- A new AI-powered concert tour isolates Whitney Houston’s original vocals and pairs them with a live orchestra
- The technology used to reconstruct her voice sets a new bar for posthumous shows
- AI-perfected artistry may reshape what audiences expect from live performances
Thirteen years after Whitney Houston’s death, her voice is back on stage thanks to AI[1]. “The Voice of Whitney: A Symphonic Celebration” is kicking off a national tour featuring Houston’s vocals isolated with the help of AI and performed alongside a live orchestra. It’s meant to be a heartfelt tribute timed to the 40th anniversary of her debut.
This show is different from other attempts at resurrecting artists with technology because it would have been impossible until recent AI advances[2]. Many of Houston’s original multitrack recordings are lost, so recreating them with any fidelity is trickier than just making a hologram of Houston.
AI music production company Moises, which specializes in stem separation, peeling vocals from fully mixed audio tracks. Using AI models trained to isolate audio, Moises extracted Houston’s vocals from the mixed tracks. The concert pairs Whitney’s voice with live orchestration and curated footage.
“We knew this had to be done right,” Pat Houston, Executor of The Estate of Whitney E. Houston, said in a statement[3]. “Moises and our partner Park Avenue Artists elevated the idea with the heart, care, and creative excellence that Whitney always embodied. The result is something truly special: a gift for longtime fans and a powerful introduction for a new generation discovering her voice.”
AI authenticity
This is the world we’re now tiptoeing into. Houston’s new show tours through November, stopping in cities from Waukegan to Palm Desert. The production promises favorites like Higher Love, I Have Nothing, and I Will Always Love You, reintroduced with a level of clarity that only modern AI can provide.
“We had to isolate Whitney’s vocals from fully mixed recordings without compromising the emotional power of her performance,” Moises CEO Geraldo Ramos said in a statement. “A concert like this simply wouldn’t have been possible five years ago, before stem separation technology reached the precision and fidelity we’re now able to deliver.”
Of course, Whitney isn’t the first posthumous star to tour again, and this isn’t even the first tour since her passing. Her hologram hit the road in 2020. But the new one stands out for being audio‑first and free of the visual awkwardness that holograms still haven’t fully conquered.
It may be among the most respectful AI-led performances based on the estate’s full-throated endorsement. Unlike some AI music projects[4] where dead artists are forced to ‘collaborate’ on songs they never knew existed, this show sticks to Whitney’s real catalog. It simply re‑presents it, cleaned and re‑orchestrated, in a way her original recordings never could be.
Still, it’s hard not to think about the next steps. If stem separation gets this good, what’s to stop every classic artist’s catalog from being refurbished? Will we see AI Duets with legacy vocals sliced and served over new tracks? Will 2030 bring to the road ‘Frank Sinatra Sings SZA’?
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References
- ^ thanks to AI (www.techradar.com)
- ^ recent AI advances (www.techradar.com)
- ^ statement (www.prnewswire.com)
- ^ some AI music projects (www.techradar.com)