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Got To Give $7.4 Million Up: Jury Finds Pharrell And Thicke Copied Marvin Gaye Song

NPR | By Jasmine Garsd
Published March 10, 2015 at 6:57 PM EDT
A jury in Los Angeles decided Tuesday that Robin Thicke (left) and Pharrell Williams lifted parts of Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got To Give It Up."
Jamie McCarthy
/
Getty Images
A jury in Los Angeles decided Tuesday that Robin Thicke (left) and Pharrell Williams lifted parts of Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got To Give It Up."

A Los Angeles jury has determined that singers Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke lifted portions of Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up" when writing their hit "Blurred Lines." The jury has awarded the late soul singer's family nearly $7.4 million in damages.

"Blurred Lines" topped the charts in 2013. At the time, there was much speculation about the similarities between Gaye's classic and the new song. Nonetheless, it was wildly successful.

According to court evidence, Thicke and Williams earned more than $5 million from the song's success. Rapper Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr., who raps on the song, made more than $700,000. Harris was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Jasmine Garsd
Jasmine Garsd is NPR's immigration correspondent and the host of The Last Cup.
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