SING SHEERAN SING: Ed Sheeran sings to London’s High Court during copyright case

By Leonie Husselbee, Showbiz Editor | 10th March 2022

IMAGE: Ed Sheeran on The Graham Norton Show (BBC UK)

The singer/songwriter has been accused of copying parts of his song “Shape of You”, which hit the charts in 2017.

Ed Sheeran's Shape of You

The song's catchy chorus of: “Oh I, oh I, oh I” has allegedly been taken from Sami Chokri’s single “Oh Why” released in 2015.

IMAGE: Sami Chokri “Oh Why”

To prove that songs in pop music can sound similar, he compared the sounds of “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone and “No Diggity” by Blackstreets.

An earlier version of the song did sound similar to the Backstreets hit in which Sheeran stated: “I said that it was a bit too close to the bone [and] we should change it.”

Sheeran is denying all accusations and says he is in court to: “clear his name.” He denies ever hearing the song before the production of “Shape of You”.

The lawsuit has been ongoing since 2018 in which any royalties, at an estimated £20m have been frozen.

The hit song was not supposed to feature on his Divide album as Sheeran was unsure that it was right for the album: “I thought this song clashed with ‘Castle on the Hill’. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the album, I didn’t want to put it out and I was subsequently proved wrong.”

Live updates of the trial can be followed online.