Terry Williams claims he penned Aaliyah’s “Heartbroken” and was never compensated for it.
Timbaland and Missy Elliott got fans excited this week when they got in the studio and teased that they had new music coming this week. The two artists have been working together for decades at this point, and arguably, created their best music together. The two of them worked with Aaliyah during the peak of the late R&B singer’s career. However, they’re now facing a lawsuit over royalties from Aaliyah’s “Heartbroken.”
A songwriter by the name of Terry Williams claims he helped Missy Elliott create the song, “Heartbroken” around ’94-’95 which ended up being released by Aaliyah in 1996. However, Williams said the song, which was produced by Timbaland, only landed in Aaliyah’s lap because Missy sold the song without his authorization. According to TMZ, Williams is suing Timbo and Missy Elliott over the Aaliyah song, claiming neither parties compensated him for his work on the track.
Terry said he struck an agreement with Missy Elliott who agreed to share profits from the song. He claims the track released by Timbo and Aaliyah was nearly identical in sound and lyrics as the track he wrote. He alleges Missy Elliot kept his work on the song a secret.
Terry’s suing Timbaland, Missy and Aaliyah’s estate in the case. He claims he has ownership in the track and that he’s entitled to a cut of the royalties.
