Ringo Starr has responded to “terrible rumours” that John Lennon‘s real voice doesn’t feature on The Beatles’ new single ‘Now and Then’.
Earlier this month, Starr and Paul McCartney shared ‘Now And Then’ – the last track from The Beatles to feature all four original members.
The track stems from a demo tape recorded by the late Lennon and was completed with the help of AI – which lifted the songwriter’s vocals off the initial recording and allowed the surviving members to work with them, rather than recreating the artist’s voice altogether.
Starr previously said that he thought the project was “beautiful” and admitted that working on the single was “like having John Lennon back”.
In a recent interview with AARP, Starr took a moment to dispel rumours about the song’s creation. “There were terrible rumours that it’s not John, it’s AI, whatever bullshi t people said,” he said. “Paul and I would not have done that. It’s a beautiful song and a nice way to finally close that door.”
The musician reaffirmed previous comments he made to Variety. “It’s not down to AI,” he said. “It’s not like we’re pretending anything. That is actually John’s voice, Paul’s voice and bass playing, George [Harrison] on rhythm guitar and me on drums.”
The Beatles have since topped the charts with ‘Now And Then’, an honour which arrived six decades after they secured their first Number One.
The feat means that McCartney and co. now boast the longest period between an artist’s first and last Number One single – with their first being ‘From Me to You’ in May 1963 (60 years and six months ago).
Ringo Starr said it was a “beautiful day” when the band achieved the milestone.
Elsewhere, Starr recently reflected on the success of The Beatles and confessed that he didn’t think the band would last.
None of us thought it would last a week!” he said in an interview with The Sunday Times. “Paul was going to write, I was going to open a hairdresser’s, George would get a garage. But it went on and then it ended. And at the right time, I think. But, you know, that didn’t stop us playing with each other.”
