Top 10 Rip-Offs in Music
These are music stars who whose celebrated works were actually stolen. Some even have Grammies for these stolen works.
Madonna Louise Ciccone, known professionally as Madonna, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She influenced a lot of singers such as: Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears. She is known as Queen of Pop and at modern pop culture specifically... read more A lot of tears and lawsuits have followed Madonna's career - by others. Songs like Like a Virgin, Vogue, and many others have had court cases tied to them, some of which have been settled inside or outside court.
Shawn Corey Carter, known by his stage name JAY-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur and investor born on December 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his albums Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album. He is considered to be one of the best rappers of... read more So many lawsuits for copyright infringement have followed Jay Z. Toni Braxton asked for a remake of a song. Next thing, Jay Z and Beyonce were singing Me and My Girlfriend (Bonnie and Clyde) and smiling all the way to the bank.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, is an American singer and actress, who started out in the popular pop/r&b girl group Destiny's Child. They had multiple top 5 hits such as "No, No, No", "Say My Name", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Survivor", "Independent Women", "Bootylicious", and "Jumpin', Jumpin" from... read more Since her Destiny's Child days, her name has been attached to songs she did not write. It continued in her solo days. Then, the lawsuits started pouring in. Even her ex-bandmate, Kelly Rowland, said that their names were put on songwriting lists so they could get royalties and hand them to their manager - Beyonce's father.
He is not her manager anymore, but the lawsuits have continued with each new album.
Led Zeppelin was an English hard rock band formed in London in 1968 as the New Yardbirds. The group consisted of Robert Plant (Vocal), Jimmy Page (Guitar), John Paul Jones (Bass, Keyboard) and John Bonham (Drums) and was very much the child of Jimmy Page who even financed their first tour. He had tasted... read more I don't know why they even ripped off other artists. All the ripped-off song lyrics were mediocre, especially "Whole Lotta Love." "You need love, I need love. We all need love." Blah blah. Boring. Their original lyrics were far better than that - like "Kashmir," "Stairway to Heaven," and "Tangerine."
The only artist I've seen who ripped off others just to produce worse material.
Led Zeppelin is no stranger to song theft. Their first song "Whole Lotta Love" was admitted by them to have been stolen from Willie Dixon. Frontman Robert Plant said that it was the successful ones that got caught. Dixon got paid and shares songwriting credit.
Robert Matthew Van Winkle, known by his stage name, Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor and television host. The song Ice, Ice Baby got us singing, but it sampled the David Bowie-Queen song Under Pressure. Vanilla got sued, though he denied copying anyone. D.J. Mario also sued for songwriting credit, and a settlement was reached.
Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith is an English singer-songwriter born in London on May 19, 1992. They rose to fame in October 2012 when they were featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. They are well known for songs like "Stay With Me",... read more Sam's song Stay with Me more than borrows from Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down. Sam and his co-writers claimed not to know Petty's song, but with lawyers intervening, Petty and his co-writer now get songwriting credit and royalties.
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams, born April 5, 1973, known professionally as Pharrell, is an American singer, rapper, and record producer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo the Neptunes, producing soul, hip hop and R&B music. The song Blurred Lines got Marvin Gaye's family suing because it sounded like Marvin's Got to Give It Up, and Pharrell and co. had to pay up. Even the video for Happy was a stolen concept. Anne Marsen had a 24-hour fun video four years earlier, and Happy is a rip-off of that video, from the choir robes to the hallway dancing and general spontaneity.
Marvin Gaye's family says that Happy sounds like Marvin's Ain't It Peculiar and is thinking of suing.
The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong became a member at a later date. The song Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve was taken from The Last Time by the Rolling Stones. It opened up many court cases, and the Rolling Stones themselves were later sued for a song theft of their own!
Coldplay are a British pop rock band formed in 1996. The band consists of Chris Martin (lead vocalist and pianist), Jonny Buckland (lead guitarist), Guy Berryman (bassist) and Will Champion (drummer and backing vocalist). Manager Phil Harvey is often considered an unofficial fifth member. The band renamed... read more I agree this band is one of the biggest plagiarizers ever. I get that Led Zeppelin plagiarized a lot as well, but at least they did not steal every single song like Coldplay does. And at least Led Zeppelin got better at not plagiarizing their music later in their career.
Coldplay's early work was nothing but a rip-off of U2 and Radiohead, while their more recent work is just ripping off all the rest of the modern pop/alt/indie rock bands out there. I will never get the hype behind this band for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is definitely the fact that they are one of the most unoriginal bands ever.
Avenged Sevenfold is an American alternative metal band formed in 1999 in California. Their longest lineup consisted of M. Shadows (vocals), Synyster Gates (lead guitar), Zacky Vengeance (rhythm guitar), Johnny Christ (bass guitar), and The Rev (drums)... read more See the Hail to the King album, an album filled with rip-offs of other songs.
Hail to the King was a cool album, but I think it was more of a tribute than a rip-off album.
The Newcomers
Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He sang songs such as The A team and Shape of You. He was born in Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk.
Nirvana was an American grunge band that was formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana disbanded after Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. The drummer of the band, David Grohl, went on to start the Foo-Fighters, an alternative rock band... read more
One Direction (commonly abbreviated as 1D) were a British-Irish pop boy band based in London, composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously, Zayn Malik until his departure from the band on 25 March 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records... read more They have ripped off several songs: Baba O'Riley, We Will Rock You, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Should I Stay or Should I Go, and several more. I made a list about it.
George Harrison (25 February 1943 - 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle," Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his... read more Harrison's song My Sweet Lord was considered a rip-off of the Chiffons' song He's So Fine. After much argument, he had to pay up, but in a remarkable show of goodwill, the Chiffons recorded their own version of My Sweet Lord.
Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame after playing Paige Olvera in Bizaardvark and has also played Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. She gained much more fame after the release of her debut single... read moreHis song "Ghostbusters" was considered a plagiarized work of Huey Lewis' "I Want a New Drug." I believe they settled out of court.
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined... read more He was accused of ripping off Chuck Berry (the true King of Rock), Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton, and more.
Elvis recorded over 500 songs, but none were original. Why is he the King of Rock and Roll? Someone remind me.
Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. The Isley Brothers' song Love Is a Wonderful Thing was recorded by Michael Bolton, who used everything up to the title yet claimed not to know the song. He was sued and gave up the royalties and 28% of album profits.
Sean John Combs, also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy, Diddy, Love, and Brother Love, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, entrepreneur, and convicted felon... read more He ripped off Every Breath You Take by The Police for that god-awful song I'll Be Missing You.
Onika Tanya Maraj, known professionally as Nicki Minaj (born December 8, 1982) is a Trinidadian/American rapper / pop music artist. Minaj is most known for her songs such as "Anaconda", "Super Bass", "Starships" and her feature on "Bang Bang"... read more Anaconda ripped off Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back.
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Provo, Utah, now based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and touring drummer Andrew Tolman... read more
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwoood (bass guitar), Phil Selway (drums), and Ed O'Brien (guitar).