7 Famous Musicians Who Stole Some of Their Biggest Hits

Music history is basically a long, glittery game of telephone: a riff inspires a riff, a groove inspires a groove, and
suddenly your “totally original” chorus sounds like something your dad swears he slow-danced to in 1978. Most of the
time, that’s just art doing art things. But sometimes the similarities get loud enough that lawyers start humming along.

This list isn’t a “gotcha” parade. It’s a reality check about how thin the line can be between influence and
infringementand how often famous musicians end up accused of stealing their biggest hits (whether a judge agrees,
a settlement happens, or everyone walks away insisting it was a cosmic coincidence). Along the way, you’ll see how
sampling, interpolation, subconscious borrowing, and plain old “too close for comfort” can turn chart-toppers into court
exhibits.

Quick note before we begin

The headline says “stole” because it’s punchy. The truth is usually messier. In some cases below, courts found
infringement; in others, artists settled without admitting fault; and in others, the accused musicians ultimately won.
Either way, these are seven famous examples where a “big hit” came with a “big question”: Did they write it… or
borrow it a little too enthusiastically?

1) George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” vs. The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine”

The hit that made everyone hum…and then compare melodies

“My Sweet Lord” helped define George Harrison’s post-Beatles identity: spiritual, melodic, and so catchy your brain
automatically sings it when you’re trying to do math. The problem? Listeners (and eventually the courts) noticed it
strongly resembled “He’s So Fine,” a 1963 hit recorded by The Chiffons.

What the court said (and why the phrase “unconscious plagiarism” became famous)

The Harrison case is legendary because it introduced a concept that feels painfully relatable to anyone who’s ever said,
“Wait… did I invent that joke, or did I steal it from the internet?” The court concluded Harrison had access to the
earlier song and that the two works were substantially similardescribing it as subconscious copying rather than
deliberate theft.

Why it still matters

This case is the blueprint for modern “I didn’t mean to!” defenses. It reminds songwriters that the brain is basically a
playlist on shuffle, and sometimes it plays a track you didn’t realize you saved. In a world where popular chord changes
and melodic shapes are everywhere, “unconscious” doesn’t always mean “innocent” in the legal sense.

2) Robin Thicke & Pharrell Williams “Blurred Lines” vs. Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”

The hit that turned a vibe into a lawsuit

“Blurred Lines” was massiveinescapable, danceable, and, depending on who you ask, either a party anthem or a reason to
leave the party early. Then came the accusation: it copied elements of Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.”

The case everyone in music still argues about

A jury found in favor of Gaye’s family, and the legal battle became a cultural debate: Can you “steal” a feel?
The verdict and subsequent rulings helped cement “Blurred Lines” as a cautionary tale about how close is “too close,”
even when you’re not sampling or lifting a melody note-for-note.

The takeaway for modern pop

This case made artists and producers extra nervous about writing in the same genre lane as their heroes. Funky rhythms,
party chatter, and certain groove choices suddenly felt like legal quicksand. The bigger lesson: courts and juries may
react not only to technical similarity, but also to the overall impressionespecially when the earlier work is iconic.

3) Vanilla Ice “Ice Ice Baby” vs. Queen & David Bowie’s “Under Pressure”

The bassline heard ’round the world

If you can hear bass in your head right now, it’s probably because this is one of the most famous “borrowed” moments in
pop history. “Ice Ice Baby” rode a bassline that listeners immediately recognized from “Under Pressure.”

How credit (eventually) showed up to the party

The story is often summarized as: it became a hit, questions got loud, and the original writers ultimately received
songwriting credit through a settlement arrangement. The conversation around this one became a pop-culture legend because
it sits at the intersection of hip-hop’s sampling traditions and mainstream pop’s expectations about attribution.

Why this one is still a master class in music business reality

Even when something feels like “everybody samples,” the paperwork still mattersespecially once a track becomes a
money-printing machine. If “Ice Ice Baby” is the fun party story, the subtext is: clearing rights late is a very
expensive hobby.

4) Sam Smith “Stay With Me” vs. Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”

The chorus that triggered musical déjà vu

Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” is one of those songs that can make a grocery store aisle feel like a dramatic movie scene.
Not long after it took off, people pointed out similarities to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”

A settlement without a courtroom brawl

This one didn’t become a long public trial saga. Instead, the parties reached an agreement: Petty and Jeff Lynne were
added as co-writers, and the situation was framed publicly as a coincidence rather than intentional copying. Petty
essentially responded with the musical equivalent of a shrug and a life lesson: these things happen.

What “interpolation” teaches us here

You don’t need a direct sample to end up sharing credit. If the melodic contour (the shape of the tune) feels too close,
credits can shift. The modern lesson for songwriters: if your hook makes people sing another song on top of it, that’s not
always a complimentit’s sometimes a warning label.

5) The Verve (Richard Ashcroft) “Bitter Sweet Symphony” and the Rolling Stones/ABKCO dispute

When your biggest hit comes with a receipt attached

“Bitter Sweet Symphony” is the kind of sweeping, cinematic track that makes you want to stare out a rainy window and
question capitalism (which is ironic, considering the publishing drama).

Sampling permissions: the “yes” that wasn’t a full yes

The hit famously used an orchestral sample connected to the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” The conflict turned into a
rights and publishing battle that resulted in Mick Jagger and Keith Richards receiving songwriting credit and royalties
for yearsone of the most talked-about outcomes in modern rock history.

