Right Said Fred have called Beyoncé arrogant for using an element of their song I’m Too Sexy without contacting them first.
Fred and Richard Fairbrass spoke of their annoyance at the 2022 Broadcast Music Inc Awards in London, expressing surprise that the singer used their song in her Renaissance track Alien Superstar.
“Normally the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person,” they said to the Sun. “She just had probably thought ‘come and get me’, so we heard about it after the fact, when you did.”
Previously Drake and Taylor Swift had both used elements of the song but had reached out to the brothers first.
“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 said. “With this Beyoncé thing there are 22 writers, it’s ridiculous, so we would get about 40p. The reason that is happening we think is because there is so little money now in the actual sales people like friends, golfing partners, engineers, bookers and the guy who brings the coke, they all want a cut.”
The pair also added that they have been forced to let it go as they cannot have a conversation with someone who has “a lot more presence and power and money”.
In a statement, Beyoncé’s representatives called their claims “erroneous and incredibly disparaging”.
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” it read. “For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilised … this accusation is fake.”
Back in July, Right Said Fred’s official Twitter account tweeted that it was “nice” to get a writing credit on the song.
After the release of Beyoncé’s seventh studio album, Kelis also expressed her displeasure at the usage of Milkshake, calling it thievery. “Nothing is ever as it seems, some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled,” she wrote. As a result, Beyoncé removed the interpolation.
Robin S, whose song Show Me Love was used on Break My Soul, found out that her song had been sampled via her son but was happy with the news. “This is Robin S, and this message goes out to the Queen Bey herself, Beyoncé, to Jay-Z, to the entire team,” she said during a TV interview. “Thank you so much for giving me my flowers while I’m still alive. I am honored, and I’m excited to see what else can happen.”
