3 Famous Rock Bands That Ripped off Their Own Music

Is it possible to plagiarize yourself? Well, in the case of the following three bands who ripped off their own music, it’s clearly something that happens semi-often. Let’s look at a few instances of real-life bands ripping off their own music, shall we?

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The Beatles

Let’s start with a famous example. The Beatles had such a huge fan base, right until their demise in 1970, that just about every song they dished out was a hit in some fashion. “All You Need Is Love” is one megafamous example of one of their most enduring, beloved hits. Interestingly enough, throughout the recording of this song, several members of The Beatles started ripping off their own music. Listen closely; John Lennon sings the first line of the song “Yesterday”. He and Paul McCartney start to croon the famous chorus of their early hit “She Loves You”. They were ripping off their own songs left and right, all because “All You Need Is Love” had to be recorded as quickly as possible to release it close to the famed Our World broadcast.

The Police

I enjoy The Police, so finding out about this incident was surprising. On the band’s famed new wave hit, Synchronicity, from 1983, you’ll find the deep cut “O My God” nestled into the middle of Side One. It’s a rhythm-focused, funk-leaning, fine little tune. But if any diehard fan listens closely to it, they’ll hear some familiar elements. Specifically, Sting sings the same exact lyrics from a verse in “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, one of their early hits from 1981. It doesn’t really sound like Sting was ripping his own band off, though. It sounds like a fond little callback to another era.

Aerosmith

If you’re known for a summertime pop-leaning song (or songs) that keeps getting love every time the warmer months creep in, year by year, you might be inclined to milk that golden cow for as long as possible. That’s sort of what Aerosmith (or Steven Tyler) did with “Girls Of Summer” from 2002. They make it to our list of bands who ripped off their own music because that very tune is quite similar to basically everything on Aerosmith’s 2001 pop-leaning album Just Push Play. Outside of Steven Tyler, the band seemingly hated the song, with Joe Perry saying in his memoir that “I thought it was a waste of time and wrong for an Aerosmith record.” Tyler was the only one who showed up to record the music video for the song, too. 

Photo by John Rodgers/Redferns