Tom Petty harbours no ill will towards Sam Smith over the latter's "Stay with Me" single sounding similar to his 1989 single "I Won't Back Down," and has taken to his blog to call the songwriting incident a "musical accident."
A statement from the Heartbreakers leader has him confirming there aren't "any hard feeling towards Sam," noting of how the two tracks share musical elements, and phrasing similarities: "All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen."
While a recently revealed court decision explained that both Petty and producer/collaborator Jeff Lynne have been given songwriting credit and royalties for Smith's In the Lonely Hour single, Petty notes his team had no intention to sue.
As previously reported, Smith's camp "amicably dished out royalties" when they were approached by the publishers of "I Won't Back Down." Petty now says "Sam did the right thing," and that he's put the incident behind him and wishes Smith well.
You'll see the statement in full down below:
About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam's people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all.
A statement from the Heartbreakers leader has him confirming there aren't "any hard feeling towards Sam," noting of how the two tracks share musical elements, and phrasing similarities: "All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen."
While a recently revealed court decision explained that both Petty and producer/collaborator Jeff Lynne have been given songwriting credit and royalties for Smith's In the Lonely Hour single, Petty notes his team had no intention to sue.
As previously reported, Smith's camp "amicably dished out royalties" when they were approached by the publishers of "I Won't Back Down." Petty now says "Sam did the right thing," and that he's put the incident behind him and wishes Smith well.
You'll see the statement in full down below:
About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam's people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all.
