Uh oh, Ed Sheeran is in hot waters over his hit song, “Thinking Out Loud” (2014)!
The British singer-songwriter is currently being sued by the family of singer-songwriter Edward Benjamin ‘Ed’ Townsend, who was the co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” (1973). TMZ reported that the family is accusing Sheeran of stealing the melody, harmony, and rhythm composition of Gaye’s panty-dropping classic.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday (9th August) in the Southern District of New York, asked for damages to be assessed at a jury trial. As at time of writing, Sheeran has yet to give his statement.
Townsend’s heirs weren’t the only ones who thought that “Thinking Out Loud” sounded similar to “Let’s Get It On”. Apparently, Legendary R&B vocal group Boyz II Men also pointed out the “obvious” resemblance between the 2 tracks during their 25th Anniversary concert in New Jersey.
The group also did a cover of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On”. You can listen to the cover below and judge for yourself:
The lawsuit came 2 months after Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard, and their publishing company HaloSongs, sued Sheeran for $20 million over his hit song “Photograph”. As aforementioned, the California-based musicians claimed that “Photograph” is a total rip-off from their 2009 song “Amazing”, which was sung by Matt Cardle.
What do you think about the lawsuit? Do you think that Ed Sheeran copied Ed Townshed’s and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
