Rick Astley sues rapper Yung Gravy. British artist, who rose to fame in 1987 with his song Never Gonna Give You Upaccuses the American of having imitated his voice without his authorization, in the piece Betty (Get Money).
According to the complaint, cited by Deadline, only the original track’s instrumental music was credited to Yung Gravy’s title. Rick Astley claims that the rapper uses, without any rights, “an intentional and almost imperceptible imitation of his voice.”
“The public cannot tell the difference. The imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice is so successful that the public believes that it was actually Mr. Astley who was singing,” read the complaint, filed Thursday in the court of The Angels.
Rick Astley is also suing his voice impersonator, Nick Seeley (aka Popnick).
Over a billion views on YouTube
According to these legal documents, this imitation would have destroyed a Rick Astley collaboration project with another artist, who also intended to sample the song’s vocal tracks. Never Gonna Give You Up.
Rick Astley’s Greatest Hit, written by trio Matt Aitken, Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, Never Gonna Give You Up celebrated its 35th anniversary last July. A true hit that has become a phenomenon on the Internet, it is already one of the few songs that has exceeded one billion views on YouTube, with Gangnam Style of psi and Smells like Teen Spirit of Nirvana.
Released in June 2022 Betty is from Yung Gravy’s third solo album, Marvelous. Quickly going viral thanks to TikTok, this song has since been certified gold in the United States.
Source: BFM TV
