Sam Smith Regrets Never Answering Tom Petty’s Letter Over ‘Stay With Me’ Dispute

Sam Smith has opened up about a lasting regret tied to their 2014 breakthrough single “Stay With Me”: never replying to a letter Tom Petty sent them during a 2015 songwriting dispute over the song. Smith discussed the episode on the podcast Alchemy With Anthony Mason, revisiting how the dispute unfolded and how they’ve come to view Petty’s outreach in the years since.

The disagreement centered on similarities between the chorus of “Stay With Me” and Petty’s 1989 track “I Won’t Back Down.” In 2015, publishers representing that song flagged the resemblance, and the matter was resolved by adding Petty and his co-writer Jeff Lynne to the credits of “Stay With Me,” alongside Smith’s original collaborators James Napier and William Phillips. As part of the settlement, Petty and Lynne received a 12.5% share of the writing and royalty credit.

• Petty’s letter reached Smith’s hotel room the night before the 2015 Grammy Awards.
• Smith won four Grammys that night for the album “In The Lonely Hour,” including Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for “Stay With Me.”
• Petty and Jeff Lynne received a 12.5% writing and royalty credit on “Stay With Me.”
• Petty died in October 2017 at age 66, before Smith ever responded.

What Did Tom Petty’s Letter to Sam Smith Say?

Smith recalled that the letter arrived unexpectedly the evening before the Grammys and that their first reaction was anger rather than gratitude. In it, Petty reportedly noted that there are only so many notes available on a piano, a line Smith initially took as dismissive given how closely the two artists seemed to agree on the nature of coincidence in songwriting. “I was so pissed off when I read it,” Smith said, describing the frustration of encountering the letter at what should have been a triumphant moment in their career.

Looking back now, Smith frames that same line differently, reading it as Petty extending sympathy rather than criticism. “Now as I’m older I understand why, I understand that it wasn’t just him,” Smith said, adding that they now believe Petty was trying to communicate understanding and regret over how the situation played out for a young artist. Smith called failing to respond to that gesture one of the biggest regrets of their life, reflecting on themselves at the time as, in their words, “a little sassy 22-year-old queer kid.”

Sam Smith Maintains They Never Heard ‘I Won’t Back Down’

Despite the settlement, Smith continues to insist they had no exposure to Petty’s song before writing “Stay With Me” in a London basement. Smith explained that as a young listener they gravitated almost exclusively toward female vocalists and pop divas, naming Stevie Wonder and George Michael as the only male singers they regularly listened to at the time. That listening history, Smith suggested, is why the overlap between the two songs came as a genuine surprise rather than a conscious echo.

Following the 2015 settlement, Petty issued his own statement making clear he bore no ill will toward Smith, describing the overlap as a “musical accident” that can happen to songwriters over long careers. He stated plainly that the word lawsuit was never used in the matter and was never his intention, characterizing the resolution as an easy agreement reached between two understanding camps.

Sam Smith’s Relationship With Tom Petty’s Music Since 2015

Smith says the dispute ultimately pushed them toward exploring Petty’s catalog rather than away from it. They singled out the 1987 Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers song “It Will All Work Out” as one they now return to during difficult moments, and they previously performed the song during a 24-show residency at Brooklyn’s Warsaw venue. Smith also noted that “Stay With Me” was not an isolated case, pointing to an ongoing legal dispute over their 2019 Normani collaboration “Dancing With A Stranger” as another example of the kind of songwriting conflicts that have followed their career.

More Info

• Sam Smith regrets not replying to Tom Petty’s letter over ‘Stay With Me’ credit: “I was just a little sassy 22-year-old queer kid” | NME
• "He said it himself in the letter to me – that 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?’”: Sam Smith reflects on their 2015 songwriting dispute with Tom Petty | MusicRadar
• Sam Smith Regrets Not Responding To Tom Pettys Letter Over Stay With Me Credit, But Maintains Theyd Never Heard I Wont Back Down | Stereogum