• Longest Gaps Between Albums: Dr. Dre, Kraftwerk, Jeff Lynne and More

    Dr. Dre finally did away with all the conjecture last week when he released Compton, a follow-up to 2001 that 16 years in the making (his last album, despite its title, was dropped in 1999). That span marks two years longer than the time it took Axl Rose and company to release the Guns N' Roses notorious Chinese Democracy. Unlike that album however, Dre's has found a fan base that was expecting it all along and isn't disappointed with the results. Although it may not top the Billboard 200, facing stiff competition from Luke Bryan's Kill The Lights, the release of Compton will serve as one of the bigger drops of 2015 when all's told. Still, 16 years is hardly anything when compared with the longest gaps between releases.

  • Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me' Under Attack from Another '80s Songwriter...Plaintiff Wants Grammy

    Sam Smith's hit "Stay With Me" is under a new bit of legal pressure as another songwriter has come forward claiming that Smith and his songwriting team stole inspiration. Mark Halper (not the famous Hollywood photographer) claims that during his song "Don't Throw Our Love Away" from 1986, he opens with the phrase "stay with me," which he refers to as a "significant phrase."

  • 7 Songs You Didn't Know Jeff Lynne Helped Write: Sam Smith, George Harrison and...The Pussycat Dolls?

    Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" was one of the biggest songs of 2014 and this week's big news was that Tom Petty would receive a songwriting credit for the song due to its similarities to his own "I Won't Back Down," a coincidence that Petty referred to as a "musical accident no more no less." Although Petty has appeared in all of the headlines, an equal amount of the songwriting credit was also awarded to Jeff Lynne, the frontman for the Electric Light Orchestra, who has been behind the scenes on many a track. Check out a list of Lynne's other surprise songwriting credits, not counting work with band's he's a part of, including the Traveling Wilburys.

  • Sam Smith Calls Tom Petty 'Stay With Me' Drama 'Coincidence'

    Two more co-writers have been given credit for one of 2014's biggest hits, "Stay With Me." Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, of Electric Light Orchestra, were added to the list of song creators after similarities were spotted between the Sam Smith ballad and "I Won't Back Down." Representatives for the young singer admitted to hearing similarities, but they want to make it clear that it is all just a big coincidence, "Rolling Stone" noted. Furthermore, Petty is not eligible for a Grammy.

  • Sam Smith "Stay With Me": Vocalist Pays Tom Petty Royalties on Hit Single for "I Won't Back Down" Similarity

    Sam Smith's "2014" was one one of the bestselling songs of 2014, and perhaps its had a little too much in common with "I Won't Back Down," another classic by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. It was revealed earlier this week that the soul vocalist has been paying royalties to Petty as a songwriter for the song, although not with all of the legal drama we often associate with similar tunes, such as the ongoing lawsuit between the Marvin Gaye estate and Robin Thicke comparing the 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" with that soul singer's "Got To Give It Up."
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