See the statement.
Iron Maiden announced this week that, due to a plagiarism lawsuit regarding the composition of "Hallowed Be Thy Name ," the song has had to be removed from the band's setlist for upcoming shows.
The band is being sued by music manager Barry McKay, who claims that Maiden copied the phrase "Mark my words believe my soul lives on / Don't worry now that I have gone" from the song "Life's Shadow" by the band Beckett, which says "Others are glad to see him gone / Mark my words my soul lives on" .
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is voted the best Iron Maiden song
The band released the following statement this week: “For the second leg of The Book Of Souls tour, some changes were necessary; the first was a new song from the new album and because we were notified of a legal process, the second change is to replace Hallowed Be Thy Name.”
The company responsible for managing Iron Maiden, Phantom Management, also commented: “The dispute concerns the song Life's Shadow, a song originally written in the early 1970s, credited to Robert Barton and Brian Ingham, and recorded by the band Beckett. Steve Harris was a fan of Beckett, and some lines of the lyrics were referenced in the song Hallowed Be Thy Name. As far as Steve knew, this matter had already been resolved years ago with an agreement with Robert Barton. Any evidence presented by Mr. McKay will be thoroughly analyzed, and we will have a defense in court at the appropriate time.”
The prosecution also commented on the development of the case: “Hallowed Be Thy Name is not just an Iron Maiden song. It’s the song that defined the band. And it was heavily influenced by Life’s Shadow.”
