Bette Midler and Tyrese Gibson Clash Over IngaRose AI Song Celebrate Me

Bette Midler and Tyrese Gibson have taken sharply different positions over Celebrate Me, a song released by artificial artist persona IngaRose that has become the latest flashpoint in the debate over AI and music.

The current controversy follows the song’s earlier success rather than a new chart breakthrough. Released at the end of March, Celebrate Me reached No. 3 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart during a seven-week run and No. 2 on the Official Singles Downloads Chart, where it spent eight weeks. It did not reach those positions on the main UK Official Singles Chart.

Midler brought fresh attention to the track in August when she strongly criticised the use of generative AI in music. Her argument went considerably further than simply disliking one song, with the performer accusing AI systems of drawing on generations of human musicians, their voices and creative styles without adequately compensating the people whose work helped train them.

She used particularly severe language to portray that process as a threat to culture and working artists. Her reaction was also supported by other musicians who raised concerns about imitation, consent and what widespread AI-generated music could mean for human performers.

Gibson responded from almost the opposite position. The actor and singer said Celebrate Me had genuinely affected and inspired him, argued that AI was not going away and challenged human artists to respond by creating stronger work rather than focusing only on criticism of the technology.

There is also an important distinction around how Celebrate Me was made. IngaRose’s official profile describes the project as using human-written lyrics based on real stories, with stems and arrangements refined using Suno. Publicly available information does not provide enough detail to establish exactly how much of the finished vocal, composition and production was created by humans or generative tools.

That uncertainty is part of the wider issue facing music audiences. The label “AI song” can now cover projects with very different levels of human involvement, making disclosure about how tracks are created increasingly important.

The Midler and Gibson disagreement therefore goes beyond whether Celebrate Me is a good song. Their opposing reactions reflect a much larger argument now moving into mainstream entertainment: whether emotional impact is enough for audiences to embrace AI-assisted music, or whether the way that music is created should matter just as much.

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