Randy Travis was one of the biggest superstars in country music in the 1980s and ‘90s.
But a tragedy made it appear his musical career was over.
And Randy Travis’ wife made a shocking confession after they overcame this scary situation.
Randy Travis returns to music with the help of AI
Country music icon Randy Travis saw his career abruptly end after a near-fatal stroke in 2013 that limited his ability to speak and sing.
The advances in artificial intelligence (AI) allowed him to resume his musical career and produce his first new song in over a decade.
Travis’ longtime producer used the vocals from more than 40 tracks he previously recorded to recreate the country singer’s voice.
Those vocals were laid over the singer country artist James Dupree’s singing to create Travis’ new song, “Where That Came From.”
Travis and his wife, Mary, made a rare appearance at the 2024 Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in Frisco, Texas.
Mary Travis told Fox News Digital that AI giving her husband his voice back was “magical” during an interview on the red carpet.
“When I first heard it, I couldn’t hear much because I was crying so hard,” Mary said.
It was a moving experience for the country legend to release a new song after so much hardship.
“When Randy watched it, it was beautiful because I watched him go from listening real intently to this pensive emotion to a smile and then an all-out laughter,” Mary recalled. “It was just an overwhelming feeling to hear his voice and a new song because he had heard his own voice so many times with the old songs, but this one was a brand-new one. And so it was just beautiful.”
AI is revolutionizing the world of music
Mary Travis explained that AI answered their dreams by allowing Randy to be able to make new music again.
“It’s given Randy back the ability to make the music,” Mary said. “To do the things that he loved to do more than anything in the world. And if people could just imagine if their greatest passion was taken from them, what would you hope for? So, our hope and our prayer for 11 years was ‘Please let us make music again,’ right?”
Randy Travis nodded in agreement with his wife.
“And now that he can, it’s been magical,” Mary Travis said. “We like to call it ‘artistic intelligence’ because to watch he and [record producer] Kyle [Lehning] work together, to make this song out of 42 song stems of his, with James Dupree laying down the [vocals], it was amazing to watch.”
Randy Travis presented an award at the ACM with fellow country artist Clay Walker.
The country star has earned 11 ACM awards in his career including two for best male vocalist.
“Randy has a history with them, and we took an 11-year sabbatical after the stroke, so it feels so good to be back; with Randy having a little bit of music out now, it gives it a whole new meaning,” Mary said.
The advances in AI will give Randy Travis a second chance at making music.
