Ed Sheeran made a dramatic vow from the witness stand this week in the “Thinking Out Loud” copyright trial.
The British pop star and songwriter is being accused of stealing a chord progression from Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It On” and using it in his Grammy-winning song, which was released in 2014. While he was testifying Monday at a federal courthouse in Manhattan, his attorney Ilene Farkas asked what would happen if the plaintiffs win ownership over the chord progression in question.
“If that happens, I’m done — I’m stopping,” said Sheeran, 32, appearing to vow he would quit music if he loses, according to the New York Post. “I find it really insulting to work my whole life as a singer-songwriter and diminish it.”
Sheeran’s track won the Grammy for song of the year in February 2016. Family members of Gaye’s late songwriting partner, Ed Townsend, sued Sheeran about six months later, alleging that he stole “the heart” of “Let’s Get It On” by using “melodic, harmonic and rhythmic compositions” that are “substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition” of the 1973 tune.
Attorneys for Sheeran have countered in court documents and at trial that “the two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters.”
Last week, the plaintiffs attorneys called Alexander Stewart, a musicologist, to draw similarities between Sheeran’s and Gaye’s songs, playing an awkward AI rendering of the tunes, which drew laughter from spectators in court, and a suppressed smile from Sheeran himself, according to Insider.
From the witness stand, Sheeran criticized Stewart’s testimony, accusing the music expert of misrepresenting his song for the jury. He reportedly whipped out his guitar and strummed, demonstrating the differences in chords between the two songs.
“If I can be honest,” Sheeran said during cross-examination by the plaintiff’s attorney, Patrick Frank, on Day 5 of the trial. “I think what he’s doing here is criminal.”
Despite Sheeran’s threat to stop performing, the musician is scheduled to kick off a North American concert tour Saturday in Arlington, Texas,with a date at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium on Sept. 22. His new studio album, “Subtract,” comes out Friday.
Times staff writer Christi Carras contributed to this report.