Did Ed Sheeran copy Marvin Gaye? Singer breaks out guitar in court defence

Ed Sheeran testified in court, where he performed a fragment of his hit song 'Thinking Out Loud' in an attempt to prove it is not a copy of the soul classic 'Let's Get It On.'

Singer Ed Sheeran is used to performing in sold-out stadiums, but he traded that in on Thursday when he briefly played for a packed New York courtroom in an ongoing copyright lawsuit over Marvin Gaye’s soul classic Let’s Get It On.

Sheeran, the first witness in his own defence, testified for about an hour and performed a fragment of his hit song in question, Thinking Out Loud. 

Sheeran has been in court this week as part of a lawsuit filed in 2017 by the heirs of a Let’s Get It On co-writer, Ed Townsend, who created the soulful song alongside Gaye. The lawsuit claims Sheeran, 32, and his co-writer, Amy Wadge, knowingly plagiarized the song’s iconic four-chord sequence.

Sheeran has staunchly denied that he copied or was influenced by Let’s Get It On.

On the stand, Sheeran discussed his songwriting process, which he said is inspired by his real life. He said Thinking Out Loud was written about the lifelong love between his grandparents, his grandfather’s then-recent death and a blooming romantic relationship of his own.

Sheeran said he and Wadge wrote the song collaboratively while she visited his home in England. He testified that while Wadge was strumming chords, he sang the brainstormed line “I’m singing out now,” which would eventually become “I’m thinking out loud,” in the song’s chorus.

“When I write vocal melodies, it’s like phonetics,” he said.

Sheeran then retrieved an acoustic guitar from behind the witness stand and strummed the chords to Thinking Out Loud. He sang the opening lyrics, “When your legs don’t work like they used to.” The Associated Press reported the short musical outbreak brought smiles to people watching in the gallery.