Donald Trump continues his election campaign in view of the vote for the White House and, as is now tradition for the tycoon, he receives new piqued reactions from artists who discover the use of their songs in rallies. Today It’s the Foo Fighters’ turnwho when asked if the use of ‘My Hero’ to welcome Kennedy Jr. on stage in the Republican candidate’s last live appearance had been authorized, responded with a firm “no.” “Let’s get this straight,” reads the post on X by Dave Grohl’s band, which reposts a screenshot of the exchange with a user.
Let us be clear. pic.twitter.com/gexHWjPMYh
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) August 24, 2024
From Beyoncé to the Rolling Stones, the precedents
After all, the relationship between Trump and the ‘soundtracks’ of his rallies has always been rather complicated. Beyoncé recently warned the tycoon against using the song ‘Freedom’ on stage, while Céline Dion’s team explained that Trump had “no right” to use the singer’s classic ‘My Heart Will Go On’ for the same purpose.
But dozens of artists have fought against the candidate’s use of their songs over the years. In 2020, Neil Young sued Trump for copyright infringement of his songs precisely because he had used some of his warhorses without authorization. No also from Dave Porter, co-author of the Sam & Dave song entitled ‘Hold on, I’m coming’: “I don’t write music to divide people”, he commented.
And again, last March, Sinéad O’Connor’s heirs warned Trump against using ‘Nothing compares 2U’, while further back in time, those who said a clear ‘no’ to the use of their songs were sacred monsters such as the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, but also Adele and George Harrison’s heirs.