Eagles’ frontman Don Henley isn’t “intimidated” by Frank Ocean’s “Hotel California” sampled song “American Wedding,” he just thinks it’s “illegal.”
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Earlier this week, Odd Future crooner Frank Ocean let the world know he wouldn’t be able to perform “American Wedding” at any live shows, due to the threat of a lawsuit from rock band the Eagles.
On Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape, he sampled the Eagles’ classic “Hotel California” for his own interpretation “American Wedding.”
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Once the Eagles got wind of Frank’s “American Wedding,” they threatened him with a lawsuit if he performed the song live.
Frank Ocean initially wrote on his Tumblr:
Don Henley is apparently intimidated by my rendition of Hotel California,” revealed Ocean. “He threatened to sue if I perform it again. I think that’s f*cking awesome.”
Well, Don Henley didn’t like that “intimidated” statement, so his reps fired back at Frank noting:
“Frank Ocean did not merely ‘sample’ a portion of the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’; he took the whole master track, plus the song’s existing melody, and replaced the lyrics with his own,” he said in a written statement. “This is not creative, let alone ‘intimidating.’ It’s illegal.”
Since “American Wedding” was on a mixtape, Frank was within the bounds of proper clearance laws, but once his label released Nostalgia, Ultra commercially, “American Wedding” disappeared from the tracklist.
Don Henley’s reps continued:
“For the record, Don Henley has not threatened or instituted any legal action against Frank Ocean, although the Eagles are now considering whether they should,” he wrote.
All the debate back and forth prompted Frank to take to his Tumblr once again.
“Sh*t’s weird. Ain’t this guy rich as f*ck? Why sue the new guy,” he wrote. “I didn’t make a dime off that song. I released it for free. If anything I’m paying homage.”
Who’s wrong and who’s right? Are you team Frank Ocean or team Don Henley?
Let us know below!
