(Bloomberg) -- Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, a perennial holiday hit from Brenda Lee, has been rerecorded and released in Spanish with artificial intelligence used to replicate the singer’s distinctive voice.
Noche Buena y Navidad, as the new recording is called, was released Friday by Universal Music Group, according to a statement from the company.
The recording, which was done with Lee’s permission, is the first product resulting from a new partnership that Universal entered into earlier this year with SoundLabs, an AI company.
Listen to the track here.
Lee recorded the song in 1958, when she was 13 years old. It’s been used in many TV shows and films, including 1990’s Home Alone, and has reached more then one billion streams on Spotify.
Producer Auero Baqueiro adapted the lyrics, which vocalist Leyla Hoyle sang in Spanish. SoundLabs then used its technology to mimic Lee’s sound.
“Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded Rockin’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do,” Lee said in a statement. “To have this out now is pretty incredible and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.