Now Jerry Garcia’s AI Voice Can Read to You

The voice of late-Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia has been recreated through AI and will be available to read audiobooks, articles and more.

The development is part of a partnership with Garcia’s estate and the AI voice company ElevenLabs. Fans will be able to utilize the rocker’s AI voice via the ElevenReader app. The virtual Garcia will be able to speak in more than 32 different languages, while reading everything from e-books and poetry, to fan stories and PDFs.

“My father was a pioneering artist, who embraced innovative audio and visual technologies,” Keelin Garcia, Jerry’s daughter and the co-founder of the Jerry Garcia Foundation, said via statement (as shared by Billboard). “In the 1990’s, my dad introduced me to the computer, digital art, and video games. When we traveled on concert tour, we played on Game Boy. At home, we’d have fun playing on the Macintosh in the studio where my father created his first digital art, and housed his MIDI guitar. Now, as technological landscapes continue to expand, ElevenLabs AI Audio technology will offer fans the first opportunity to hear and stream a replica of my father’s voice reading their favorite books and other written content.”

READ MORE: Top 10 Grateful Dead Songs

Beyond the app, Garcia’s AI voice will also be used in various projects for the Jerry Garcia Foundation, such as narrated documentaries and art exhibits.

Growing Trend of AI and Late Celebrities

As AI has continued to evolve, its use to recreate dead celebrity’s voices has become a growing trend. Most notably, the technology helped bring the final Beatles song, “Now and Then,” to life. The tune was released in late-2023 and recently earned two Grammy nominations.

READ MORE: Why ‘Now and Then’ Was Left Off Beatles’ ‘Anthology’

ElevenLabs has been actively involved in the voice model movement. In addition to Garcia, their “Iconic Voices” feature boasts AI versions of such dead celebrities as Judy Garland, John Wayne, Burt Reynolds, James Dean, Sir Lawrence Olivier and Dr. Maya Angelou.

“At ElevenLabs, we’re committed to preserving and celebrating cultural legacies while pushing the boundaries of technology,” Dustin Blank, Head of Partnerships at ElevenLabs, explained during the announcement of Garcia’s addition. “By bringing voices like Jerry Garcia to our platform, we’re not just enhancing our app – we’re creating new ways for people to experience content. This project has been a labor of love, and we couldn’t be happier with how Jerry’s voice has been recreated. It’s a beautiful thing to bring his sound to life again for both longtime fans and a new generation of listeners.”