Beyoncé says she got permission and paid for the sample
Beyoncé is facing sampling accusations on her album, Renaissance. British group Right Said Fred is accusing Queen Bee for sampling their 1991 gem “I’m Too Sexy” on her record “Alien Superstar” without their permission.
“Normally the artist approaches us but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person,” Right Said Fred said during an interview with The Sun. “She just had probably thought ‘come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact, when you did. Everyone else, Drake and Taylor Swift, they came to us.”
They added, “You are going to get into a conversation with someone who has a lot more presence and power and money than we do. And that won’t go well. It’s best to let it go. If you’re not careful you spend your life looking back. We keep looking forward the whole time.”
Beyoncé’s team later responded claiming that they paid for the sample in August 2022. “The comments made by Right Said Fred stating that Beyoncé used ‘I’m Too Sexy’ in ‘Alien Superstar’ without permission are erroneous and incredibly disparaging,” a statement from Bee’s team read. “Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album.”
It went on, “For their song, there was no sound recording use, only the composition was utilized. Permission was asked of their publisher on May 11, 2022 and the publisher approved the use on June 15, 2022. They were paid for the usage in August 2022.”