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Paul McCartney has backed calls for laws to stop mass copyright theft by companies building generative artificial intelligence, warning AI “could just take over”.

The former Beatle said it would be “a very sad thing indeed” if young composers and writers could not protect their intellectual property from the rise of algorithmic models, which so far have learned by digesting mountains of copyrighted material.

He spoke out amid growing concern that the rise of AI is threatening income streams for music, news and book publishers. Next week the UK parliament will debate amendments to the data bill that could allow creators to decide whether or not their copyrighted work can be used to train generative AI models.

The amendments, championed by Beeban Kidron, would require operators of internet bots that copy content to train generative AI models to comply with copyright laws.

Source: Robert Booth/theguardian.com

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A new video featurette has been posted on the late George Harrison’s social media pages featuring audio commentary from Harrison’s Traveling Wilburys bandmate—and Electric Light Orchestra frontman—Jeff Lynne about George’s guitar talents.

In the clip, Lynne shares his respect for Harrison’s slide-guitar skills. The video also features archival photos and film footage of the ex-Beatles legend playing guitar.

“I think George is the best slide player that I’ve ever heard,” Lynne says. “He’s so accurate on it, and he makes it sing, and he makes it cry, and he makes it do anything, really.”

Adds Jeff, “And he can hold out a pure note with just beautiful vibrato that is so even. And it’s that style, it’s the melodic aspect of it, but it’s also … soulful, bluesy. He can do it all.”

The video is accompanied by a segment of the 2024 mix of Harrison’s chart-topping 1973 solo tune “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” George’s slide playing is a highlight of the tune, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1973.

The updated mix of the track appears on details

Dedicated fans of the legendary Beatles musician John Lennon converged on Strawberry Fields in Central Park Sunday to dance, sing and remember the icon’s tragic death 44 years ago.

The grassroots gathering — which drew Beatlemaniacs from around the globe — sprung forth as it does every year on the 2.5-acre tract of impeccably manicured lawn named for one of the Beatles’ most famous songs.

“For the last 44 years, we’ve celebrated his life,” said Quent Kelleher, a 60-year-old native New Yorker who comes to the same spot every year on the anniversary of Lennon’s Dec. 8, 1980 murder outside his home a short distance from the park.

“My best friend called me up that night — he lives around the corner — and told me [Lennon] was shot,” Kelleher told The Post. “And we came out here that night, and we’ve been coming out here [since].”

“We’ve even had binoculars and seen Yoko Ono looking out the window up there watching,” Kelleher said, gesturing to The Dakota Apartments on 72nd Street, where she and Lennon lived before his death.

The music icon was fatally shot just before 11 p.m. that night details

Ringo Starr and his All Starr band are returning to the road in 2025 with a string of new tour dates.

The latest trek kicks off June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and wraps June 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tour includes shows at Philadelphia’s The Mann Center and Radio City Music Hall in New York, making up for shows that Ringo had to cancel during the fall leg of his 2024 tour after getting sick.

“I am happy to announce these new All Starr shows in June,” Ringo shared. “I absolutely love playing live and I love this band. It’s been so great playing with these guys, I just want to keep this line up going and that’s why I haven’t changed the All Starrs in a while. So here we go again, and we look forward to seeing you on the road this Spring.”

Ringo’s All Starr Band is made up of the same musicians who joined him on the road earlier this year: Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men at Work‘s Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette and Buck Johnson.

A complete list of dates and ticket information can be found at ringostarr.com.

Next up, Ringo is set to release his new country album, Look Up, produced and co-writt details

It was a moment that shocked the world. On this day in 1980, John Lennon was shot dead as he walked into his home at the Dakota building in New York City.

The Woolton-raised former Beatle was gunned down by Mark David Chapman, said to be envious of John's lifestyle and inspired by the JD Salinger novel 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Chapman had planned the killing for months and had met John earlier that day to get his copy of the album 'Double Fantasy' signed.

As John and his wife Yoko Ono returned to their home to say goodnight to their son Sean before heading for a night out, Chapman shot the star four times in the back with a revolver. The 'Imagine' singer was taken to hospital and there was an attempt to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead.

Chapman was arrested at the scene, where police found him reading the aforementioned Salinger book. A huge outpouring of grief was felt around the world.

Tearful crowds gathered at New York's Roosevelt Hospital, where John had been taken, and at the Dakota itself. At least two Beatles fans died by suicide in the aftermath of the murder.

