Robert Plant, Peter Frampton, David Gilmour and Bryan Adams are just a few of the A-list musicians supporting the family of the late British singer Steve Marriott, who’s opposing the release of recordings featuring AI-generated versions of his voice, Variety reports.
Marriott, who fronted Humble Pie and Small Faces, the latter of which earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, died in 1991 at 44. His family says his third wife, Toni Poulton, who he married in 1989, has authorized AI-generated recordings to be used on a new album, although Marriott’s four children are against it.
“The Marriott Estate is due to release an AI solo album of old and new songs of my father, Steve,” Mollie Marriott says in a statement, noting the rocker’s family has nothing to do with the estate. Mollie’s statement insists such recordings “would be a stain on my father’s name.”
“Someone who was known as one of the greatest vocalists of our generation, with such a live and raw vocal, it would absolutely break his heart if he were alive to know this,” the statement reads. “This is only for money, not art nor appreciation.”
In addition to Plant, Adams and Gilmour, Frampton is joined by his Humble Pie bandmate Jerry Shirley in supporting the Marriott family, with Small Faces’ Kenney Jones also on board, along with Glenn Hughes, Paul Weller, Paul Rodgers and Gary Kemp.
Chris France, managing director of Marriott’s estate, told Variety there are currently “no confirmed plans to use Steve Marriott’s voice on AI recordings,” but there could be in the future, adding, “I am afraid that [Mollie Marriott’s] opinions are of no consequence to me or his estate.”
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