Robbie Williams has publicly defended Olivia Rodrigo after noticing similarities between two of their songs. Rodrigo recently released her first Christmas song, Take Me Home (4 Christmas), which was inspired by The Waitresses' 1981 track Christmas Wrapping. Fans also drew comparisons between Rodrigo's new release and Williams' 2012 single Candy, which reached number one in the UK.
Williams responds to fan speculation
The speculation prompted Williams to speak out in Rodrigo's defence, saying he believes many plagiarism accusations in the music industry are “absolute bollocks”. Writing on Instagram, he said: “There’s something about the music industry that’s been bothering me for a while.”
“People coming after people because they’ve spotted a similarity between two songs. Some of it I completely understand. Some of it is absolutely justified. Most of it, I think, is complete bollocks,” he added.
Williams said he has faced similar accusations over the years, noting: “I’ve had plenty of people come after me over the years because something I’ve released apparently sounds like something somebody else released. And sometimes I listen and think, fair enough, I can hear that. Other times I think, are you having a f****** laugh?”
No intention of pursuing the matter
Discussing Rodrigo specifically, Williams wrote: “It sounds to me as though she may have accidentally stumbled across a musical echo of mine in one of her new songs. And do you know what? I couldn’t care less. I don’t know whether there’s technically a publishing issue, a copyright issue, or no issue whatsoever.”
“And I don’t want to know. I’m not going after her. Because I think at some point, some f****** sanity has to prevail,” he continued. “Now, I appreciate I’m in a position in my career where I can afford to take that view. Not everybody is. And genuine theft is genuine theft. Artists deserve to be protected.”
He added: “But there’s a difference between protecting your work and treating every vaguely familiar sequence of notes as a winning lottery ticket. Some of this stuff has become ambulance chasing. And I think it’s disgusting.”
Creativity and musical influence
Williams said he believes it is inevitable that artists will sometimes produce music with a similar sound or melody to other songs. “We all stand on the shoulders of people who came before us. Sometimes consciously. Sometimes without even knowing it. That’s how music works,” he wrote.
“If we keep punishing people for accidentally arriving somewhere somebody else has already been, eventually we’re going to frighten the creativity out of everyone. Anyway, Olivia, if you’re reading this, I think you’re f****** brilliant.”
The Waitresses musician Christopher Butler revealed that Rodrigo contacted him after being inspired by Christmas Wrapping to create her own track. Rodrigo's song features a noticeably similar beat and a comparable vocal style to the 1981 original.
Take Me Home (4 Christmas) was released on November 5 and is Rodrigo's first Christmas song. The track was accompanied by a music video featuring Sex And The City star Cynthia Nixon and US comedian Ben Marshall, known for Saturday Night Live.