The day after the fatal shooting, December 9, 1980, the Liverpool ECHO front page headline read: 'John Lennon details

There are a handful of Beatles albums that continue to perform well to this day. The sets that regularly appear on charts around the world are often compilations, as listeners often flock to these collections of the band’s biggest hits to return to the music they love. That’s not strange for a legacy act, but the Fab Four have broken that trend this week, as one of their less-popular projects—at least when looking specifically at modern times—is back.

Meet The Beatles! is back on the Billboard charts in America this week. The early release from the rockers debuts on one tally and returns to another, and it’s all thanks to a huge sales sum.

In the past tracking frame in the U.S., Meet The Beatles! sold another 6,900 copies. That’s a huge sum for an album that was originally released 60 years ago—and it’s up from the period before by a nearly unbelievable percentage.

Last week, Meet The Beatles! sold just under 7,000 copies throughout the country. The period before, it barely sold anything. According to numbers provided by Luminate, the set’s sales sum rockets a little more than 693,000% in a matter of just a few days.

Meet The Beatles! wasn&rsq details

Despite being one of the most revered men in music history, so much of John Lennon as a person is steeped in mystery. Some diehard fans may already know the stories behind the following three songs, but newer fans may not be aware of the intimate details behind them that showcase the more genuine, vulnerable side of Lennon. Let’s take a look at the fascinating stories behind three of John Lennon’s best songs!

1. “Nowhere Man”

This Yellow Submarine track from 1965 was written by John Lennon as part of The Beatles. On the surface, its meaning seems pretty clear. “Nowhere Man” is about a man with no direction in life and no real worldview.

Lennon spoke about the song briefly in an interview with Playboy Magazine. He said that the song came to him after a restless night of trying to write a very meaningful song. Paul McCartney, though, once said that he believed Lennon wrote the song about himself and the state of his marriage. We’ll never know the truth… But if you read between the lines, it seems like McCartney’s assessment was probably true.
2. “Mother”

John Lennon’s best songs are often his most vulnerable, and &l details

The title suggests a return to the start, but in actuality, Back to the Egg turned out to be a farewell set from Wings, Paul McCartney’s ever-mutating 1970s band. It wasn’t supposed to be the end, mind you, so it might not have the air of finality that you’d expect.

Back to the Egg now stands out as an interesting addition to McCartney catalog, one that was clearly influenced by the punk and new wave sounds of the day. Here’s a look back at how the Wings era ended.  We Are the Egg Men

Was it because Paul McCartney was a more demanding bandleader than anyone could have guessed? Or was it all part of Macca’s master plan to keep things fresh and unexpected? Whatever the reason, Wings, the band he started in 1971 in the wake of The Beatles’ implosion, couldn’t seem to keep a steady lineup for very long.

Lead guitar and drums were the two fungible spots in the Wings lineup. During the making of their 1978 album London Town, Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English departed from those positions in the band. That left in the band the stalwart trio of McCartney, wife Linda, and Denny Laine, soon to be joined by guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holley.

One o details

The Beatles left an indelible mark on both music and television, shaping culture in ways that still resonate today. Their arrival in the United States in February 1964 sparked what became known as “Beatlemania,” a movement that not only redefined the music world but also influenced the broader cultural landscape.

The documentary Beatles ’64 offers a fascinating glimpse into this groundbreaking era. Featuring rarely-seen archival footage and heartfelt interviews, the film dives deep into the band’s ascent to superstardom. It covers their electrifying first visit to America, the hysteria they inspired, and the unique bond shared by the four young men who captivated millions.
Paul McCartney recalled this incredible time with vivid detail, reflecting on the band’s un

forgettable appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That performance etched their names in history, blending music and television in a way that had never been done before. (Click on the media bar below to hear Paul McCartney)

Beatles ’64 is streaming on Disney+

Source: Hollywood Outbreak

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The Beatles are arguably the greatest band of all time, releasing memorable music and marking historic milestones until their unexpected breakup in 1970.

The four musicians that comprised The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — were known as “The Fab Four.” They exploded onto the scene in the U.K. in 1962 before reaching incomprehensible levels of popularity and acclaim when they visited America in 1964 — covered in the Beatles ‘64 documentary released on Nov. 29 — culturally referred to as “Beatlemania.”

After ceasing touring in 1966, The Beatles released Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band — one of the most critically and commercially successful albums of all time —in 1967, but tragedy struck that year. Their manager Brian Epstein, who previously handled much of The Beatles’ business affairs, died.

In the following years, the band experimented with their sound, creating more classic albums like Abbey Road and Let it Be. Outside of the studio, Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969 and began bringing her to recording sessions, which caused tension.

