Madonna has been accused of "sleeping her way to the middle" in late 1970’s New York City, but she definitely stole her way to the top from there. On top of imitating everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Andy Warhol with her photo shoots, dress, and appearance, her hit, “Justify My Love” is a startling replica of Public Enemy’s “Security of the First World. Chuck D and PE sued, winning an “undisclosed sum.” But that wasn’t the end of her trouble with that song. A poet Ingrid Chavez sued because Madonna had stolen her lyrics for the same song, word for word! She won and was issued royalties and a writer’s credit.
At last count, Madonna has been slapped with 15 plagiarism lawsuits over her career, and who knows how many more never made it that far?
Kid Rock
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Kid Rock is one flattering mofo. His whole shtick seems to be a performing caricature of other musical forms – at some times classic rock, country, and even a little white-trash rap thrown in. He’s blatantly boosted Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynard, Johnny Cash, Metallica, Grandmaster Flash, Warren Zevon of Werewolves Of London, and even sings the lyrics to Sweet Home Alabama word for word in his 2008 hit, All Summer Long. Somehow, it’s still hard not to like Kid Rock, though we’ve definitely lost respect for him as a music artist.
The band that was called “better than the Beatles,” – by themselves – shamelessly jacked other musicians. As early as their breakthrough song, "Cigarettes and Alcohol" they copied the T. Rex classic "Get It On (Bang a Gong)”
And the Oasis song “Step Out,” sounds surprisingly like Steve Wonder’s classic, “Uptight.” So much so that “Step Out” was included on promotional copies of Oasis album but pulled at the last minute. When the song finally was released, Stevie Wonder was listed as a songwriter – a “collaboration” he surely never approved.
Radiohead
Oasis’ archenemy isn’t exactly innocent when it comes to stealing music. Their hit, “Creep,” is basically "The Air That I Breathe" by the Hollies, so much so that the Hollies sued. They won, and Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood from the Hollies are now listed as writers.
But Radiohead didn’t stop there, stealing “Karma Police” from the Beatle’s “Sexy Sadie.”
Speaking of the Beatles, they may have been imitated often but did their share of musical thievery, as well. Listen to the main riff of Bobby Parker's "Watch Your Step" compared to the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." George Harrison even admitted stealing Parker’s guitar riff. They also confessed to be “influenced” by the Isley Brothers on, “From Me to You.”
John Lennon’s iconic song, “Come Together” was blatantly ripped from Chuck Berry. Posthumously, Barry’s reps sued Lennon, who’s defense was that he and Pau McCartney had slowed the rhythm and added more bass to make the Chuck’s song “more original.”
Green Day
California’s punk revival band that blew up in the 1990’s revitalized their career in the early 2000’s with American Idiot. But if you listen to the opening of the song, "Doublewhiskeycokenoice" by an obscure punk band called Dillinger Four, you’ll realize it they boosted it
On their follow up album, Warning, Green Day is charged with stealing an old Kinks song and adding different lyrics to it for the title track.
Jimmy Page stole the chords and some of the lyrics for "Dazed and Confused" from the Yardbirds, who he played with back in 1967. The song ended up on Zeppelin’s 1969 debut album with no mention or credit of its origin.
They didn’t stop there – the opening notes of their most famous song, “Stairway to Heaven,” were taken from “Taurus” by a little-known band called Spirit. Oh, and Zeppelin had opened for Spirit on their first U.S. tour. Hmmm…
Metallica
Called the greatest American band, Metallica followed the practice of their British counterparts by burglering the competition for their music. To start, listen to "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," side by side with Bleak House's "Rainbow Warrior."
It’s been confirmed that their songs "My Apocalypse," "End of the Line" and "The Day that Never Comes" were stolen from The Offspring, Pearl Jam and Joe Satriani.
But perhaps their greatest hit, "Enter Sandman" is a smash-and-grab of the song "Tapping into the Emotional Void,” by the little-known band Excel.
Recently, rapper Phoenix Phenom accused the BEP’s of stealing her song “Boom Dynamite” for their hit “Boom Boom Pow.”
On "Party All the Time," the Peas sampled the song “Mancry” by Freeland, without any credit or clearing the sample. It goes on: in 2007, will.i.am used a good portion of Daft Punk’s “Around the World” in his single.
But for any classic rap aficionados, the plagiarism that stings most is Fergie’s hit, “Fergelicious,” which is basically J.J. Fad’s “Supersonic” redone.
Lenny Kravitz
Since his very first album, critics have pointed to Kravitz’s desire to be Jimi Hendrix, to be the Beatles, and to be Prince, all in one. His debut album in the 1980’s lay the groundwork for that accusation and Kravitz has done nothing to dispel it to date. As examples, “Are You Gonna Go My Way” or “Fly Away” are based entirely on a single Hendrix riff, and “You Belong to Me” is a nice Prince-like love song.
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