Sam Smith to pay royalties to Tom Petty after Stay With Me's 'resemblance' to 'I Won't Back Down'

It was decided that Stay With Me was too similar to I Won’t Back Down which was written by Tom Petty and ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

17:39 27 January 2015

22-year-old Sam Smith has to pay rock icon Tom Petty royalties after it was decided on Monday that his hit Stay With Me closely resembles the 64-year-old legend’s 1989 song I Won’t Back Down. The agreement was described as “amicable.”

Sam’s rep 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.'

Smith has yet to comment on the issue but did address shock DJ Howard Stern’s recent critical remarks via Twitter. 

On Friday, Stern said: 'You know what I like about the guy? He's an ugly motherf*****. He's fat.

'Is he gay? You know what, he looks gay to me, not that anybody looks gay, but he does seem effeminate.'

The longtime radio host continued: 'I like that he's chubby and gay. That's why I love him. He's one of those guys I feel like, he's really good but I feel like that will be his only hit song.

'That's how good that song is. He's fat and he's gay and little girls worship him. That's when you know you have a good song and you have a good voice.'

Smith expressed his disbelief at the statements and advised fans to simply ‘ignore’.