These events and growing creative differences details

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has said it is a "huge honour" to appear on a new commemorative coin unveiled by the Royal Mint.

Their new coin collection marks the first of its kind, designed to honour Sir Paul's ground-breaking career.

But this is no penny (lane), this is a £5 coin that features The Beatles singer's iconic magic piano as well as references to his career, including piano notes personally chosen by him, a Höfner violin bass guitar and the Wings logo.

Sir Paul said: “It’s not anything I would have ever expected to happen when I was a kid."

The Royal Mint A silver coin with a rainbow design and Paul McCartney's signature rests on a copy of handwritten lyrics The Royal Mint

McCartney said it was a "huge honour" to have a coin made for him.  And while money can't buy you love, it can buy you one of these coins, the cheapest being £15.50, with some coming in at more than £100 for the more rare or coloured coins.

Early next year, The Royal Mint will offer fans a chance to own a signed, gold edition of the coin - if money is what they want. The bespoke gold coin weighs 5kg (11lb) and took over 250 hours to make, including three da details

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021, Beatles fans settled in for Get Back, Peter Jackson’s eight-hour epic that transported viewers back to the weeks leading up to the band’s famous rooftop concert in January 1969. Though more lighthearted than the troubled reputation of the period would indicate, the docuseries was colored by the irrefutable fact that it concludes with the last live performance the Beatles would ever give. Even the happy moments were made bittersweet with the knowledge that, despite appearances, it was nearing the end.

This Thanksgiving, fans received the perfect cinematic companion piece. Beatles ‘64, now streaming on Disney+, bookending the group’s story by providing the ultimate insider's look at the birth of Beatlemania in the United States. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film is directed by his longtime editor David Tedeschi, a crucial collaborator on his string of essential latter-day rock docs examining the work of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and George Harrison. “I think one of the reasons they chose us to make this is because we're from New York,” Tedeschi tells PEOPLE. “And it's a very New York story.”

That was, of course, wh details

The Beatles are always present on the music charts in the United Kingdom in one capacity or another. The band remains perhaps the most famous ever in the nation, even more than half a century after they split. While they often fill one or two spaces on a ranking, or perhaps a few tallies, this frame has turned out to be especially huge for the rockers.

This time around, The Beatles debut two different projects on the charts in their home country. Both collections start their time on three lists apiece, and these wins don’t even manage to tell the full story of their ongoing success on the U.K. rankings.

1964 US Albums in Mono is the top performer between their two debuts. The box set features eight LPs in a sizable offering from the group, which focuses on their earliest work. The seven albums represented were slated for release in the U.S., and only in mono, in the mid-’60s, and now they’ve been pressed once again on vinyl using the original tapes.

That collection of full-lengths debuts inside the top 40 on all three U.K.-based lists it reaches this frame. 1964 US Albums in Mono lands highest on the Official Vinyl Albums ranking, where it enters at No. 14, only missing the top 10 by a details

The Beatles rehearse at the Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, for their February 16, 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Harrison is playing his second Gretsch Country Gentleman, as evident by the lever-style mute that can be seen to the treble side of the tremolo unit.

This past year saw the unraveling of one Beatles guitar mystery when Paul McCartney’s first Höfner bass was discovered more than 50 years after it was stolen. That guitar had been the focus of the Lost Bass Project, which tracked down the Höfner in the loft of a family home in East Sussex, England.

But the discovery of McCartney’s 1961 Höfner has opened up a new mystery in the world of Beatles guitar gear: Was George Harrison’s Gretsch Country Gentleman electric guitar really destroyed in a 1965 mishap during the Beatles’ Scotland tour? Or was the victim actually another guitar?

According to Beatles history, Harrison’s Country Gent — his second — was smashed to pieces on the evening of December 2 as the group journeyed from London in their Austin Princess limousine for a December 3 performance at Glasgow’s Odeon Cinema. Beatles chauffeur Alf Bicknell was left to tra details

Sean Lennon has rejected the “assumptions” made about his parents, artist Yoko Ono and the late John Lennon, over their “Lost Weekend” separation.

Sean, also a musician, is preparing to mark the 44th anniversary of the Beatles star’s death in New York in 1980.

In an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music about the recently released, Grammy-nominated expanded box set edition of John’s 1973 album, Mind Games, Sean discussed the influence his mother had on his father’s work.

At the time he was writing his fourth solo album, Mind Games, John was in the middle of his famous 18-month separation from Ono, a period referred to as the “Lost Weekend”.

