The use of artificial intelligence in music has divided the industry, but for Randy Travis, it gave him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In 2024, the country legend turned to AI to recreate his voice for a new song, “Where That Came From,” more than a decade after suffering a stroke that left him unable to sing or speak.
“When they sent it to us, I remember it like you remember 9/11,” Randy’s wife, Mary Travis, exclusively told Us Weekly at CMA Fest presented by SoFi in Nashville earlier this month while celebrating the 40th anniversary of the singer’s debut album, Storms of Life.
Mary, 68, recalled that she “bawled” hearing her husband’s voice for the first time in years — and then Randy, 67, started crying too.
Randy Travis Jason Kempin/Getty Images
“Randy sat there, and he’s like, you know, the puzzled look, and then his head went down, then it came up, then he smiled, then he teared [up],” she shared.
Country music legend Randy Travis could not have recovered from his stroke without the grace of God, according to his wife, Mary Travis. “Randy was determined. I don’t know what he was thinking in his mind because he was in a coma a lot of the time and the aphasia took place immediately after the […]
Warner Records Nashville chair and president Cris Lacy came up with the idea to use AI for Randy’s first song since his 2013 stroke.
“She said, ‘We’re thinking about doing this AI thing with Randy’s voice,’” Mary told Us before joking, “I’m a country girl, and AI meant something different, and I was like, ‘I don’t think we’re ready for this artificial insemination thing!’”
After getting more information, the Travises agreed to give it a try and sent vocal stems from Randy’s active recording years to a team in London.
“They took it, and they did their work with it. They sent it back to Kyle [Lehning, Randy’s longtime producer],” Mary remembered. “Kyle and Randy spent hours in the studio making sure that the sounds and the tones and things would be like Randy would sing them if he could, as close to it as possible. And then we went in the studio with session players, and we cut it.”
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Mary acknowledged that Randy wishes he could just sing himself because AI can be a “slippery slope,” but the technology has proven to be the next best thing for the musician. (He released another AI song, “Horses in Heaven,” last year.)
“There’s nothing more in the world than Randy would rather do than be up on that stage singing with his own voice, and God knows the world misses this voice more than anything,” she told Us. “There will never be another one like it. And Randy would not have ever done it if he didn’t feel like he needed to and felt like he could maybe contribute to being a good example for what AI can be.”
Mary went on to tease that Randy plans to release a new album later this year — one that does not rely on AI.
“It is from the vault,” she explained. “It’s all music that Randy sang before his stroke, and it’s music that hasn’t ever been on an album before.”
