After a contentious, five-decade struggle involving his former record company, rocker John Fogerty has gained worldwide control of the publishing rights to the dozens of classics he recorded with Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Fogerty, 77, told Billboard that he’s “really kind of still in shock” over the purchase, which he has tried unsuccessfully to make several times over the years, first from Fantasy Records’ Saul Zaentz, and later from Concord.
“I’m the dad [of these songs]. I created them. They never should have been taken away in the first place. And that hijacking left such a massive hole in me,” he told the outlet. “The happiest way to look at is, yeah, it isn’t everything. It’s not a 100% win for me, but it’s sure better than it was. I’m really kind of still in shock. I haven’t allowed my brain to really, actually, start feeling it yet.”
The “Fortunate Son” singer bought a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his CCR song catalog for an undisclosed sum from Concord, PEOPLE confirms. The music publishing company has owned the rights since 2004, when it bought Saul Zaentz’s Fantasy Records.
Fogerty’s history with Zaentz, who died in 2014, is a fraught one, and conflict with Zaentz and Fantasy over royalties contributed to the breakdown of Fogerty’s relationship with his late brother and bandmate Tom in the 1980s.
