In January 2023, Rick Astley sued rapper Yung Gravy for allegedly impersonating his voice in Gravy’s 2022 smash hit ‘Betty (Get Money)’. The lawsuit claimed that Gravy imitated Astley’s distinctive voice from his 1980s classic ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. Astley stated the public couldn’t tell the difference between his voice and the imitation, and believed he was singing in ‘Betty (Get Money)’. While creating the song, Gravy’s team reportedly received permission to use instrumentals from the 80s hit but not Astley’s voice. Astley has now reportedly settled the lawsuit against the rapper for an undisclosed sum. “A license to use the original underlying musical composition does not authorize the stealing of the artist’s voice… So, instead, they resorted to theft”, said Astley’s legal team at the time.
