Marvin Gaye Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Ed Sheeran’s ongoing plagiarism trial, after the court was played an AI version of Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Let’s Get It On’.The ongoing lawsuit stems back to 2017, when the pop star was sued by Ed Townsend — one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ — who accused him of copying the song in his hit release ‘Thinking Out Loud’.The accusations Sheeran faces allege that he (and his co-writer Amy Wadge) copied an ascending four-chord sequence and rhythm of the 1973 track. It also references “striking similarities” that violate the copyright.Now, in a recent development of the trial, it has been reported that laughter broke out in the court after members of the jury were made to listen to a “hideous” AI version of the Marvin Gaye song.According to Insider, those attending court on Wednesday (April 26) listened to the artificially generated take of the track, provided by a plaintiff musicology expert.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Ed Sheeran has announced details for the “- Tour” (pronounced “Subtract Tour”), a special run of dates set to take place in theaters and auditoriums in 14 cities across North America. The shows, mostly with singer-songwriter Ben Kweller in support, will take place in between dates on his massive stadium tour — titled  “+ – = ÷ x Tour” (pronounced “Mathematics Tour”) — which was announced last fall. Sheeran is using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan technology for the theater dates. Registration opens on Friday, April 28 at 10 a.m. ET and closes on Sunday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The Verified Fan onsale is set to begin on Tuesday, May 2 at 10 a.m. local venue time.

Ed Sheeran’s not the world’s most talented guitar player, that’s for certain. And don’t go dissing me for stating the obvious, not least because that’s according to Sheeran himself.

Thania Garcia Some of the most high-profile copyright infringement cases happen in the music industry, where the accusation of plagiarism is as nebulous as a concept can get. It happens sometimes by accident — an “unconscious borrowing” — and other times it’s on purpose, deemed a “musical homage.” Ed Sheeran has been at the center of the latest most-talked-about case brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote “Let’s Get It On” with Marvin Gaye. Sheeran made his first court appearance earlier this week to deny the claims that his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” lifts key elements of Gaye’s 1973 classic.

Ed Sheeran performed a snippet of “Thinking Out Loud” in front of a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, singing and strumming a few notes on an acoustic guitar during his Marvin Gaye copyright infringement trial.While testifying on the witness stand, the “Shape of You” singer took a tan Lowden wooden acoustic guitar and played the basic four-chord progression highlighting the 2014 hit single, giving the courtroom an intimate teaser of his gigs.Sheeran’s appearance came after his attorney Ilene Farkas called him to the stand to refute comments made by the plaintiffs’ musicologist Alexander Stewart, who argued that the first 24 seconds of “Thinking Out Loud” were similar to the beginning of Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”However, Sheeran said that Stewart’s analysis was wrong, and performed the version he said he plays at every concert before he then played Stewart’s version.“It works very well with him, but it’s not the truth,” Sheeran said.The 32-year-old British singer-songwriter explained the origins of “Thinking Out Loud” and how the song was created after the death of his grandfather and watching his grandmother’s health decline.The song, which was written with longtime collaborator Amy Wadge, came to life after Sheeran hopped out of the shower of his home and heard Wadge strumming the chords.Kathryn Townsend Griffin — the daughter of the late Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 R&B classic with Gaye — wasn’t present Thursday. She had collapsed in court Wednesday and left the Moynihan Courthouse on a stretcher.Her attorney Ben Crump said that she was feeling better and is expected to return to court next week.Judge Louis L.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The trial settling the case of whether Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” plagiarized the Marvin Gaye hit “Let’s Get It On” will never likely slip into concert mode, but it came about as close as it’s likely to during the pop star’s testimony on Thursday, when he picked up a guitar and briefly sang for the Manhattan courtroom. Sheeran performed a bit of what he said was the first version of “Thinking Out Loud,” as he and co-writer Amy Wadge developed it together at his home in England. The song’s hook lyric was then — as he sang it — “I’m singing out now,” according to musical testimony reported by ABC News. “When I write vocal melodies, it’s like phonetics,” he testified, according to Reuters’ report, showing out “singing out now” became “thinking out loud,”

Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud copyright trial took an unexpected turn this week as one of his accusers, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, collapsed inside New York's Manhattan Federal Court.The chart-topping singer, 32, was at the scene as he is attempting to clear his name of plagiarising Marvin Gaye's iconic tune Let's Get It On from 1973. According to reports, after falling to the floor, Kathryn – an heir of original songwriter Ed Townsend – was helped up by several individuals and received medical attention before being stretchered out of the court house.

