Jerry Garcia's estate has teamed up with AI voice company ElevenLabs to introduce an AI-recreated version of the late Grateful Dead guitarist's voice in their Iconic Listening Experience on the ElevenReader app. Fans, or Deadheads, can now listen to Garcia narrating audiobooks, e-books, articles, poetry, fan stories, PDFs, and more, in 32 languages through the app. This collaboration follows several others by ElevenLabs with estates of well-known figures like Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds, and Sir Laurence Olivier, adding them to the Iconic Listening Experience. ElevenLabs reportedly worked closely with the Garcia estate to ensure the AI version remained faithful to his legacy. Beyond the app, Garcia's AI voice will appear in future Jerry Garcia Foundation projects, such as narrated documentaries and audio art exhibits. The deal with Garcia's estate marks another move by ElevenLabs into AI music. In May, the company showcased an early version of its AI music generator on social media. However, Garcia's AI voice is currently used for reading text only. This trend of estates collaborating with AI companies aims to present past musicians to new audiences.

For instance, Warner Music teamed up with an AI firm to revive Edith Piaf's voice for a biopic, and Universal Music Enterprises used AI to translate Brenda Lee's hit into Spanish, replicating her youthful sound. Keelin Garcia, Jerry's daughter and co-founder of the Jerry Garcia Foundation, remarked, "My father was a pioneering artist who embraced new technologies. In the 1990s, he introduced me to computers, digital art, and video games. We often played on Game Boy during tours or on the Macintosh at home, where he made digital art. With the growth of technology, ElevenLabs' AI Audio now lets fans hear a replica of my father’s voice reading their favorite books and texts. "