Boy George has used artificial intelligence to re-record the Culture Club classic Karma Chameleon in a bid to reclaim ownership of his music. The pop legend is launching a new company called Artists Included, which focuses on AI-assisted re-recordings to recreate classic hits as an alternative to original master recordings.
New Version of a Timeless Classic
The company's first release is a newly recorded version of the 1983 chart-topper Karma Chameleon, which uses AI to recreate George's 22-year-old voice. This move helps the artist regain control over his music. "It's hard to get excited about something that you don't control," said George. "This gives me an opportunity, not just me, but other artists, to have a different relationship with those songs."
Financial Motivation Behind the Move
A recent licensing deal involving the original Karma Chameleon recording generated nearly $4 million for the owners of the master recording and publishing rights, but nothing for George himself. His manager Paul Kemsley revealed: "Four million changed hands. George didn't get anything at all."
Rather than pursuing a traditional re-recording like Taylor Swift has done, George and Kemsley opted to use AI to closely replicate the singer's original 1983 vocal for future licensing opportunities. George, who recently competed at Eurovision, expressed his astonishment: "When I heard it, I was absolutely gobsmacked. It sounds like another take from that original session."
How the AI Recording Works
George recorded a new vocal performance, which was then processed using an AI model trained on archival recordings and materials associated with his own voice. The final recording is not an AI-generated Boy George performance but a new performance by Boy George filtered through technology. He added: "It has the sound of me at 22 years old with all the experience of everything that I've learned."
Kemsley told the Hollywood Reporter: "If AI is used correctly, it can return value to the original creator."
