New York singer-songwriter Carl Allocco is making music again with artificial intelligence after his cancer surgery in 2024 resulted in the removal of his tongue and left him unable to sing as he had before.
Allocco's official biography says he underwent a glossectomy because of cancer, describing the operation as the complete removal of his tongue. He has since turned to AI music platform Suno, whose Persona feature allows him to carry characteristics of his earlier vocals into new recordings.
The Songs of Love Foundation, where he has worked as a songwriter for decades, says Allocco uses the technology for both his own music and songs he creates for the organisation.
The technology has not reversed the physical effects of his surgery. Instead, it gives the longtime musician another way to turn songs he continues to write into recordings that preserve elements of his previous vocal identity.
Cancer Surgery Changed His Singing Voice
Allocco underwent the operation in 2024, according to his official biography, which describes the procedure as a glossectomy involving the complete removal of his tongue because of cancer.
Total glossectomy can significantly affect speech and swallowing, although outcomes differ between patients.
Published research has found that some people can retain or regain intelligible speech, depending on factors including whether the larynx is preserved, reconstruction and rehabilitation. The effects of the procedure therefore should not be generalised from one person's experience.
For Allocco, Songs of Love says cancer took away his ability to sing as he had before. The foundation says Suno later allowed him to use characteristics of his own voice in AI-assisted songs.
Born in Queens and raised on Long Island, Allocco fronted Dreamer in the 1980s, when the band signed with RCA Records. He later formed Carl and the Passion, which landed a deal with MCA.
After decades of writing, recording and performing, AI gave him another route to continue making music.
AI Helps Finish the Song That the Cancer Interrupted
One unfinished song had particular significance for Allocco.
On his website, he describes 'Tell Me If It's Real' as the last song he had been writing before his surgery. He says AI enabled him to finish it after his life changed. The single was released on 4 January 2026 through Big Blue Sky Records, according to Apple Music and Amazon Music.
The recording should not be interpreted as evidence that Allocco's biological ability to sing was restored. The available sources instead describe AI generating vocals using characteristics of his earlier voice.
How Suno Recreates a Familiar Vocal Sound
Songs of Love says Allocco uses Suno's Persona feature for both his personal music and songs created for the foundation. It describes the tool as allowing him to clone his own voice and 'sing' again on songs he writes.
Suno describes Personas as reusable profiles that capture elements of a song, including its vocals, style and overall character, and carry those elements into later creations. The feature was introduced in October 2024.
That is distinct from Suno's newer Voices feature, which was launched on 26 March 2026, more than two months after 'Tell Me If It's Real' was released. Voices allows users to record or upload their own audio and create music using a personalised vocal profile.
Suno says its verification system compares a spoken phrase with the uploaded vocal recording. Its current terms also state that users may create a Voice Model only from their own voice and may not attempt to create one resembling another person.
In Allocco's case, Songs of Love says the voice characteristics being reproduced are his own.
Decades of Writing Songs for Others
Allocco has worked with the Songs of Love Foundation since 1996, creating personalised music for people facing serious medical and other challenges.
An older Songs of Love songwriter profile credits him with more than 7,000 songs, while his more recently updated personal biography says he has written more than 8,000. Both figures come from official pages, although they give different totals.
Songs of Love says the organisation has now delivered more than 50,000 free personalised songs to children, teens and seniors facing medical, physical, cognitive and emotional challenges.
After decades spent writing music for other people, Allocco faced a medical crisis that changed a central part of his own musical life.
AI did not undo his surgery or restore his tongue. But it has given him another way to record the songs he continues to write while preserving recognisable elements of the singing voice that shaped his music before cancer treatment.
