Sam Smith has had a successful career in the music industry, but they have also been a part of some controversial moments. One included Tom Petty challenging the pop singer in 2015 about their song “Stay With Me.”
According to Rolling Stone, publishers for Petty’s 1989 “I Won’t Back Down” reached out to publishers for Smith’s song “Stay With Me” to discuss the similarities between the musical composition. Petty and the publishers believed the similarities between the songs were too close. Smith held to their beliefs as they said the similarities between the two songs were a complete “accident.”
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Smith spoke to CBC about their thoughts on the case and whether they intentionally copied Petty’s track. Smith, who was 22 at the time, said, “I just go into the studio, and ‘Stay With Me’ was me just writing a song about me sleeping with too many people, and wishing they would stay over.” Smith claims they were writing about their feelings and they were “shocked” to hear about the two songs’ comparable melodies. They said, ‘… I am 22, and I’ve never heard the song.” Smith has not been the only musician to face a dispute about possible copyright infringement.
