With the recent news of Miley Cyrus’ No. 1 hit “Flowers” being accused of copying Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” we’re looking at 5 times No. 1 songs were accused of plagiarism or copyright infringement.
Tetris Kelly
With the recent news that Miley Cyrus’s Hot 100 No.1 hit “Flowers” has been accused of allegedly copying Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” we’re taking a look back at five other Hot 100 No.1s that have been accused of plagiarism or copyright infringement. Olivia Rodrigo saw a ton of chart success in 2021 and earned her second No.1 on the Hot 100 that year with “good 4 u.”
But Olivia’s success didn’t come without controversy, as many thought, “good 4 u” sounded a lot like Paramore’s “Misery Business.”
Olivia retroactively gave writing credits to Paramore’s lead singer Hayley Williams and ex guitarist Josh Farro for “good 4 u.” The ‘Sour’ singer had already faced plagiarism accusations for her song “Deja Vu,” after mentioning how the “Deja Vu” bridge was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” while writing the song.
Olivia Rodrigo
But I wanted, like, the last bridge to kind of like, go crazy, and I love “Cruel Summer” It’s one of my favorite songs ever.
Tetris Kelly
Another Hot 100 No. 1 hit with plagiarism claims is Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts.” The song hit No. 1 in September 2019 nearly two years after its release, becoming Lizzo’s first No.1 on the chart. As the song rose up the charts in 2019 Lizzo was accused of plagiarizing the opening lyrics of the song by two different parties.
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