Stella Lefty says Noah Kahan received a co-writing credit on her hit “Boston” after his team flagged a similarity

# What happened Stella Lefty (born Stella Lefkofsky) released her debut single "Boston" in March after teasing it on TikTok in February. The song went viral and climbed into the top five of the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Her debut album Long Way Home arrived the same week this story ran.

# Why Noah Kahan is now a credited co-writer After "Boston" was released, listeners compared it to Noah Kahan's 2022 hit "Stick Season." According to Lefty's interview with Vanity Fair, Kahan's team reached out and said the songs sounded similar. Lefty says she hadn't been thinking about Kahan when she wrote the chorus: "When I was writing the song, I wasn't thinking about Noah Kahan. I was literally thinking about nothing at all." To avoid the potential for legal action, she agreed to add Kahan as a co-writer.

# Lefty's reasoning and context

# Public pushback around Lefty's rise The story also situates the credit decision within a larger controversy. Lefty has faced online accusations of being an "industry plant" and scrutiny because she is the daughter of billionaire Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky. Coverage and social reaction have included questions about how she achieved quick mainstream success. The outlet that wrote the main piece clarified it had not been paid to promote her and had only previously interviewed her once.

# How this played out commercially Despite debate about similarity and background, "Boston" became a major hit during a period when country and country-adjacent songs dominated the Hot 100. The credit agreement with Kahan appears to have been settled without public litigation, and Lefty's single continued its commercial run.

# Takeaway for listeners and creators When songs draw listener comparisons, teams often resolve disputes by assigning shared credit rather than pursuing court battles. For a new artist, the immediate costs—legal fees, delays, and public controversy—can outweigh the potential upside of fighting the claim. Lefty's public explanation emphasizes that the similarity was unintentional and that she chose a low-conflict resolution.