Did Ed Sheeran take inspiration from Tracy Chapman? Fans point to similarities between star's number one hit Shape Of You and Mountains O' Things 

By Joanna Crawley For Mailonline

Published: 07:33 EST, 3 February 2017 | Updated: 07:43 EST, 3 February 2017

He's riding high in the charts with two top ten hits.

But fans have pointed out that Ed Sheeran may have had some inspiration for his number one smash Shape Of You, taken from his third album divide.

Listeners have pointed to similarities between the Brit artist's song and Tracy Chapman's 1988 tune Mountains O' Things, with Radio 2's Chris Evans' also noticing the resemblance.

Sound familiar? Fans have pointed out that Ed Sheeran may have had some inspiration for his number one smash Shape Of You, taken from his third album divide

Evans made the comparison between Ed's single and Tracy's classic on his breakfast show last week, musing to his listeners:

'So I heard that, I thought, this reminds me of something, what is it? Then I remembered this Tracy Chapman track'.

Fans have tweeted similar responses with one writing: 'Just listened to @edsheeran Shape of You. Sounds like Tracy Chapman Mountain O' Things. So much so I had to check I didn't make a mistake!'

Tune! Listeners have pointed to similarities between the Brit artist's song and Tracy Chapman's 1988 tune Mountains O' Things, with Radio 2's Chris Evans' also noticing the resemblance

Another pointed out that if Ed was a Chapman fan he had excellent taste, tweeting the star: '@edsheeran shape of you tune proper reminds me of Tracy Chapman's Mountain o Things and that's a right good song tbf.'

It's not the first time Ed has been accused of taking inspiration from another song.

Last year he was sued for $20million (£13.7M) over copyright after being accused of making a 'note-for-note copy' of a Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard song called Amazing, released by X Factor winner Matt Cardle six years ago.

Inspiration? Evans made the comparison between Ed's single and Tracy's classic on his breakfast show last week, musing to his listeners: 'So I heard that, I thought, this reminds me of something, what is it? Then I remembered this Tracy Chapman track'

Ed's song Photograph came out in 2014 as part of the No. 2 album Multiply and was used in the soundtrack for big screen romance Me Before You.

In court documents obtained by MailOnline last year, Harrington and Leonard, along with HaloSongs, can be seen to bring an action against Ed and co-writer Johnny McDaid, from Snow Patrol.

They are specifically accused of, 'participating in a scheme aiding, inducing, and contributing to copyright infringement in the U.S.'

Good taste: Fans have tweeted similar responses with one writing: 'Just listened to @edsheeran Shape of You. Sounds like Tracy Chapman Mountain O' Things. So much so I had to check I didn't make a mistake!'

According to the plaintiffs, Photograph - among others on the album - 'copied, and exploited, without authorization or credit, the work of other active, professional songwriters, on a breathtaking scale, unabashedly taking credit for the work of these songwriters by claiming it to be their own.'

Harrington and Leonard therefore believe that their song has been copied by Sheeran.

It was originally released by Matt, who won British TV talent competition The X Factor in 2010, though Amazing charted at No84 in UK.

Hit: Shape Of You has reached number one in the UK singles chart ahead of the release of Ed's anticipated third album

Matt competed in the same year that international pop sensations One Direction were formed and his debut single When We Collide went straight to No1.

Though the singer is not involved in the lawsuit, Harrington and Leonard have called in representation from Richard Busch, the attorney who won $7million (£4.8M) on behalf of Marvin Gaye's family against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in March 2015.  

A statement from Sony Music, Warner, and Ed Sheeran released in October though argued the lawsuit was overly complicated and they want to see it rejected by a federal judge. 

‘It makes sweeping, generalized allegations — in 156 paragraphs, some of which go on for pages and contain upwards of 25 or 30 different sentences — against eleven distinct Defendants,' the statement read. 

In trouble before: It's not the first time Ed has been accused of taking inspiration from another song

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