Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber claimed yesterday that he hated listening to music in restaurants and cars as he vigorously fought allegations that he stole another songwriter's tune.
He appeared in a New York court to defend the ownership of his Phantom Song from his hit musical The Phantom of the Opera.
Songwriter Ray Repp, a composer of religious songs and a Baltimore clothing salesman, claimed it was based on one of his.
In a statement last night, Lord Lloyd-Webber said he was fighting the case ''for the sake of all songwriters and lyricists'' and said he was supported by showbusiness friends including Elton John, Sting, and Mick Jagger.
Mr Repp seeks unspecified damages in his suit but Lord Lloyd-Webber maintained that Repp could not prove he had ever heard his 1978 song, Till You before writing the Phantom Song.
Lord Lloyd-Webber also scoffed at suggestions he could remember every song he had ever heard.
''That's a silly question. Of course I don't,'' he said. ''I hate it when it's in a restaurant or in a car or a taxi. My driver has instructions never to have the radio on.''
Lord Lloyd-Webber had previously gone all the way to the US Supreme Court in an effort to get the lawsuit dismissed. But the high court rejected that argument without comment.
His former wife Sarah Brightman also gave evidence yesterday and claimed the Phantom Song was written at Lord Lloyd-Webber's home at Sydmonton, Hampshire, at the beginning of their relationship.
''I remember standing by the piano and actually him working on the song with me and I remember there were passages of the song which were in what I call a chest voice, which is the lower register of the voice . . . I remember thinking, 'Oh, this is going to be hard to do,''' she testified.
Ms Brightman later played the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera.
She said Lord Lloyd-Webber did not write anything down as he created music.
He went out of his way not to hear the music of others, she added.
''I always remember in taxis or if we were in a restaurant, he would always ask if the music could be turned down or off, because he was always thinking of music himself. So he doesn't like music around him all the time,'' Ms Brightman said.
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