Kelly Clarkson Addresses Beyonce Dispute: “Already Gone” vs “Halo”
Monday, July 27th, 2009
The always outspoken Kelly Clarkson is locked in another bitter dispute with her label, RCA, who clearly refuses to give the singer creative control. But this time it’s more than just a power struggle as her new single, “Already Gone,” is steeped in controversy because it sounds exactly like the new Beyoncé song.
But it’s not what you think. There’s actually an extremely good reason behind the similarities that has nothing to do with Clarkson wanting to emulate Beyoncé (and therefore success). Rather, it seems Clarkson was duped by her writing partner on the album, Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) and isn’t taking it lightly.
According to the NY Post, Clarkson realized that “Already Gone,” which she co-wrote with Tedder, was a dead-ringer for another Tedder tune aka Beyoncé’s “Halo.” As Clarkson tells the story, Tedder gave both singers a tune with the same backing track — without telling Clarkson, who wrote the lyrics.
By the time Clarkson realized the similarities, her CD All I Ever Wanted was ready to be shipped — making it too late to make any changes. According to the same NY Post article, Clarkson confronted her co-writer on the phone saying, “I don’t understand. Why would you do that? No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinking ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyoncé and Kelly the same track to write to.’ ” she said. “No, they’re just gonna be saying I ripped someone off.”
