Rick Astley sues rapper Yung Gravy for stealing his voice

LOS ANGELES – Rick Astley, best known for his hit Never Gonna Give You Up, is suing rapper Yung Gravy for allegedly impersonating his voice, Billboard reports.

In the lawsuit, filed Jan. 26, Astly alleges that Gravy’s song “Betty (Get Money)”, which peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 last year, featured the rapper imitating his voice without official permission.

“In an attempt to capitalize on Mr. Astley’s immense popularity and goodwill, the defendants … conspired to include a deliberate and almost indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice throughout the song,” Astley’s lawyers said. “The public couldn’t tell the difference. The imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice was so successful that the public believed that it was actually Mr. Astley singing.

Representatives for Yung Gravy and Rick Astley did not immediately respond to FOX’s request for comment.

Gravy’s legal team claims that they had the legal right to use instrumentals on “Give You Up” that Astley does not own, but apparently not Astley’s actual vocals.

The lawsuit alleges that Astley’s “signature voice” is identical to that used in Gravy’s song.

“A license to use an original musical composition does not grant the right to steal the artist’s voice in the original recording,” Astley’s legal team said. “So instead they resorted to stealing Mr. Astley’s voice without a license and without consent.”