Ryan Tedder Responds to Clarkson/Beyonce Controversy

Kelly Clarkson’s earlier accusation that music producer Ryan Tedder supplied her with a “ripped off” melody of Beyonce Knowles’ Halo to record with has prompted Tedder to respond to the claims today – and he’s not happy.

Tedder said in a statement that the idea he’d given Clarkson stolen material was “hurtful and absurd,” but applauded the Idol winner on her “haunting and heart-breaking performance” on a track he believes sounds nothing like Beyonce’s Halo.

Tedder’s statement (including all spelling and punctuation errors as he’d written it) reads:

‘”Already Gone’ is one of the best songs I’ve written or produced since ‘Bleeding Love’ and stands tall on it’s own merits apart from ‘Halo.’ They are two entirely different songs conceptually, melodically, & lyrically and I would never try to dupe an artist such as Kelly Clarkson or Beyonce into recording over the same musical track, the idea is both hurtful & absurd. I think when people hear ‘Already Gone’ they will hear what I hear — one of the greatest female vocalists on earth giving her most haunting and heart-breaking performance on a song she helped write. I challenge people to listen and form their own opinions.”

If you haven’t listened to the songs already, click here and here to hear the differences between the two (if you can pick ‘em).

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I Didn’t Rip Off Beyonce Track, Says Clarkson

While everyone is busy dissing singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson for ripping off a Beyonce Knowles song, the American Idol winner has gone on Canadian radio to insist that she didn’t steal anything – not intentionally, anyway.

Clarkson’s track, Already Gone, sounds surprisingly similar to Beyonce’s 2009 hit, Halo, and if you’d thought that the two songs were almost identical you’d be forgiven, because they are.

Exactly the same, in fact.

And Clarkson knew this before her record, All I Ever Wanted, had been shipped.

So why should we feel sorry for the onetime reality television contestant? Because her co-writer, Ryan Tedder, gave both Clarkson and Knowles the same backing track to work with, without informing either singer of this fact.

Clarkson said: “It sucks, but it’s one of those things I have no control over. I already made my album. At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it. It’s kind of a s*****y situation, but… you know, you learn.”

According to Clarkson, when she heard how similar Beyonce’s track was to hers, so “fought and fought” to stop Already Gone from hitting the airwaves, but “in the end, [the record company is] releasing it without my consent.”

The two-time Grammy award winner said she was outraged when she found out what Tedder had done, and confronted him over the phone, saying, “I don’t understand. Why would you do that?”

Clarkson added: “[I said to Tedder] no one’s gonna be sitting at home, thinking ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyonce and Kelly the same track to write to.’ No, they’re just gonna be saying I ripped someone off.”

Which is exactly what they’re saying.

To hear for yourself just how similar the two tracks really are, check out Clarkson’s Already Gone and Beyonce’s Halo.

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