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Sam Smith

Tom Petty: No 'hard feelings' for Sam Smith

Ann Oldenburg
USA TODAY
Tom Petty performs in concert.

Tom Petty wishes the whole Sam Smith copycat story had never come to light.

The classic rocker wasn't trying to make a big deal out of the comparisons between his 1989 hit I Won't Back Down and Smith's current hit Stay With Me.

It was announced earlier this week Smith will be sharing his songwriting royalties for Stay With Me with Petty and co-writer Jeff Lynne because of similarities between the two songs. The Stay With Me writers reached an amicable agreement with Petty and Lynne to fork over 25% of the royalties.

And now a gracious Petty has penned a note wishing Smith well.

Petty says in a blog post that "these things happen." And that the word "lawsuit" never came up.

Petty calls it, "A musical accident - no more, no less."

His entire note:

"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."

Tom Petty

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