“A lot of people said like, ‘Yoko wasn’t around for this record, why are they featuring her in the booklet’ or something,” Sean began. “And I think there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of assumptions made about that time period because they were sort of on their way towards that famous separation that people call the Lost Weekend.

“But the truth is, even when they were apart they were always talking, so I don’t think they ever really broke up details

The documentary Beatles ‘64 takes a look at the band’s arrival in the United States in 1964, and among the songs and nostalgia, there’s a pretty dark and sad part in which John Lennon foresaw his own death. Directed by David Tedeschi and produced by Martin Scorsese, Beatles ‘64 was released on Disney+ in November 2024. The film features footage shot by Albert and David Maysles during the Beatles' visit to the United States, which was originally for the 1964 documentary What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., along with interviews with fans, producers, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr.

Beatles ‘64 is a look into the band’s feelings and reactions to arriving in the United States, their historic performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the fans’ intense welcome and reactions to the band’s arrival and presence, and the overall atmosphere as the country had just gone through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The latter is mentioned multiple times throughout the documentary, and it had a big impact on the band, particularly John Lennon, making way for Beatles ‘64’s saddest part.

Beatles ‘64 goes back and forth between foo details

Paul McCartney is back in fashion. When, after a three-hour set, McCartney walked off stage at Glastonbury in 2022, the audience seemed to be expressing a country’s gratitude, as 20 days earlier those on the Mall for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations had to the Queen. For Elizabeth II, it was her penultimate public appearance. McCartney, though, is back in December on a UK tour: still hungry at the age of 82 for the appreciation, still, by his sheer virtuosity, wishing to settle scores.

Peter Jackson’s 2021 documentary Get Back on the Beatles’ January 1969 sessions, the Glastonbury concert and the 2023 Beatles single “Now and Then” are all part of McCartney’s attempt to re-elevate the Beatles into the mythical realm, with the songwriting duo of Lennon and McCartney at its heart. His implicit antagonist is still Yoko Ono, who has spent the four and a half decades since her husband’s death insisting that the spirit of John Lennon was bigger than the Beatles.

Since Get Back came out at least, McCartney has been winning. The documentary shows emphatically that when the love between Lennon and McCartney was supposedly obliterated, it was instead very much alive. It is evident details

Unprecedented excitement and hysteria led thousands of fans to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City on February 7, 1964, with placards and banners to welcome The Beatles and jumpstart their American invasion.

“At Carnegie Hall – their second American concert – the establishment was appalled when they heard the rock and roll music these kids were playing in the hallowed halls and banned their promoter [Sid Bernstein].”

One of the things that set John Lennon apart from other songwriters was his fearlessness. He wrote about topics from which others would generally shy away. And he would sing about personal subjects without worrying if they might cast him in an unflattering light.

“Cold Turkey,” a single he released in late 1969, openly described Lennon’s attempts to kick his heroin habit. The song is a harrowing listen but an essential one, in large part due to his courage in going to such a dark place.  In From the “Cold”.

The tumult of The Beatles’ final years together has been well-documented, but it’s still easy to overlook just how pressurized that situation must have felt for the four men going through it. In the case of John Lennon, he had bottled up childhood trauma that was about to burst, embarked upon a new relationship with Yoko Ono that people close to him (including other group members) openly disdained, and like others in the band, felt artistically constrained.

Seeking an outlet to escape the reality of that scenario, Lennon and Ono started using heroin heavily during the sessions for the White Album in 1968. When they decided to try and quit the drug in 1969 details

Paul McCartney’s tour through Latin America came to an end, and to commemorate this closure the former Beatle shared a series of images of his most memorable performances through his social networks.

Among these highlights are several scenes from his shows at the GNP Stadium, and the closing of the Corona Capital, where he was accompanied by St. Vincent to perform “Get Back” and then he called her along with Jack White to accompany him in the song “The End”, where they had a great guitar duel.

That was the closing of the festival, in which Paul gathered 82 thousand people, according to the official numbers shared by Ocesa.

“15 concerts, 8 cities, and 1 unforgettable show… Thanks to everyone who came to the Latin American dates of Got Back 2024,” wrote the “Hope Of Deliverance” singer on his account and Instagram.

In addition to the shows, there are images of the fans who waited for him outside the Four Seasons hotel, who carried banners and Sargento Pimienta outfits.

The artist performed at the GNP Stadium on November 12 and 14 and made his debut on the Latin American festival scene at Corona Capital.

Source: theyucatant details

George Harrison once drew a simple frame around the Beatles' musical origin story, highlighting the impact of the blues.

