British pop star Ed Sheeran sang with his guitar on Thursday on the stand of a New York court to defend himself against plagiarism of a song by American Marvin Gaye, US media report.
For the second time in a year, the 32-year-old singer and songwriter faces court charges of plagiarism in his globally successful songs.
After winning a court case in London last year, he is this time defending himself against accusations from the heirs of Ed Townsend, an American musician and producer who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Marvin Gaye. The hearing opened earlier this week in Manhattan.
Cited by the prosecution, a musicologist said on Thursday that the chord progression present on the two songs was almost similar – prompting the Briton to take out his guitar in court, the New York Times reports.
To demonstrate the differences between his song and Marvin Gaye's, Sheeran played his guitar in court assuring that the four key chords from his song “Thinking Out Loud” do not match perfectly those on Gaye's 1973 classic.
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The British musician also told the court that he wrote his “Let’s Get It On” at home with his regular musical partner Amy Wadge in February 2014. Sheeran’s hit then reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the U.S. chart, and won the Grammy Award for best song of the year in 2016.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Monday.