Ed Sheeran was interrupted in dramatic fashion when the plaintiff in the case, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, collapsed and had to be taken out of court.The lawsuit against Sheeran alleges that the singer lifted portions of Marvin Gaye's iconic song «Let's Get It On» to use in his song «Thinking Out Loud.» The case was in its second day of testimony when Griffin became ill as one of her expert witnesses, a musicologist, was under cross-examination.At approximately 4:15 p.m., Griffin — the daughter of «Let's Get It On» co-writer Ed Griffin — began to suffer from a medical emergency, as her eyes closed and her legs buckled. Lawyers from both sides helped to lift her out of the courtroom and into chambers to receive medical attention.A nurse attended to Griffin, who was transported out of the courthouse in a wheelchair and taken to the hospital.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The copyright case in which Ed Sheeran is being sued for allegedly lifting portions of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” for his own “Thinking Out Loud” took on some unexpected drama Wednesday afternoon when the plaintiff, Kathryn Townsend Griffin, collapsed and had to be carried out of court, causing an interruption in otherwise routine testimony. According to CNN, Townsend Griffin (pictured above left) — the daughter of “Let’s Get It On” co-writer Ed Griffin — fainted about two minutes into the Sheeran team’s cross-examination of a musicologist who had been brought in to testify that there was a substantial similarity between the two songs.

A video that Ed Sheeran’s lawyers tried to stop being shown to jurors in the big ‘Thinking Out Loud’ song-theft trial is the “smoking gun” that proves that the pop star ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his song. Or so said a lawyer representing the estate of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend as that trial got underway in New York yesterday. But not so, reckoned Sheeran himself.

ongoing lawsuit — which accuses Ed Sheeran of copying a Marvin Gaye song — a lawyer has accused the singer-songwriter of “confessing” to the infringement by mashing up the two songs at one of his concerts.The lawsuit extends back to 2017 when Ed Townsend — one of the co-writers on the Marvin Gaye track ‘Let’s Get It On’ — accused the British pop icon of copying the track in his hit song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.Now taken to court, the accusations allege that Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge copied the rhythm of the 1973 track, as well as an ascending four-chord sequence. It also references “striking similarities” between the two tracks, that violate the copyright.During the ongoing case, Sheeran’s attorney Irene Farkas told the court that the “heartfelt song” was written “without copying” Gaye, and features elements that are commonly used in pop music.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic A copyright trial in a Manhattan federal courtroom pitting Ed Sheeran against the heirs of a co-writer of Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” saw the pop star taking the stand Tuesday, offering strong retorts to attorneys’ arguments that he had stolen elements of the 1970s hit for his own “Thinking Out Loud.” One piece of evidence that the judge had left in limbo in pre-trial hearings was a fan-shot video of Sheeran mashing up the two songs in concert in 2014. U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, who had previously left the matter of whether to allow the medley unresolved, ultimately ruled Tuesday that a 30-second clip be played, despite Sheeran’s attorneys’ argument that it was “irrelevant and prejudicial.”

Ed Sheeran arrives at the Manhattan Federal Court ahead of the first day of his trial in New York City on Tuesday (April 25).

The long awaited trial over whether or not Ed Sheeran ripped off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ finally gets underway in New York later today. This follows the jury selection process yesterday.Originally scheduled to commence in November 2020, but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheeran is accused of infringing the copyright of late songwriter Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the Gaye classic.

Another abrupt singing competition exit. Musician Alex Whalen has left season 23 of The Voice due to “personal reasons.”

EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed Olympian-turned-filmmaker Savanah Leaf, whose first feature Earth Mama recently world premiered to strong reviews at the Sundance Film Festival.

Blake Shelton hit his first major stumbling block on season 23 of on Tuesday, when one of his team members had to drop out of the competition.Host Carson Daly first made the announcement during the final night of the Battle Rounds, sharing with the crowd, «Team Blake's Alex Whalen could not be with us tonight, so in this case, his Battle partner will be singing solo.»That left Neil Salsich onstage by himself, but it didn't seem to faze him. He impressed Blake and fellow coaches Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper with his energetic rendition of Marvin Gaye's «I Heard It Through the Grapevine.»«Alex had personal reasons that he had to bow out of the competition,» Blake shared.

Blake Shelton is leaving this year after 23 seasons on the singing competition — but he'll always have his memories with his best frenemy, Adam Levine.Blake gave the former coach a teasing shout-out during Tuesday's Battle Rounds when a contestant was faced with a unique situation. Neil Salsich had to perform his Battle solo, after Team Blake competitor Adam Whalen dropped out of the competition for personal reasons.«I told him backstage, if you lose this Battle, it will be the worst fail in history,» Blake said of his advice for Neil before his solo performance.

