John Fogerty says his CCR songs are ‘home where they belong’ following 50-year battle over rights

Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) more than 50 years ago at the start of his career are finally "home where they belong.""To get to play my songs now, feeling like they truly are home where they belong – and I get to sing ‘Proud Mary’ just like I sang it when I was 22 years old," the founding member of CCR told NBC News in an interview this week.Fogerty gave up the publishing rights to the songs he wrote when he was with CCR under his contract with his former label Fantasy Records and began trying to get them back soon after breaking up the band in 1972 while trying to get out of his contract.

He was also sued by the Fantasy head Saul Zaentz in 1985 for plagiarizing the songs he wrote. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually sided with Fogerty.JOHN FOGERTY FEELS TAYLOR SWIFT'S PAIN: LOSING RIGHTS TO THEIR MUSIC LEAVES SINGERS WITH ‘NASTY SCAR’ John Fogerty finally got his song rights back this year after decades of struggle. (Alison Clarke/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images) "I’m the dad [of these songs].

I created them," he told Billboard earlier this year. "They never should have been taken away in the first place. And that hijacking left such a massive hole in me." The songwriter had previously tried to buy back the rights in 1989, but Zaentz doubled his price near the end of the aborted deal.

In 2004, Concord Records acquired the rights to the songs, and earlier this year, Fogerty bought the majority interest of the global rights to his song catalog back for an undisclosed sum.John Fogerty said the rights to the songs he wrote should never have been taken away from him in the first place. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT.