Beyonce just proved she is not the one to mess with when it comes to her brand. The superstar singer fired back at Right Said Fred after the band said she sampled their 1992 megahit “I’m Too Sexy” for her new song “Alien Superstar” without permission. Calling the band’s claims “erroneous and incredibly disparaging” in a statement to E! on Friday (October 7), Beyonce insisted Right Said Fred’s publisher signed the authorization.
“Permission was not only granted for its use, but they publicly spoke of their gratitude for being on the album,” Beyoncé continued in the statement. “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.”
The Oscar winner also made it a point that both members of the band — brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass — are given “co-writer credit” for “Alien Superstar,” which is one of the incredible tracks of her mind-blowing album Renaissance.
The epic clap back, a rare move for Beyonce, comes a few days after Right Said Fred dragged the “Break My Soul” hitmaker while saying she basically stole their song. “Normally the artist approaches us, but Beyoncé didn’t because she is such an arrogant person,” Fred and Richard told The Sun on Oct. 3. “She just had probably thought, ‘Come and get me,’ so we heard about it after the fact when you did.”
omg alien superstar has im too sexy sampled???? https://t.co/cCfCsE3zM2
— ️️ ️jorine (@taystellar) August 2, 2022
Right Said Fred added that other artists like Drake and Taylor Swift approached them about sampling “I’m Too Sexy” and it all went smoothly. They went on to say that they feel like they have no dog in the fight against Beyonce and will simply move forward with their lives. “We can’t stop it. There is nothing we can do. It is s–t,” they told the outlet. “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.”
While Beyonce is busy defending her name, the star has some good news to toast to as well. She is reportedly getting ready for a world tour based on the new album! Page Six reports that an official announcement can “be expected in the coming weeks” with a kick off for the Renaissance tour to be sometime in the beginning of 2023. This will be her first solo tour since she wowed the crowds during her Formation tour in support of her album, Lemonade, in 2016.