Tom Petty, who recently was awarded 12.5 percent of the credit for writing Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” because of how much it sounds like his 1989 hit “I Won’t Back Down,” is being very chill about this whole thing. In a statement on his website, Petty explained that there weren’t any hard feelings about Smith’s unintentional melody swiping. “All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen,” he wrote. “Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by.”
“Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement,” Petty continued, explaining that the out of court settlement was blown out of proportion. “The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention.” Petty finished his statement by wishing Smith the best, and hoping for “peace and love to all,” which was nice of him. Read the full statement below.
“About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all.”
