Wicklow musician Hozier, real name Andrew Byrne, has reportedly lodged a defamation case in Dublin’s High Court over claims that his hit single Take Me to Church was plagiarised from a song released two years prior.
The controversy emerged after Canadian songwriter and producer Chilly Gonzales recently claimed Hozier’s globally successful 2013 track was “almost exactly the same” as his fellow Canadian singer Feist’s song How Come You Never Go There, which was released in 2011.
The claims were made on Cologne station 1Live, and a clip of the show has since been removed from YouTube.
According to a Sunday Times report, Hozier’s manager Caroline Downey has described the allegations as “groundless” and confirmed to the paper that she and her client will seek legal action.
The 25-year-old recorded the soulful, bluesy hit Take Me to Church in the attic of his parent’s home in his native Bray, Co Wicklow and it has since reached the number-one spot in 12 countries, and won countless awards.
Listen to both the songs here to compare them for yourself:
