Beyoncé has responded to accusations from Right Said Fred, the English pop band that said the 41-year-old sampled their 1991 hit song “I’m Too Sexy” without permission, as reported by The Sun.
“Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person, she just had probably thought ‘come and get me’ so we heard about it after the fact, when you did,” Right Said Fred told the publication. “But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us.”
“To use our melody they need our permission so they send us the demo and we approve it and if so we get a co-write credit,” the brothers continued. “With this Beyoncé thing there are 22 writers it’s ridiculous so we would get about 40p.”
Right Said Fred expressed that they had little hope for resolving the matter.
“We can’t stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s**t,” they said. “You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t go well.”
The duo concluded that it would be best to “let it go.”
A representative for Beyoncé then reached out to The Sun with a statement, refuting the duo’s claims.
“The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyoncé used ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in ‘Alien Superstar’ without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” they said. “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album. For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized.”
According to the representative, Beyoncé’s team asked for permission from the band’s publisher on May 11, 2022, and the publisher approved the request on June 15, 2022. The duo was allegedly paid for the usage in August 2022.
“Collectively the Right Said Fred writers own more than any other singular writer and have co-writer credit,” they continued. “This accusation is false.”
Fred and Richard Fairbrass, the brothers who formed Right Said Fred, made the accusations in October when they spoke with The Sun at the 2022 Broadcast Music Inc. Awards in London.
In July, however, the brothers expressed a different sentiment on Twitter, saying, “It’s nice to get a writing credit on the new ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
It’s nice to get a writing credit on the new ‘Beyonce’ album. ‘Renaissance’ Credits: Drake, A. G. Cook, Syd, Right Said Fred, & More #Beyonce https://t.co/vnjFftkMLk
— Right Said Fred (@TheFreds) July 22, 2022
Why do you think the English band has now changed their tune?
