Prince Estate Denies AI Was Used on New Album After Fans Question Timeless

Prince’s estate has responded after fans questioned whether artificial intelligence had been used on the new posthumous album Timeless.

The team behind the release has firmly denied using AI, while revealing that one song did receive new musical additions after Prince’s death.

Released on 28 August, Timeless contains 10 rare and previously unreleased recordings spanning Prince’s career from 1977 to 2016. Questions began circulating around Calabama after fans noticed musicians in the song’s credits who were not part of the original recording session.

What was added to Calabama?

The estate has explained that Prince calls for horns during the track, although the archived recording instead contained a synthesiser part. Musicians who had previously worked with Prince were later brought in to record trombone, saxophone and trumpet over that section.

Greg Boyer, Adrian Crutchfield and Lynn Grissett performed the newly recorded parts. Prince’s estate says his original recordings remain intact and that Calabama is the only track on Timeless to contain posthumous overdubs.

The team has also made its position on artificial intelligence clear, stating that AI was not used on Timeless or any other Prince music.

The clarification comes more than ten years after Prince’s death in April 2016, as previously unreleased material continues to emerge from his extensive archive. 

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