Another day, another person complaining about Renaissance. Gosh, this album has been mired in controversy, some deserved, some not. I do remember the song “I’m Too Sexy,” but did not remember that some guys called Right Said Fred were the artists on the song. Anyway, the pair is complaining that Bey never sought permission to use an interpolation of their song on “Alien Superstar,” but she actually did and even cites correspondence dates. #ReceiptsSeason.
Right Said Fred has officially stirred not just the Beyhive but the Bey. Beyoncé herself, who rarely comments on such matters publicly, has issued a statement vehemently taking issue with the duo’s reported claim that her camp never sought permission to use “I’m Too Sexy” as a part of her recent “Alien Superstar” track.
Right Said Fred’s allegations, as reported in the U.K. newspaper the Sun, are “erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” Beyoncé said in a statement issued to E! Entertainment News.
Right Said Fred has officially stirred not just the Beyhive but the Bey. Beyoncé herself, who rarely comments on such matters publicly, has issued a statement vehemently taking issue with the duo’s reported claim that her camp never sought permission to use “I’m Too Sexy” as a part of her recent “Alien Superstar” track.
Right Said Fred’s allegations, as reported in the U.K. newspaper the Sun, are “erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” Beyoncé said in a statement issued to E! Entertainment News.
Beyoncé pointed out that her track technically does not actually sample theirs, as the duo was quoted as contending, but is an interpolation in which “I’m Too Sexy” is essentially paraphrased through a re-recording of the elements used. Thus, she says, permission only needed to be sought from the songwriting publisher, not the holders of the original “Sexy” recording — and it was asked for and granted.
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” Beyoncé said in the statement she issued Friday to E!. “For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized. Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11, 2022 and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August, 2022.”
Furthermore, she added, Fred and Richard Fairbrass, the brothers who make up Right Said Fred, properly received co-writer credit as well as being paid for the use of their song.
Yet the duo claimed the use of their composition came as complete news to them when the “Renaissance” album came out in July, suggesting that, if Beyonce’s very specific account of how things went down is accurate, the brothers may want to set up better lines of communication with their publisher. (A lapse in such communications would not be the first time this has happened — other artists have also claimed to have been surprised to learn their publisher signed off on some form of licensing.)
Right Said Fred blamed Beyoncé for not knowing about the usage, however. “Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person,” they were quoted as saying in the Sun four days ago. “She just had probably thought, ‘Come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did. But everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift [who also interpolated the song into their work], they came to us.”
While the duo didn’t exactly deny that they had been given co-writer credit, they said money coming in would be negligible considering the huge number of credited writers splitting the pie with Beyonce. “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,” they told the Sun. “With this Beyoncé thing, there are 22 writers. It’s ridiculous, so we would get about 40 [pounds].”
Yet Beyoncé refutes that in her statement to E!., claiming that Right Said Fred is set to get a substantial portion of the song’s royalties, collectively more than even she is getting.
Beyonce’s statement says exactly when permission was asked, when it was granted, and when Right Said Fred was paid. Maybe their publisher did this without their knowledge, but she also says the duo said they were happy to be on the album. Honestly, it sounds like these dudes are salty because they didn’t get to speak to Beyonce themselves. “Normally the artist approaches us… Drake and Taylor Swift did…” Yeah, it sounds like these guys know that their 15 minutes have been up for a long time and the only thrills they get these days are when bigger, more popular artists come to kiss the ring and get permission for their silly, catchy song. They also shade her for the many co-writer credits and complain they’re not getting enough money, but she says they’re collectively getting more than she’s getting. People love to shade Beyonce for the many co-writers thing, but this is why she does it! People love to pop out of the woodwork and talk about their contributions to her work, so she might as well credit them.
Ever since I found out this duo made derogatory comments about Meghan Markle, I deleted their song from my music library and I have never listened to them again
Ah, so this is just par for the misogynoir course for them. What putzes.
Yep. Rod Stewart for the same reason. I haven’t forgotten Katy Perry being dismissive about Meghan’s wedding gown and side eye her as well.
Who cares if she has 22 songwriters when the songs themselves very rarely sound like a remake. The last song on Renaissance is obvious but sometimes even with songs I know very well, I can’t hear them on the Renaissance songs.
I’d never even heard of these men until now. The only way they’re going to stay relevant is by latching on to others. Gross. Team Bey.
Might be you’re younger?
Right Said Fred are a boring one hit wonder, but my God they were everywhere back then in, what, 1991?
