This Artist Tried To Rip Off Queen (And Paid The Price)

Posted by Kelle Repass on Friday, April 19, 2024

 

Singers and musicians sampling different artists' lyrics, melodies, and different inventive attributes is not new. And yet, when accomplished the incorrect way, "borrowing" from some other artist's work is without a doubt frowned upon.

Plenty of dad stars have learned this the laborious way over the years. In truth, a lot of cases have wound up in court docket and led to giant payoffs for the wronged artists. Other occasions, the claims are made up our minds to be unfounded or unprovable, and the headlines begin to fade.

But as Rolling Stone recounted, one artist went down in historical past for trying to rip off the team Queen. In fact, this once-famous rapper was additionally accused of stealing from David Bowie.

Not all pop stars from the '90s are still noted as of late, but this one's nearly infamous.

RELATED: Here's How Vanilla Ice Made A Cool $10 Million After 'Ice Ice Baby'

Past enthusiasts will have assumed he used to be just another one-hit wonder, but Vanilla Ice has some endurance. The artist, whose real identify is Robert Van Winkle, released "Ice Ice Baby" in 1989, a couple of years after a significant hit from Queen and David Bowie.

According to multiple sources, together with Rolling Stone, "Ice Ice Baby" sampled the bass line of 1981's "Under Pressure." Of path, in the early days of the song's popularity, Vanilla Ice 'joked' that he had added a beat between notes, and that's the reason what made his pop-rap music distinct.

But copyright regulation stood, and Queen and David Bowie threatened Ice with a copyright infringement lawsuit.

The case was once ultimately settled out of courtroom, however Vanilla Ice had to pay an undisclosed quantity to both Queen and David Bowie. Plus, both Bowie and a few of the contributors of Queen had been credited for "Ice Ice Baby" as neatly.

What truly were given fans riled up used to be that if Ice hadn't stolen from Queen, the epic team never would have hooked up to Vanilla Ice in the first place. It used to be a collaboration they didn't make a choice, and many fanatics perceived it as sullying the group's another way esteemed title.

Further, the fan website online QueenForever highlights a YouTube video interview with Van Winkle where he talks about the worth he had to pay to keep in the highlight post-Queen fiasco. Apparently, Van Winkle had to pay $4 million for the publishing rights to "Under Pressure" to get out from underneath the copyright infringement suit.

That was once a better choice, financially, Vanilla Ice said, than paying Queen and David Bowie royalties each and every time the hit came on the radio or appeared in a show or commercial.

NEXT: Vanilla Before The Ice: 10 Cool Facts About Rob Van Winkle's Early Career

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