Tom Petty Has No Hard Feelings About Sam Smith Song

2 minute read
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Performs At The Forum
Tom Petty of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers performs onstage at The Forum on October 10, 2014 in Inglewood, California.Paul R. Giunta—Getty Images
By Noah Rayman

Tom Petty says there is no ill will between him and Sam Smith after the artists reached an agreement announced this week over similarities between a song of his and Smith’s recent hit, Stay With Me.

A representative for Sam Smith announced on Monday that Tom Petty and his co-writer Jeff Lynne would be credited as co-writers on Smith’s song because of similarities between it and Petty’s 1989 hit I Won’t Back Down.

“Not previously familiar with the 1989 Petty/Lynne song, the writers of “Stay With Me” listened to “I Won’t Back Down” and acknowledged the similarity,” the representative said in a statement. “Although the likeness was a complete coincidence, all involved came to an immediate and amicable agreement in which Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne are now credited as co-writers of “Stay With Me” along with Sam Smith, James Napier and William Phillips.”

Now Petty has confirmed that the two artists have reconciled their differences amicably. “Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this,” Petty said in a post to his website. “A musical accident no more no less.”

Here’s the full statement:

“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.”

 

Here are the two songs, for you to compare:

 

 

 

More Must-Reads from TIME

Write to Noah Rayman at noah.rayman@time.com