Frank Ocean released “American Wedding” in 2011, a much talked about rendition of The Eagles “Hotel California.” Frank spoke out saying that Henley and company threatened to sue him, which they supposedly weren’t thinking about doing but now are strongly considering it.
Henley’s spokesperson, Larry Solters is speaking out with a statement to MTV concerning the track. “Frank Ocean did not merely ‘sample’ a portion of the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’; he took the whole master track, plus the song’s existing melody, and replaced the lyrics with his own… This is not creative, let alone ‘intimidating.’ It’s illegal. For the record, Don Henley has not threatened or instituted any legal action against Frank Ocean, although the Eagles are now considering whether they should. Any further questions regarding this matter should be directed to Warner Music Group as it is the entity that currently owns the master recording and made the contact with Frank Ocean’s representatives concerning his infringement of the master recording.”
– Sean Lynch (@Kiddfuture)
