If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Robbie Williams "couldn't care less" that some fans believe Olivia Rodrigo's new holiday song "Take Me Home (4 Christmas)" sounds like his 2012 hit "Candy."
"There's something about the music industry that's been bothering me for a while," Williams, 52, wrote in a Nov. 9 Instagram post addressing comparisons between the two songs. "People coming after people because they've spotted a similarity between two songs. Some of it I completely understand. Some of it is absolutely justified."
The "Angles" singer argued that with so much music already written, some overlap is bound to happen.
"There are only so many notes. Only so many chords. Only so many ways of putting them together before you inevitably
find yourself somewhere somebody else has been," he wrote. "Music has been around for a very long time. We're all going to bump into each other eventually."
The British singer, who said he's been a fan of the 23-year-old since she released "Brutal" from her 2021 debut album "Sour," made clear he has no intention of pursuing the matter.
"It sounds to me as though she may have accidentally stumbled across a musical echo of mine in one of her new songs," he wrote. "And do you know what? I couldn't care less."
Williams said he doesn't know whether the similarities raise any creative or legal issues, and he doesn’t want to find out."I'm not going after her," he wrote. "Because I think at some point, some… sanity has to prevail."
While the "Millennium" singer acknowledged he's at a point in his career where he can "afford to take that view," he stressed that artists still deserve protection against "genuine theft."
"But there's a difference between protecting your work and treating every vaguely familiar sequence of notes as a winning lottery ticket," he wrote. "Some of this stuff has become ambulance chasing. And I think it's disgusting."
He added that musicians inevitably draw from those who came before them, whether consciously or not.
"If we keep punishing people for accidentally arriving somewhere somebody else has already been, eventually we're going to frighten the creativity out of everyone," he wrote.
Rodrigo released "Take Me Home (4 Christmas)" on Nov. 5 alongside a music video featuring Cynthia Nixon and "Saturday Night Live" cast member Ben Marshall.
What has Olivia Rodrigo been up to in 2026?
The release follows a busy year for Rodrigo, who launched the all-women Daisy Chain Fields music festival in Irvine, California, on Aug. 29. The event featured performances by Chappell Roan, Stevie Nicks, Mitski, Garbage and Doechii, among others, and raised $20 million for organizations benefiting women and girls, including Baby2Baby and Planned Parenthood.
Rodrigo is currently on her third major tour, the Unraveled Tour. The 86-date tour, which runs through next spring, features songs from Rodrigo's latest album, "You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So In Love," alongside earlier hits including "Good 4 U," "Vampire" and "Traitor."
Contributing: Anthony Robledo and Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robbie Williams addresses Olivia Rodrigo song similarities: 'I couldn't care less'
