Sam Smith will always regret not writing back to Tom Petty amid the controversy over Stay With Me.
The 34-year-old singer co-wrote the 2014 ballad with frequent collaborator James Napier and William Phillips, but the trio later had to give the late musician and Jeff Lynne co-writer credits and a 12.5 per cent share of the royalties due to the song’s similarity to Tom’s 1989 single I Won’t Back Down.
Sam has insisted they had never heard I Won’t Back Down before, but does have some regrets about the row.
Speaking on Alchemy With Anthony Mason, they said: “You’ve got to understand, Stay With Me was written in a basement in London and I’d never ever heard I Won’t Back Down.
“Regretfully, actually. I, as a young kid, just didn’t listen to men, if I’m honest. The only male singers I ever listened to were Stevie Wonder and George Michael. I was a kid that just loved the divas. And girl pop. So I’d never heard it.”
Shortly before they won four prizes at the 2015 Grammy Awards, Sam received a letter from Tom and was initially infuriated by it.
They explained: “He wrote me a letter the night before the Grammys and it arrived to my room. I was so p***** off when I read it, that’s the truth…
“We’re talking about three notes, when it all kicked off it was my first album, my first chance of success… When I heard what was happening, I was like, ‘That’s crazy, that’s awful’…
“He said it himself in the letter to me, there are only so many notes on the piano, and that’s why I was annoyed.
“I was like, ‘You get it, so why is this happening?’
“Now as I’m older I understand why, I understand that it wasn’t just him.
“I think he was trying to say that I see you and I understand what you’re going through right now and I’m sorry that this is all happening.
“Which was actually very, very sweet and kind of him. I’m so deeply regretful that I never responded to him. I never wrote back to him. I was just a little sassy 22-year-old queer kid. But I definitely should’ve written back to him.”
One bright spot from the row was that it introduced Sam to the music of Tom, who died in 2017 at the age of 66.
They said: “Since that happening, I have listened to his music. There’s a song called It Will All Work Out, which just moves me, and has become a song I turn to in my darkest moments.”