Ringo Starr hopes The Beatles win a Grammy for ‘Now and Then’.
The Fab Four returned to the charts last year with the track that was completed with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI) and Ringo hopes that the band can add to their awards collection as it is up for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance at the Grammys in February 2025.
The 84-year-old star told Music Week: “I’d love to win a Grammy. That’s the business I’m in – and the track is good. The last track ever by the boys.”
‘Now and Then’ was initially written by John Lennon before the surviving Beatles members completed the song more than four decades later and the drummer recalled how Sir Paul McCartney got in touch with him to outline the plan to release the record – which topped the charts in the UK and also reached the top 10 in the US.
Ringo explained: “He said, ‘You know that track we did? Well, I put it together. Are you going to play drums on it?’
“I said, ‘Sure, send the files over.’ That’s how we do it now – and I put the drums on and sang on the chorus.
“He did a great job. He put the strings on and the lead guitar that gave the track its emotion. It worked out really great and let’s hope for a Grammy. We’ll see; a lot of people are up for Grammys.”
Ringo – who is releasing his new country album ‘Look Up’ next month – admits that he is slightly concerned about the impact AI could have on music but feels that ‘Now and Then’ highlights the positive aspects of the technology.
He explained: “We’re all a bit afraid of it, because it can steal you.
“Anyone who knows how to use it can steal you. If they just play any five of my songs into the computer, AI gets all of it and knows my every vocal move. They can have me sing anything and it will sound like me, because it’s taken from my personality.
“But the good side is the way we used it on ‘Now and Then’. God knows where it’s going to go. We’re all worrying about it, but nobody’s really stolen anything yet.”