Coldplay Deny Ripping Off Cat Stevens

05/08/09 12:58pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Coldplay have refuted Yusuf Islam's claims that the band's "Viva La Vida" rips off one of the songs he wrote when he was still known as Cat Stevens.

"It's tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn't," drummer Will Champion told the Hampton Roads website.

"So, we accept that it's part of the territory and know it is only for some reason, God only knows why, the successful songs that seem to be the ones that are accused of being stolen."

Islam told the U.K.'s The Sun tabloid earlier this week that Coldplay had ripped off "Foreigner Suite" from his 1973 Foreigner album.

Champion denied the band had purposely taken anything from Islam's song or Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly" and used it in "Viva La Vida."

Satriani is suing Coldplay for plagiarism because he claims the British band "copied and incorporated substantial original portions" of "If I Could Fly" and used them in "Viva La Vida." He's seeking "any and all profits" the group made from the track, which earned them a best song Grammy Award and their first U.S. #1 hit.

"There are elements of our music that I've heard in other people's music but it's kind of... I don't know," Champion said. "It's interesting, but a very difficult thing to define.

"There are only eight notes in an octave and no one owns them. And there are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression.

"I think it lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would. So it's unfortunate but it's the way people are. That's that. We're confident we haven't done anything wrong."

Coldplay will probably play "Viva La Vida" at these shows:

May 15 West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre
May 17 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 18 Birmingham, AL @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 20 Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater
May 21 Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion
May 23 Hartford, CT @ Meadows Music Theatre
May 24 Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
May 26 Philadelphia, PA @ Susquehanna Bank Center
May 27 Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
May 30 Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 1 Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
June 2 Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
June 4 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
June 5 Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
June 6 Nashville, TN @ Sommet Center
June 9 New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
June 10 San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
June 12 Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena
June 13 Omaha, NE @ Qwest Center
June 15 Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
June 17 Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
June 18 Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
June 20-21 Vancouver, BC @ General Motors Place
July 2 Arras, France @ Grand Place (Main Square Festival)
July 3 Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter Festival
July 5 Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
July 10 Portland, OR @ The Amphitheater at Clark County
July 11 George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre
July 13 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 14 Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
July 16 San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
July 18 Carson, CA @ Home Depot Center
July 19 Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 21 Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
July 22 Spring, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July 24 Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
July 25 East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
July 30 Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
Aug. 1 Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeau (Osheaga Music & Arts Festival)
Aug. 2 Jersey City, NJ @ Liberty State Park (All Points West Music & Arts Festival)
Aug. 3 Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 6 Raleigh, NC @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
Aug. 7 Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 9 Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
Aug. 16 Herning, Denmark @ Messecenter Herning
Aug. 19 Bergen, Norway @ Koengen
Aug. 22 Stockholm, Sweden @ Olympic Stadium
Aug. 25 Hannover, Germany @ Hannover Stadium
Aug. 27 Dusseldorf, Germany @ LTU Arena
Aug. 29 Munich, Germany @ Reitstadion Reim
Aug. 31 Udine, Italy @ Stadio Friuli
Sept. 2 Bern, Switzerland @ Stade De Suisse
Sept. 4 Barcelona, Spain @ Estadi Olimpic
Sept. 7 Paris, France @ Parc Des Princes
Sept. 9-10 Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Goffertpark
Sept. 12 Manchester, England @ Lancashire County Cricket Club
Sept. 14 Dublin, Ireland @ Phoenix Park
Sept. 16 Glasgow, Scotland @ Hampden Park
Sept. 18-19 London, England @ Wembley Stadium