The Taylor Swift of Classic Rock Celebrates Getting Song Rights Back

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The Taylor Swift of Classic Rock Celebrates Getting Song Rights Back originally appeared on Parade.

Just before the encore at his show on Sunday, July 6 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, John Fogerty, 80, cracked open a bottle of champagne, poured himself a glass and offered a toast to his fans and to his wife Julie Fogertyfor helping him get the rights to his back catalog of songs back after years of legal wrangling.

In a sense, Fogerty is the Taylor Swift of classic rock. Years before Swift waged war with music executive Scooter Braun over her catalog of recorded music, and even before Swift was born in 1989, Fogerty was battling over the rights to his songs he recorded with the classic rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival with Fantasy Records then-chief Saul Zaentz.

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“It did a lot of damage to my psyche and person­ality as far as confidence,” Fogerty told this writer in an interview for The Billboard Book of Number One Albums. “There were times in those years when I was scared to go in and buy a pair of socks in a department store.”

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Fogerty recovered a bit when he had his first major success apart from Creedence with the album Centerfield, which topped the Billboard album chart in March 1985. But even with that success, Zaentz was there to rain on his parade.

The music executive threatened to sue Fogerty over the song “Zanz Kant Danz,” a thinly veiled stab at the record executive that con­tains the lyrics, “Zanz can’t dance/But he’ll steal your money.” On subsequent pressings, the song’s title was changed to “Vann Kant Danz.” Zaentz went a step further by suing Fogerty, claiming that “The Old Man Down the Road,” a hit single featured on Centerfield, infringed on the copyright of the Cree­dence song “Run Through the Jungle” — a copyright that Zaentz held, even though Fogerty had written both songs. In the end, Fogerty prevailed.

He also won back the rights to his songs in 2023 ending a 50-year legal battle, and kind of like Taylor Swift in reverse, Fogerty has re-recorded his biggest Creedence hits for the new album, Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, due Aug. 22.

Related: Legendary Rocker, 80, Re-Records Classic Songs With Help From His Sons

At the Hollywood Bowl on July 6, Fogerty plugged the album, showing the album cover on the amphitheater’s large video screens and playing a 24-song set that featured 18 CCR classics, including the set closer “Fortunate Son,” as well as the two encore selections, “Travelin’ Band” and “Proud Mary.”

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On his official Instagram account, Fogerty shared video highlights of the Hollywood Bowl show along with a recording of the song “Fight Fire,” a song he originally recorded with his pre-Creedence band the Golliwogs as well as the CCR classic “Have Your Ever Seen the Rain?”

“From Glastonbury to the Hollywood Bowl in one week — now that’s Rockin’ All Over The World! 🌍🎸Huge thanks to everyone who gave us such a warm welcome home last night! We love playing the Bowl, and what a celebration it was!” read the caption.

Fans agreed in the comments. “Wonderful, wonderful show! One of the best rock concerts I’ve been to. I just hope when I’m 80 I have the same energy and knees. So incredible! Now, any other Cali dates?” one fan wrote.

“If the Bowl had a roof, you all would’ve blown it right off. 🙌What an incredible night! Thank you for coming to see us and giving my family a night to rock out together. 🎸💖💕🫶🏼,” added another.

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“INCREDIBLE show! Best first Fogerty show I could’ve gone to & it was my mom’s birthday! We had such a great time !” a third fan added.

The Taylor Swift of Classic Rock Celebrates Getting Song Rights Back first appeared on Parade on Jul 7, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.