Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams says the controversy surrounding Blurred Lines made him realise some of his songs “catered” to a sexist culture. The singer says at first he didn’t understand why some people saw the lyrics as “rapey”. But he later realised that “there are men who use the same language when taking advantage of a woman”. […]
Singer Beyoncé is suing a US company to stop it from selling merchandise branded “Feyonce”. Texas firm Feyonce Inc sells clothing, and other items such as mugs with the label, on its website. The singer claims the label is too near to her own trademarked name and confuses customers and fans and damages her reputation. The […]
A judge in the US has dismissed a copyright case against Jay Z and Timbaland over his track Big Pimpin’. The rapper was accused of not getting permission to use a flute sample from a track written by an Egyptian composer called Baligh Hamdi in 1957. His nephew and heir, Osama Ahmed Fahmy, claimed they […]
A judge has trimmed more than $1m (£639,000) from the damages Pharrell Williams was ordered to pay after the Blurred Lines copyright trial. The case revolved around the question of whether Williams and his co-writer Robin Thicke had copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit Got To Give It Up. In March, a jury ruled that they […]
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have given The Gap Band a writing credit on their huge hit Uptown Funk, due to its similarities with their 1979 track Oops Up Side Your Head. Uptown Funk, which topped the UK chart for seven weeks and the US chart for 14, originally had six songwriters. The five writers […]
British musicians enjoyed the biggest share of album sales in the UK in 2014, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has announced. Artists including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Paloma Faith had more than half (53.5%) of all UK sales, according to Official Charts Company data. The last time British artists like Spice Girls, Oasis and […]
Rihanna has led music stars on the red carpet for the 2015 Grammy Awards in LA. The singer chose an oversized, pink Giambattista Valli gown for her arrival on Sunday night, before performing on stage. British soul singer Sam Smith won four awards, while Pharrell Williams, Beyonce and Rosanne Cash, daughter of country legend Johnny, […]
A US judge has ruled that a trial should settle a dispute over whether Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ hit Blurred Lines copied elements of Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up. Federal Judge John Kronstadt denied a request from Thicke and Williams to reject the plagiarism claims that were filed by Gaye’s family last […]