Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne have been added to the list of songwriters for the international hit Stay With Me by Sam Smith.
Fans of Petty noticed a distinct similarity between Smith’s song and the tune of I Won’t Back Down. When the comparison was brought to the attention of Smith, he made the decision to not go to war in court and settled with Petty and Lynne who are now listed as co-songwriters with Smith, James Napier and William Phillips.
The agreement, which grants Petty and Lynne 12.5% of the songwriting credit each, was made last October but was only brought to light this past weekend by Britain’s Sun.
The question now becomes how does the Recording Academy handle this situation. Smith has the possibility of being the first artist to sweep the top four Grammy Awards (Record, Album and Song of the Year and Best New Artist) since Christopher Cross did it in 1981, the only artist to pull off the feat. If Smith wins Song of the Year, will Petty and Lynne be included on the award? They are not currently listed as songwriters on the official Grammy ballot.
The news will not affect Smith’s chances of winning Song of the year as the ballots were due back on January 16. The Grammys will be awarded on February 8.
I Won’t Back Down was the first single from Petty’s debut solo album Full Moon Fever reaching number 12 on the Hot 100 and topping the Album Rock Tracks chart.
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