Music superstar Hozier has received an apology from Canadian musician Chilly Gonzales after he was accused of ripping off another song for the melody on his smash hit Take Me To Church.
The Bray singer is now happy to put the whole episode behind him after previously considering legal action following the plagiarism claim.
It all started when Chilly Gonzalez, a Canadian musician now based in Germany, uploaded a video on to YouTube.
Gonzales uploads lots of music videos, in which he deconstructs popular pop songs on his piano to teach viewers how to play them.
When he took a closer look at Hozier’s Take Me To Church he claimed that it sounded awfully similar to the chords and tempo used in the song How Come You Never Go There by fellow Canadian musician Feist.
Gonzales made the following comments on the video:
“This sounds quite familiar to me, I must say. This very slow and noble triple time and those sad chords. I think I know what it might be.
“It’s almost the exact same thing. That’s a crazy coincidence that my good friend and musical little sister Feist with her song ‘How Come You Never Go There’ had the exact same idea to use those chords and that slow triple time as Hozier. What are the chances?
“I’m being told by the research staff that Feist’s track came out well over a year before Hozier’s. Doesn’t look so good does it? ‘Take Me To Church’? Maybe Feist should take him to court.”
The video has since been removed from YouTube, but Hozier was reportedly furious with his integrity being brought into question. His manager told the Sunday Times that the allegations from Gonzales were “groundless” and confirmed Hozier was considering legal action.
However, that now looks unlikely after Gonzales did issue an apology which was graciously accepted. Hozier posted this message on his Facebook page to put an end to the matter:
“There has been some talk in the press of legal action and I’d like to clarify my position and the goings-on of the past week for fear that gossip runs unchecked, as it often does. What was sought from my end was an apology and redaction of an unfair inferral.
“This has been issued by Jason Beck (Chilly Gonzales), which I very much appreciate. I will continue to follow and respect his work and look forward to moving on from this issue. Jason Beck has been co-operative and understanding, and there are no hard feelings on my part.
Thank you. Andrew Hozier-Byrne.”
Here are the two songs in question. See if you can hear any similarities.
Feist – How Come You Never Go There
Hozier – Take Me To Church
On a more positive note for the Co Wicklow singer, he recently made one of his fans’ day when he surprised her with a phone call live on BBC Radio.
Hozier was taking part in the popular feature Star Caller, in which music stars phone back one of their fans who has called in with a question. Hozier shocked his superfan Carly when he called her back. He seemed a genuinely nice guy as he put his startled fan at ease with his natural charm, asking her what the weather was like where she was.
Once she had regained her composure Carly asked Hozier her question of what songs he can listen to over and over without getting bored. Listen to the audio clip to hear what he said.
Hozier phones his superfan live on radio