The Verve reach deal with Rolling Stones over royalties on hit 90s single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'

The Verve will finally get royalties for their hit 90s single 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' after settling a row with The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Shortly after the release of the song, The Rolling Stones sued The Verve for copyright infringement, claiming that The Verve's song was based on a sample of the Stones' song The Last Time.

Before the release of their 1997 album Urban Hymns, The Verve struck a deal which would see songwriting royalties split 50-50 between Jagger and Richards, and The Verve.

The deal fell apart when the Stones' longtime manager accused The Verve of using more of the song than was previously agreed.

The Verve's bassist Simon Jones said: "We were told it was going to be a 50/50 split, and then they saw how well the record was doing."

The British alternative rock band relinquished their rights to the song and have made no publishing royalties for two decades.

But now lead singer Richard Ashcroft has revealed on Twitter the dispute has finally been settled, after Jagger and Richards decided to hand him the rights to Bitter Sweet Symphony.

Ashcroft acknowledged it was the Stones' late manager, Allen Klein, who were responsible for the royalties dispute, rather than the musicians themselves.

In a statement, Ashcroft thanked those who had helped broker the deal.

It remains unclear how much of the money which Jagger and the rest of the Stones earned will be given to The Verve, considering it was released more than two decades ago and has been streamed more than 300 million times on Spotify and 450 million times on YouTube.