Kenny Loggins is unhappy with Garth Brooks and is lobbing strong accusations at the country icon. The “Danger Zone” singer expanded on his plagiarism fight with the country music legend in his new memoir, Still Alright. Loggins, 74, also wrote about his addiction to pills after his divorce from his second wife, Julia Cooper, in 2004.
In 1993, Loggins received a call from guitarist Guy Thomas, who thought Brooks’ 1993 song “Standing Outside the Fire” sounded suspicious like “Conviction of the Heart,” a song Loggins and Thomas wrote for Loggins’ 1991 album Leap of Faith. Thomas wanted to sue Brooks immediately. However, Loggins wanted to take a diplomatic approach. He hoped they could “reach an understanding without need for lawyers,” Loggins wrote, according to excerpts Page Sixย published.
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Brooks allegedly admitted to Loggins he copied the song. Loggins thought Brooks would agree to give him and Thomas a cut of the revenue from “Standing Outside the Fire.” The “House at Pooh Corner” signer was wrong.
“Garth didn’t like that idea at all,” Loggins wrote. “His tone grew steely and defensive.” Brooks stopped the talks then, so Loggins and Thomas sued Brooks for $5 million. Brooks allegedly showed up with a guitar to one of the hearings, but the judge stopped him and called Brooks and Thomas into his chambers. When the judge and songwriters emerged, Brooks “was ready to settle,” Loggins wrote.
Loggins did not share more details about the lawsuit, but Brooks publicly admitted to settling the lawsuit. “Afterward, he said publicly something like, ‘Sometimes. you just have to pay to get people off your back,’” Loggins wrote. “I let that one go. I haven’t seen him since.”
In 1998, Varietyย reported that the settlement came just an hour before Brooks was scheduled to testify. A federal court jury was sworn in and opening statements were scheduled. “The matter has been amicably resolved,” Brooks’ attorney told Variety.
Elsewhere in Still Alright, Loggins went into detail about the end of his marriage to Cooper. After a doctor prescribed him benzodiazepines to cope with anxiety and depression, the “Footloose” singer “became acquainted with every member of their family: Klonopin, Ativan, Valium.” He became addicted to the medication and learned “how difficult” detox was. Wellbutrinย helped Loggins kick his habit. “That helped me ease off the Ativan, and within a few weeks I was able to live without it,” he wrote.
About five years later, Loggins became addicted to painkillers after complications from a routine cyst-removal surgery. He struggled to wean himself off the pills. His youngest daughter, Hana, inspired him to “kick the habit,” he wrote after she saw him scared because he left a prescription at home. He agreed to check into a detox center and was clean by the time he hit the road. Loggins’ memoir hits bookstores on June 15.
