Alicia Keys Sued For ‘Girl On Fire’ Lyric

Alicia Keys is being sued by songwriter Earl Shuman for allegedly stealing a part in her single Girl on Fire.

Shuman claims the Keys’ latest has a part snatched right from his 1962 composition Lonely Boy, which is known for being recorded in 1972 by Eddie Holman under the title Hey There Lonely Girl. Still following?

Shuman is directing his lawsuit to Alicia, where she sings, “Nobody knows that she’s a lonely girl/ And it’s a lonely world/ But she’s gonna let it burn, baby, burn, baby, burn.” He claims the way Alicia sings the words “lonely girl” is reminiscent of his hit.

“Keys only uses two seconds of the original, but it helps make her record.” He also called the use of the words an uncredited sample.

Earl has filed a complaint of copyright infringement, and if a court rules a sample or section of Lonely Boy has been used without permission, Alicia could face losing royalties from both the track and the Girl On Fire album.

Maybe she can take a break from performing this song until she gets things cleared up – we won’t complain!