Greg Ham, with Men at Work, dies at 58

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The publisher of “Kookaburra” sued Men at Work, and in 2010 a judge ruled the band had copied the melody. The group was ordered to hand over a portion of its royalties, and lost its last appeal in October.

Ham later said the controversy had left him devastated, and he worried it would tarnish his legacy.

“It has destroyed so much of my song,” he told Melbourne’s The Age newspaper after the court ruling. “It will be the way the song is remembered, and I hate that. I’m terribly disappointed that that’s the way I’m going to be remembered — for copying something.”

Nolte said he did not want to speculate on Ham’s mental state in his final days, but said his friend had been shattered by the court battle.

“That really did affect him ... he was sad,” Nolte said. “He put on a brave face, but he wasn’t the same Greg Ham.”

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