A later twist that felt like a rare happy ending

Decades later, the story took a surprising turn: the Rolling Stones’ side ultimately returned the songwriting credit and
royalties to Ashcroft. It became a rare example of a long-running music-rights dispute ending with something like closure
instead of permanent bitterness.

6) Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” vs. Spirit’s “Taurus”

The eternal riff… and the eternal accusation

“Stairway to Heaven” is a classic-rock monumentand, as it turns out, monuments attract lawsuits. The estate of Spirit
guitarist Randy California alleged Zeppelin copied the intro from Spirit’s “Taurus.”

What happened in court

After years of litigation, Led Zeppelin ultimately prevailed. The case became widely discussed not only because of the
song’s fame, but because it raised complex questions about what parts of music are protectable (and how similar is
“similar” when you’re dealing with common chord movements).

Why the win still changed the conversation

Even when artists win, the process sends a message: if your work is big enough, somebody will eventually try to
reverse-engineer it into a claim. For creators, it reinforced an uncomfortable truth: songwriting credit can sometimes be
decided not just in studios, but in depositions.

7) Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud” vs. Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”

The modern pop superstar meets the classic-soul giant

Ed Sheeran has faced multiple high-profile copyright claims, but the “Thinking Out Loud” dispute became one of the most
closely watched because it involved comparisons to “Let’s Get It On,” a foundational Marvin Gaye classic.

How the legal system viewed the “building blocks” argument

Sheeran and his co-writers argued the claimed similarities were common musical elementsthings like chord progressions and
basic rhythmic feel that show up everywhere. Courts and juries in recent years have increasingly wrestled with this idea:
if you protect generic musical ingredients too strongly, you risk locking up the entire pantry.

What artists learned from watching it play out

The Sheeran case became a public lesson in how copyright law tries to protect original expression without turning common
songwriting tools into private property. Whether you love or hate the outcome, the case helped clarify that “sounds kind
of like” isn’t always enoughespecially when the similarities involve widely used musical fundamentals.

So… what do these “stolen hit” stories actually tell us?

Put all seven together and a pattern emerges: the music business runs on inspiration, but it also runs on ownership.
Sometimes that ownership is obvious (direct sampling with no credit). Sometimes it’s debatable (shared grooves, melodic
shapes, genre conventions). And sometimes it’s painfully human (subconscious borrowing).

Here’s the practical truth: copyright fights aren’t just about notes. They’re about money, reputation,
power, and what a jury believes when two songs are played back-to-back in a courtroom. If you’re a fan, it can feel like
watching your favorite songs get dragged into couples therapy. If you’re a songwriter, it’s a reminder to keep your
receiptsmusical and literal.

Experiences: What These Cases Feel Like in Real Life (and Why They Stick With Us)

People experience “song stealing” stories in a few predictable stagesalmost like a pop-culture ritual. First comes the
casual moment: someone hears a new hit in the car, squints at the radio, and says, “Hold up… isn’t that basically
that other song?” The friend in the passenger seat laughs, the driver rewinds (or replays), and suddenly the
conversation isn’t about the lyrics anymoreit’s about comparison. Fans start doing what fans do best: they investigate.
They line up the choruses on TikTok, loop the intros on YouTube, and argue like they’re auditioning to be expert
witnesses.

Then comes the emotional split-screen experience. On one side, there’s the thrill of discoverylike spotting a hidden
Easter egg. Listeners love the “Aha!” moment because it makes music feel like a puzzle. On the other side, there’s the
disappointment: the fear that a beloved new song might be less “genius” and more “great at copying homework.” That’s why
the George Harrison-style “subconscious” explanation resonates so much. Most people know what it’s like to absorb
something over years and forget where it came from. The experience feels human, not villainousuntil money and credit
enter the room.

For musicians and producers, the experience is different: it’s anxiety with a metronome. Writing a pop song often means
aiming for familiaritybecause familiar is what people replay. But familiarity is also what people sue over. Plenty of
creators describe the modern studio vibe as “double-check everything,” not just for quality, but for risk. Chord
progressions get debated like they’re legal clauses. Melodies get tested against older catalogs. A hook that once would
have been celebrated for being “classic” now gets side-eyed for being “too classic.”

For songwriters who do feel wronged, the experience can be frustrating in a different way. It’s not always about
revenge; it’s often about recognition. If an older song helped build the blueprint, shouldn’t the blueprint’s architect
get paid? That’s why some disputes end in quiet settlements and added credits rather than scorched-earth trials. The
industry experience is that a negotiated credit change can feel like the least-worst option: it gives validation without
forcing everyone into a years-long courtroom soap opera.

And finally, there’s the fan-aftershock. Once you learn a song has a “similarity story,” you can’t unhear it. The track
becomes a mashup in your mind: part hit, part headline. Sometimes that ruins the magic. Sometimes it makes the song more
interesting, like knowing the backstory of a movie scene. Either way, these cases linger because they tap into a very
personal experience: music is memory. When two songs overlap, it feels like two memories collidingand everybody wants to
know who was there first.

Final thoughts

If this list proves anything, it’s that the biggest hits live under the brightest spotlightand spotlights make shadows
easier to see. Some artists were found liable. Some settled to avoid a long fight. Some won outright. But every case
reminds us that songwriting is both art and architecture: a creative act built from shared tools. The trick is building
something new without copying the neighbor’s blueprint… even when the neighbor’s blueprint is basically the foundation of
the entire genre.