Kind Win at 2025 Grammys
Chad Childers
LOUDWIRE
Published: February 2, 2025
The Beatles are continuing to make history with a Grammy first happening when they won the Best Rock Performance Award Sunday afternoon (Feb. 2) for their song "Now and Then."
The song was the first of its kind AI-assisted song to ever win a Grammy award. The Beatles song "Now and Then" was released in November 2023, but was just now eligible within the Grammy voting window.
The track was derived from an original John Lennon demo from the '70s that later had the other three Beatles members contributing parts. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and their engineers reportedly used AI (artificial intelligence) to help clean up Lennon's vocal, a technology unavailable at the time of their Anthology project that yielded "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird" in the '90s.
McCartney first spoke of "Now and Then" in June 2023. Calling it "the final Beatles record" on Radio 4's Today, he explained how AI was used to "extricate" Lennon's voice from the old demo recording in order to complete the song
Later that same month, McCartney clarified what he meant about AI's role in the process. "We've seen some confusion and speculation about it," he said. "To be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It's all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings — a process which has gone on for years. We hope you love it as much as we do."
What Sean Ono Lennon Said In Accepting the Best Rock Performance Award
Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon, was on hand to speak on the band's behalf after previously winning in another category for a separate Beatles-focused project (Best Boxed or Limited Edition Package for Mind Games).
“Since no-one is coming up to take this award, I figured I’d come and sit in. I really didn’t expect to be accepting this award on behalf of my father’s group, The Beatles," admitted Lennon.
"It’s really incredible, if you think about it. The Beatles have done so much incredible work and they’re still in the culture and people still listen to the music. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the greatest band of all time.”
“I think I was supposed to be here with Giles Martin who mixed this with Paul [McCartney] and he did an incredible job. I don’t know. I just want to say play The Beatles music to your kids. I feel like the world can’t afford to forget about people like The Beatles. We need this music in the world. We need peace and love and we need the magic of the ‘60s to say alive.”
In addition to The Beatles, the Best Rock Performance category included The Black Keys' "Beautiful People (Stay High)," Green Day's "The American Dream Is Killing Me," IDLES' "Gift Horse," Pearl Jam's "Dark Matter" and St. Vincent's "Broken Man."
Simon Hilton and Sean Ono Lennon accept award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for "Mind Games" onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.( Leon Bennett, Getty Images)
faroutmagazine.co.uk
Grammys 2025: The Beatles win ‘Best Rock Performance’ for ‘Now and Then’
Tom Taylor
FAR OUT
Sun 2 February 2025
The Beatles have claimed their 14th Grammy Award win after taking home the prize for ‘Best Rock Performance’ for ‘Now and Then’.
The band have a longstanding history with music’s most prestigious ceremony. If you include special honours, singular awards and Grammy Hall Of Fame awards, the total trophies they have taken home over the years now shoots up to 30. Although only six of the awards were won while Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were still active as a group.
Their latest win for ‘Best Rock Performance’ saw them triumph over The Black Keys, Green Day, Idles, Pearl Jam and St Vincent in a hotly contested category. However, their win does not come without controversy.
‘Now and Then’ was initially a demo which Lennon had made shortly before his death. His widow, Yoko Ono, later gave the recording to the surviving members of The Beatles, who first attempted to record the track in 1995 as a trio when they made ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ for the Anthology project.
Due to technology issues, the surviving Beatles were unable to get ‘Now and Then’ up to an acceptable standard. However, thanks to advancements, McCartney and Ringo Starr have now been able to bring all four members back together for one final effort.
The release, therefore, proved controversial owing to the fact that AI was used to help bring it to fruition. In an age where AI threatens both jobs and the integrity of the creative industry, the song’s subsequent Grammy nomination has proved equally divisive, with some arguing that it shows how new technology can be embraced in an artistic fashion and others claiming it sets a dangerous precedence.
In fact, McCartney has even recently spoken out about the issue of AI in art. In a recent interview with the BBC’s Sunday, McCartney discussed potential changes in AI copyright law, enabling AI services to circumvent usual copyright policies.
He said, “When we were kids in Liverpool, we found a job that we loved, but it also paid the bills.” He then warned that the proposal could remove the incentive for artists, creating a “loss of creativity.”
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario