Sorry, Prince did not actually inspire Disney’s “Let It Go”

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An article being passed around the Internet claims to have verification from the writers of “Let It Go,” the hit Oscar-winning anthem from Disney’s Frozen, that they were inspired by Prince’s 1994 song “Letitgo” and in fact shared a demo with the artist, adding the line “the cold never bothered me anyway” after Prince made that comment with reference to his Minnesota heritage. It’s an amusing story—but unfortunately it’s totally false.

The germ of truth in the story is that Prince does have a song called “Letitgo,” but the article, hosted at a site (thedailymusicnews.com) that hosts only that article and seems to be impersonating Billboard.com, is otherwise a clever fabrication. It seems to have even fooled someone in Prince’s camp; many fans saw a since-deleted tweet by the Prince-endorsed @3RDEYEGIRL account sharing the faux article between the words “LET” and “IT GO.”

Robert Lopez, the song’s co-author, clarified via Twitter, “don’t know anything about that—whoever wrote it completely made it up.” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the song’s other co-author (the two are married) later added, “completely untrue. I WOULD like to meet Prince someday, though. I’m a big fan!”

@JayGabler @Lyrikris10 don’t know anything about that– whoever wrote it completely made it up. — Robert Lopez (@lopezbobby) May 2, 2014

@lopezbobby @JayGabler @Lyrikris10 completely untrue. I WOULD like to meet Prince someday, though. I’m a big fan! — Kris10 AndersonLopez (@Lyrikris10) May 3, 2014

The fake story served as the source of a post on the AV Club (later unpublished) that was widely circulated by enthused readers, delighted by the story’s amusing premise. It’s definitely a good story; the only thing that would make it better would be if it were true.