Petty won't get Grammy nod for 'Stay With Me'

Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne may now be listed as co-writers of the Sam Smith hit Stay With Me, but that won't change their status with regards to the Grammys.

Because of the melodic similarities between the chorus of Stay With Me and the verses of Petty's 1989 hit I Won't Back Down, Petty and Lynne will now split a 25% share in its songwriting royalties. However, since the two didn't contribute anything new to the song, the Recording Academy, which hands out the Grammys, does not plan to amend its song-of-the-year nomination for Stay With Me.

"Since Lynne and Petty didn't do any new writing for this work, we are considering their original work to have been interpolated by Napier, Phillips and Smith for 'Stay With Me,'" Bill Freimuth, the Recording Academy's senior vice president/awards, told BillboardMonday. "Lynne and Petty will not be considered nominees nor will they be considered Grammy recipients, should the song win. Rather, they would be given certificates to honor their participation in the work, just as any other writers of sampled or interpolated work."

Smith and Stay With Me co-writers James Napier and William Phillips recently privately settled a copyright claim from Petty and Lynne's publishers. Capitol Records released a statement on behalf of Smith on Monday, saying that he was not previously familiar with Petty's hit but did acknowledged the similarity. "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," the statement said.

The Grammy Awards will be presented on Feb. 8. Nominations were announced in December. Stay With Me was released in the U.S. in April. The settlement with Petty and Lynne was reached in October.