"If there was no Lead Belly, there would have been no Lonnie Donegan; no Lonnie Donegan, no Beatles," friend John Reynolds remembered Harrison saying in the Legend of Lead Belly documentary. "Therefore no Lead Belly, no Beatles."

But Donegan's brand of local rockabilly, called skiffle, also drew from country music, old-timey songs and bluegrass. In fact, Liverpool had a bustling country scene, led by Phil Brady, among others. Brady's earliest fame coincided with the Merseybeat fad that played a more celebrated role in shaping the Beatles' sound.

Ringo Starr had long been a fan of country music, but John Lennon was responsible for bringing this influence into the group's songwriting core.

"I grew up with blues music [and] country and western music, which is also a big thing in Liverpool," Lennon subsequently recalled. "One of the first visions I had was one of a fully dressed cowboy in the middle of Liverpool with his Hawaiian guitar, you know? That's the first time I ever saw a guitar in my life. He had the full gear on."

Lennon would favor a similar style with his pre details

The Beatles transformed pop culture during the 1960s and had so many incredible songs that even some of their most obscure compositions could be classified as masterpieces. While there are very few people on planet Earth who wouldn’t recognize hits like “Yesterday,” “Here Comes the Sun,” or “Let It Be,” there are just as many incredible underrated Beatles tracks that deserve way more love. For every “A Hard Day's Night” or “Eleanor Rigby,” there’s another hidden gem that long-time lovers of the Fab Four will point to as a forgotten classic in need of more attention.

What started with two teenagers named John Lennon and Paul McCartney bonding over their love of R&B and skiffle music eventually led to these Liverpudlians becoming some of the most recognizable names on the planet. After they were joined by George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the world was fully introduced to the most trailblazing band pop music had ever seen as Beatlemania went into full swing, and audiences couldn’t get enough of these musical icons. With 213 songs released between 1962 and 1970, it’s shocking just how prolific the Beatles were, as even their most underra details

The Beatles landed at JFK Airport on February 7, 1964, greeted by 3,000 of the fans that had sent “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to the top of the Hot 100, and America’s love affair with the Fab Four hasn’t abated in the six decades since. George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr spent just over seven years assembling the most beloved catalog in popular music. While solo careers, films, covers, and archival releases have kept the Beatles brand profitable, it’s really those original albums that have remained durable objects of fascination that still reveal new depths.

Over the years, popular opinion has evolved about the Beatles’ albums, although the second half of their career looms large over those early Beatlemania years. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was for many years their consensus masterpiece, and in subsequent decades, The Beatles (“The White Album”) and Revolver have enjoyed reappraisals. Abbey Road has emerged as their most popular record in the streaming era, and while Let It Be has never surged to the top, documentaries and its prominence on classic rock radio have elevated the divisive album’s stature.

Beatles &lsqu details

Sean Ono Lennon has recently opened up about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s relationship, and how it continues to impact his mother today.

Lennon sat down for an interview with BBC Radio 6 Music recently to discuss the release of Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection. Lennon produced the special edition box set release of his late father’s album Mind Games. The collection also includes a wealth of additional material, from footage to a book to reproductions of advertisements for the album from the 1970s.

During the interview, the subject of his parents’ relationship was brought up, as it naturally would. Chris Hawkins asked Lennon if he learned any new information about his parents while putting together this very intimate project.

“Well one thing I noticed was that my mum was on some of the tapes, you could tell she was in the control room,” said Lennon. “So a lot of people said like, ‘Yoko wasn’t around for this record, why are they featuring her in the booklet’ or something. And I think there’s a lot of history. There’s a lot of assumptions made about that time period because they were sort of on their way towards that famous separation.&rdqu details

John Lennon wasn’t known as a religious man during much of his life. He even pondered what the world would be like without religion in one of his most famous songs, “Imagine.” His apparent lack of enthusiasm about Christianity didn’t stop him from producing one of the biggest Christmas hits of all time.

“Happy Xmas (War is Over)” is a classic by this point, one that returns to prominence every December. The tune reappears on several charts in the United Kingdom as the big day nears.

Lennon is back on both the Official Streaming chart and the main ranking of the most-consumed songs in the U.K. with his tune. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” blasts back onto the streaming roster at No. 67. It comes in much lower–at No. 92–on the general songs tally.

“Happy Xmas (War is Over)” has now spent at least one year on both of those charts throughout its lifetime. The tune reaches that milestone on the streaming ranking, as it’s now lived on the list for 52 turns–though not all in a row. The cut is up to 61 stints on the songs chart.

Lennon fronts “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” but the tune isn’t credited to the for details