Nashville Insiders Defend Stella Lefty as Song-Poaching Allegations Fuel Online Backlash

Nashville might be considered a “Ten Year” town, but Stella Lefty barely needed two. Back in March, she released her hit song “Boston.” It didn’t take long before the song gained millions of streams. “Boston” didn’t stop there as it peaked at No. 2 on the US Country Airplay, the US Hot Country Songs, and the Billboard Hot 100 charts. If that wasn’t enough, she followed it with her debut album, Long Way Home. While having a historic run, Lefty received a mountain of backlash when she became the “Stella Thefty” meme. 

The reason for the “Stella Thefty” title originated from her hit song. While fans helped it climb the charts, others suggested it sounded just like Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.” They would be right, as Kahan was added to the writing credits of the song. But as Lefty’s stardom expanded, so did the accusations. 

Looking over a few of the plagiarism claims hurled at Lefty’s discography, they included:

“Boston” – compared to Noah Kahan’s music
“Summer You Were Mine” – “There’s Your Trouble” by The Chicks
“Why Wouldn’t We” – “I’ll Name the Dogs” by Blake Shelton
“Seven Eleven” – “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus
“Misery” – “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman

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Stella Lefty Not The First To Share Music DNA

While it might be hard to deny the similarities, RJ Curtis, the executive director of Country Radio Broadcasters Inc., insisted that Lefty wasn’t new. “Country music has always borrowed from itself.” And for those lashing out at Lefty, Curtis added, “Let’s be honest, that’s been going on for years in this town. How many sounds and artists has Nashville begun mass producing once the original becomes popular?”

With music spanning generations, Curtis found the accusations almost comical. “Country. Rock. Pop. Hip-hop. R&B. Americana. Indie. EDM. Music from generations before them and music released halfway around the world yesterday. So when someone in a writing room says, ‘I want something that feels like that,’ ‘that’ could be almost anything.”

For musicologist Dr. Jada Watson, she believed that nearly all music shared DNA. “Throwing out an entire catalog because a few tracks share DNA with older records treats familiarity as a fatal flaw. Follow that logic far enough and a huge amount of popular music disappears.”

Whether fans called her Stella Lefty or “Stella Thefty,” the singer wasn’t letting the debate dictate her career. Instead of fighting every accusation, she continued doing the one thing that got people talking in the first place – performing. 

(Photo by Joshua Applegate/WireImage)