Tory Lanez is once again under fire for unauthorized sample use on his ’80s-themed album Alone At Prom. This time, it’s the estate of George Michael who wants a song removed, saying “Enchanted Waterfall” uses part of “Careless Whisper,” arguably Michael’s signature hit. Even worse, the estate claims that they already rejected his request to use the sample flouting the estate’s wishes in releasing the song anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DHBm1pk8IQ
“It was brought to our attention that the song ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorized sample of ‘Careless Whisper’ written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley,” reads a statement given to Variety. “Requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorized use of any songs within the catalogs of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley.”
The song has since been removed from Spotify but is still up on Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube. It’s the second time Lanez has been taken to task over this album after Madonna called him out via Instagram for sampling her song “Into The Groove” on “Pluto’s Last Comet.” While Variety‘s report doesn’t cite a lawsuit being filed just yet, it certainly wouldn’t help the embattled Canadian singer to receive another suit, as he’s already being sued for foreclosure on a Miami condo and facing criminal charges for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