If you managed to get through the early 90s without seeing their stupid faces, consider yourself one of the lucky few.
They got themselves some attention which I guess is what this was all about? That and taking a dig at a successful black woman so I’m sure The Sun was happy too. Please keep your racism to yourselves if you can’t learn to do better.
Yep.
Eff them. They spend most of their time on twitter spreading anti-vaxxer nonsense. I wish Beyonce hadn’t used their song.
Ugh.
I love how the song they’re complaining about, with no video or any other form of promotion and having only been out like a month or two, is well on its way to outselling their own “classic” song. I LOVE it. Send home that message: you are just two middling or untalented racist tossers who stumbled onto ONE mildly entertaining song in an entire unremarkable “career”. You should be GRATEFUL to have been included at all, bc this is a different level. The age of being regarded simply for being a white male loser is OVER
At the time the album came out, they were posting on Twitter that they were featured in her album so this seems like them wanting attention or more money. As for arrogance, she doesn’t need to be humble to these one hit wonders. She’s one of one and doesn’t need to pretend otherwise.
Number One. Bad B-ch!
Exactly. I am so baffled at this. But maybe they thought Beyonce wouldn’t respond since she usually does not. She let Kellis be out there acting like a whole fool throughout that mess and then she just yanked the 3 seconds of her extrapolation.
WMW=White Males (just cannot call them men) Whining
Right Wing Brexit-promoting nut jobs. I can’t bear them.
Don’t forget to throw in ‘clout chasing ‘
Right Said Fred simply should have said uppity black woman Beyonce refuses to kiss our asses.
I’m a big fan of Jimi Hendrix. “I’m Too Sexy” uses Hendrix’s song “Third Stone From the Sun” throughout their song and yet, I don’t see a writing credit for Hendrix. Perhaps someone else played the notes but Jimi still wrote those notes to begin with. Right Said Fred needs to be careful about how they’re complaining is all that I’m saying.
Interesting! I didn’t know that. Perhaps Hendrix estate can come after them like Marvin Gaye’s estate has gone after others!
How maddening! Its obviously open season on publicly disparaging successful Black women but I don’t think they’re ready for the smoke from the Beyhive! How disingenuous of them to mischaracterize and lie about the deal they made with her. Glad she learned from previous lessons and was too ready with the receipts!
I disliked that song and never understood its popularity. I heard a couple of songs one day while shopping, liked them and bought the album. It was surprisingly good (I always skipped over that song tho! They could have said something positive that would have still gotten them attention and renewed interest in that awful song. Instead, being they preferred being jackasses.
When “I’m Too Sexy” came out, labels and artists were way more lackadaisical about crediting their sample sources. Plus the Hendrix estate was a hot mess for decades before Jimi’s adopted half-sister took over. I do know that James Brown’s estate has been seeking retroactive credits for songs that his music was sampled on (Brown’s music has been sampled literally hundreds of times) which is why I said Right Said Fred should be more careful about their complaints. But I also hope that the Hendrix estate can collect on this in the future. I think everyone should receive proper credit for their work and I’m glad that Beyonce came out to prove that she did the right thing in the first place.
Not a fan of Beyonce’s music, but I support her in this
If she asked for and received permission and has the receipts to prove such, then this strikes me as nothing more than tantrum throwing to try to stay relevant. I should think they would be ecstatic that Beyonce used any of their riffs or words or anything. If that were me, I would be all “guess WHAT bitches????” and ride it till eternity. ” hmm? Oh it’s gonna be 80° and sunny and did I tell you Beyonce used my stuff, no big deal” any time someone asked me for the weather
Also I had a friend whose daughter went to see Right Said Fred and walked out not even halfway through the show. Told her mom it was the most boring show she had ever been to.
I’m not particularly inclined to side with these guys on anything, but if I’m recalling the initial news correctly, the article quoted here doesn’t accurately reflect what they are actually complaining about, and neither does her response. They aren’t out there saying she stole the work without getting proper legal permission, they (and a few other artists) have been saying that they felt it was inappropriate that she used their work without contacting them personally to give them a heads-up or get their approval. Not something she was legally required to do (the “receipts” are proof that her team handled the legalities properly), but something that is perhaps considered polite or a normal part of the process.
(That being said, from what I understand about these gentlemen, not exactly crying for them. Just don’t like seeing context get twisted.)
“Gosh, this album has been mired in controversy, some deserved, some not.” Umm..none of this is deserved so please elaborate.
And define “controversy” while we’re at it…