Top 10 Biggest Rip-Offs in Music

These are music stars whose celebrated works were actually stolen. Some even have Grammys for these stolen works.

The Top Ten

Madonna

Madonna Louise Ciccone, known professionally as Madonna, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She has influenced many artists, including Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Beyoncé Knowles, and Britney Spears. Often referred to as the "Queen of Pop," she has played a significant... 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.
Jay Z

Shawn Corey Carter, known professionally as JAY-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and investor who was born on December 4, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. He's best known for influential albums such as Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album and is widely regarded as... 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.
Beyonce

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who began her career as the lead singer of Destiny's Child. The group scored multiple Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, including "Say My Name," "Bills, Bills, Bills," "Independent Women Part I," and "Bootylicious." After the group... 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

Led Zeppelin was an English hard rock band formed in London in 1968 as the New Yardbirds. The group consisted of Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones (bass, keyboard), and John Bonham (drums). The band was largely the brainchild of Jimmy Page, who even financed their first tour... 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.
Vanilla Ice

Robert Matthew Van Winkle, known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He became internationally famous in 1990 with the hit single Ice Ice Baby, the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to music, he has worked in real estate and hosted... read more

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.
Sam Smith

Samuel Frederick "Sam" Smith is an English singer-songwriter born in London on May 19, 1992. They rose to fame in October 2012 after being featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch," which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. Smith is well known for hit songs such as "Stay With... 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 Williams

Pharrell Lanscilo Williams, born April 5, 1973, known professionally as Pharrell, is an American singer, rapper, and record producer. Williams and Chad Hugo formed the record production duo the Neptunes, known for producing hip-hop, R&B, and pop music. He is also the lead vocalist of the band N.E.R.D... read more

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

The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990. The founding members were lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong joined the band later in the band's history.... read more

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

Coldplay is a British rock band formed in 1996. The group includes Chris Martin (lead vocals, piano), Jonny Buckland (lead guitar), Guy Berryman (bass), and Will Champion (drums, backing vocals). Their manager, Phil Harvey, is often referred to as the unofficial fifth member.... 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.

I'm not going to say Coldplay is the most groundbreaking band out there or anything, but the fact that a lot of their songs sound similar to U2 or Radiohead isn't the same as plagiarism.
Plagiarism is taking very specific elements from someone else's work and using them yourself without acknowledging them. To the best of my knowledge, Coldplay have never ripped off U2, Radiohead, or any other band in this way.
Avenged Sevenfold

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

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Lenny Kravitz

Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. His musical style draws heavily from vintage influences and incorporates a variety of genres, including rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic music, pop, folk... read more
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Kid Rock

Robert James Ritchie Sr., professionally known as Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, musician, record producer, and actor. He has blended genres such as rock, hip-hop, and country throughout his music career. Kid Rock is also known for his outspoken personality and activism.... read more

The Contenders

One Direction

One Direction, commonly abbreviated as 1D, was a British-Irish pop boy band composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, who departed on March 25, 2015.
The group formed on The X Factor UK in 2010, finished third, and then signed with Simon Cowell's Syco... 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.
Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo, born February 20, 2003, is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She first gained recognition for her roles as Paige Olvera on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark and Nini Salazar-Roberts on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.... read more
George Harrison

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 incorporation... 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.
Ray Parker Jr.

His song "Ghostbusters" was considered a plagiarized work of Huey Lewis' "I Want a New Drug." I believe they settled out of court.
Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor, widely dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll" and regarded as a pivotal cultural icon of the 20th century. His energetic musical interpretation and provocative performance style, bridging racial music traditions in a shifting era, both fueled his fame... 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 Bolton

Michael Bolotin, known professionally as Michael Bolton, is an American singer and songwriter. He originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres during the 1970s and 1980s, including with the band Blackjack. Bolton achieved mainstream success in the late 1980s and 1990s with a series of... read more

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 Combs

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.
In September 2024, Combs was arrested on federal charges including sex trafficking, racketeering... read more

He ripped off Every Breath You Take by The Police for that god-awful song I'll Be Missing You.
Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj, known professionally as Nicki Minaj (born December 8, 1982), is a Trinidadian-American rapper and pop artist. She is widely recognized for hits like "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

Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Provo, Utah, now based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The band's lineup includes lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee, and touring drummer Andrew Tolman... read more
Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Philip Selway, and Ed O'Brien.
Known for their experimentation and sonic evolution, they rose to international prominence with OK Computer and continued... read more
Nirvana

Nirvana was an American grunge band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. The band consisted of Kurt Cobain (vocals, guitar), Krist Novoselic (bass), and Dave Grohl (drums), who joined in 1990. Nirvana disbanded following Cobain's death by suicide in 1994.... read more
Ed Sheeran

Edward Christopher "Ed" Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was born on February 17, 1991, in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk. He's known for hit songs such as "The A Team" (2011) and "Shape of You" (2017).... read more