Ed Sheeran Heard Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It on’ in ‘Austin Powers’

• Ed Sheeran took to the stand for the primary time in his “Thinking Out Loud” copyright trial on Tuesday.
• The singer is being sued by the heirs of the cowriter of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
• Sheeran informed the courtroom he hadn’t heard Gaye’s track till he watched the 1999 film, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

Ed Sheeran claimed he hadn’t heard Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” till he watched “Austin Powers” as he took to the stand for the primary time in his “Thinking Out Loud” copyright trial.

The heirs of Ed Townsend, who cowrote “Let’s Get It On,” are suing Sheeran, alleging that his 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud” has “striking similarities” to Gaye’s 1973 soul basic.

Townsend’s heirs declare that Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing owe them cash for stealing parts of the track.

Appearing in a Manhattan federal courtroom on Tuesday, Sheeran testified that he didn’t copy from Gaye’s track.

“It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for hundreds of years,” the 32-year-old singer informed the courtroom, in response to People, earlier than declaring that various different standard songs, together with Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love” and “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, share the identical progressions.

Sheeran later mentioned, in response to People, that he first heard “Let’s Get It On” in the 1999 film “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

He insisted, nonetheless, that “Thinking Out Loud” was not primarily based on Gaye’s track, however as a substitute on a dialog that he and cowriter Amy Wadge had about his grandparents.

The track is about discovering love at an outdated age, he informed the courtroom, in response to NBC News.

Listen to “Thinking Out Loud” right here:

And “Let’s Get It On” right here:

Earlier on Tuesday, Sheeran was questioned a few reside mashup of “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” he carried out throughout a 2014 present in Zurich, which was caught on digital camera.

Ben Crump, a lawyer for the Townsend household, informed the courtroom that the live performance video amounted to a “smoking gun” confession, in response to the BBC.

Sheeran responded by saying that he typically mixes songs with comparable chords at his performances.

“You could go from ‘Let it Be’ to ‘No Woman, No Cry’ and switch back,” Sheeran mentioned, referring to the basic songs by The Beatles and Bob Marley.

“If I had done what you’re accusing me of doing, I’d be quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people and do that,” he added, in response to People.

Sheeran is anticipated to testify as soon as extra because the trial, which is about to final for round two weeks, proceeds.