The US judge overseeing the latest Ed Sheeran song-theft legal battle has declined to ban the plaintiffs in the case from showing a YouTube video in which the musician himself mashes together his song with the one he’s accused of ripping off. Though Sheeran’s lawyers are still free to object again to that video being shown to jurors when the dispute is properly in court.This is the legal battle where Sheeran is accused of ripping off Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ on his 2014 track ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

Lily Moayeri The power of music on screen grows stronger each year. In the past 12 months or so, “Stranger Things” saw ’80s British icon Kate Bush become a superstar stateside as her song “Running Up That Hill” featured in one of the most talked about scenes of the year; “Yellowjackets” reenergized ’90s gems both well-known and temporarily forgotten; “Euphoria” continued to dominate Shazam; and classic artists such as Fleetwood Mac and Marvin Gaye found new audiences through placements on “Our Flag Means Death” and “Atlanta,” respectively.

No high profile song-theft legal battle is complete without a YouTube video mashing together the two songs that are part of the dispute. But should that mash-up be shown in court? And what if the alleged song thief made the mash-up? Ed Sheeran’s legal team would like it to be known that mash-ups of this kind have no place in a courtroom, especially if they were made by Ed Sheeran.So, yes, while last year’s big song theft legal battle involving Sheeran was in the UK courts, this year we’re back in the American system with the long running litigation over his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Jackson will be played by the late icon’s 26-year old nephew Jaafar Jackson in the Antoine Fuqua-directed film biopic for Lionsgate. Fuqua just posted a confirmation on Instagram. The singer and songwriter is the son of Jermaine Jackson, who is the brother of Michael and member of The Jackson 5. Jaafar has been singing and dancing since age 12, and has showcased himself singing tunes from Sam Cooke to Marvin Gaye, along with originals.

Barrett Strong, artist and songwriter credited with having given Motown its first hit with “Money (That’s What I Want),” has died. He was 81.

Marvin Gaye's ex wife Janis Hunter Gaye has died aged 66. The late Motown legend's second wife passed away on Saturday (03. 12.

EXCLUSIVE: Gladys Knight, the Empress of Soul who recorded hits such as Midnight Train to Georgia and I Heard It Through The Grapevine, is gearing up for a scripted mini-series about her life.

Ed Sheeran’s legal team last week had one last go at trying to stop one of the song-theft lawsuits relating to his song ‘Thinking Out Loud’ from proceeding to trial, urging the judge overseeing the case to reconsider a recent decision he made about the copyright dispute.It’s alleged that Sheeran ripped off the Marvin Gaye song ‘Let’s Get It On’ when he wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’. Based on those allegations, the estate of ‘Let’s Get It On’ co-writer Ed Townsend sued Sheeran for copyright infringement.

the 1985 Commodores hit that paid homage to R&B legends Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson. It’s from the rock icon’s upcoming album, “Only the Strong Survive,” a collection of classic soul covers due Nov.

Bruce Springsteen has released ‘Nightshift’, a cover of the Commodores original, lifted from the singer’s forthcoming album.‘Nightshift’ first appeared on the tracklist of Commodores’ titular 1985 album, and was written as a tribute to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson (both of whom died the year prior). For his part, Springsteen stays true to the original, carrying the soulful tune atop a supporting band of brass, strings and backing vocalists.The track is accompanied by a music video directed by longtime Springsteen collaborator Thom Zimny.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic In “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” Elvis Mitchell’s highly pleasurable and eye-opening movie-love documentary about the American Black cinema revolution of the late ’60s and ’70s, Billy Dee Williams, now 85 but still spry, tells a funny story about what it was like to play Louis McKay, the dapper love object and would-be savior of Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues.” The year was 1972, and African-American audiences had rarely (if ever) been given the chance to gawk at a movie star of color who was not just this sexy but this showcased for his sexiness. Louis was like Clark Gable with a dash of Marvin Gaye; when he was on that promenade stairway, Williams says that he just about fell in love with himself. That’s how unprecedented the whole thing was. The actor recalls how the lighting was fussed over (we see a shot in which Louis appears bathed in an old-movie glow), and how unreal that was to him on the set. At the time, Black actors didn’t get lighting like that. But Black audiences drank it in with a better-late-than-never swoon, even as they knew that this was a representation they’d been denied for more than half a century.

A federal judge has ordered Ed Sheeran to stand trial over accusations that his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” ripped off Marvin Gaye’s iconic “Let’s Get It On”.