Ed Sheeran has been accused of ripping off the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On” for his Grammy-winning hit “Thinking Out Loud.” Structured Asset Sales is suing the British singer-songwriter for a whopping $100 million.
According to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ, “Thinking Out Loud” reportedly features the same “melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping” as Gaye’s 1973 track.
“Let’s Get It On” was written by Gaye and Edward Townsend, who passed away in 2016. Structured Asset Sales bought one-third of the copyright for the song, which reportedly amounts to $100 million. In 2016, Townsend’s family reportedly tried to sue Sheeran for implementing “elements” of Mr. Townsend’s song, however, they were unsuccessful due to a federal judge dismissing the complaint.
This wouldn’t be the first time the ÷ musician was accused of plagiarism or borrowing musical elements without permission. After Internet sleuths noticed that the pre-chorus melody of his 2017 song “Shape Of You” was similar to TLC’s “No Scrubs,” Kandi Burruss and Tiny Harris were given songwriting credits on the Sheeran track.
He was also accused of plagiarizing a track that he wrote for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and reportedly asked a judge to throw out the lawsuit in April 2018.