Stella Lefty Reveals Why Noah Kahan Got a Songwriting Credit on Viral Hit ‘Boston’

Stella Lefty is setting the record straight on one of the biggest songwriting stories surrounding her breakout hit “Boston,” and the explanation involves Noah Kahan’s smash “Stick Season.”

Lefty’s country-pop track has exploded on the charts, climbing to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but fans quickly noticed that its chorus sounded strikingly familiar. The resemblance to Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” became impossible to ignore, eventually resulting in Kahan receiving an official songwriting credit.

But according to Lefty, there was no deliberate attempt to borrow from Kahan’s hit.

Stella Lefty Says the Similarity Was Completely Unintentional

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Stella Lefty explained that she wrote “Boston” after meeting her boyfriend, country musician Vincent Mason, in Nashville.

The singer said Noah Kahan was nowhere in her mind when she created the song.

“When I was writing this song, I wasn’t thinking about Noah Kahan,” Lefty explained. “I was literally thinking about nothing at all.”

That became particularly important after listeners began pointing out similarities between the melody of “Boston” and the chorus of Kahan’s “Stick Season,” which became a massive folk-pop phenomenon after its 2022 release.

Rather than dismiss the comparisons, Kahan’s representatives contacted Lefty’s camp.

Why Noah Kahan Was Added to the Credits

Stella Lefty said Noah Kahan’s representatives informed her that they believed the songs were sufficiently similar.

Her response was straightforward: she decided to acknowledge the resemblance and add Noah Kahan to the songwriting credits before “Boston” was officially released.

“I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes,” she said, explaining that if the song sounded like “Stick Season,” she was comfortable giving Kahan credit.

The resulting songwriting credits now list Stella Lefty alongside Noah Kahan, Grace Enger, Jacob Hindlin and Joe Reeves.

The situation highlights how quickly songwriting similarities can become a major issue in the streaming era, particularly when a new track begins spreading across TikTok and other social platforms before its official release.

‘Boston’ Turns Stella Lefty Into a Breakout Star

The credit controversy has arrived just as Lefty is enjoying a huge breakthrough.

“Boston” has climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the relatively new country artist a major crossover moment. The song also appears on her debut album, “Long Way Home,” released August 21.

The success has quickly translated into live dates, with Lefty announcing an 18-date North American headline tour beginning in Detroit in January and concluding in Chicago in February.

Meanwhile, Noah Kahan remains one of the biggest names in contemporary folk-pop.

From ‘Stick Season’ to Stadiums

Kahan’s “Stick Season” became one of the defining songs of the recent folk-pop revival. The track helped turn the Vermont-born singer-songwriter into a global star and was among the biggest songs in the UK in 2024.

Kahan is now touring behind his fourth album, “The Great Divide,” while preparing for an even bigger run of shows.

He has announced three “Last Of The Bugs” stadium performances in the UK and Ireland next July, including a headline appearance at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The unlikely connection between “Stick Season” and “Boston” therefore comes at an interesting moment for both artists. Kahan helped define the folk-pop sound that has surged in popularity, while Lefty is pushing that audience toward a more contemporary country sound.

For now, Lefty’s explanation appears to settle the biggest question surrounding “Boston”: the similarity wasn’t presented as a secret sample or calculated copy. Instead, the songwriting credit emerged after Kahan’s team raised the issue — and Lefty chose transparency.