Adele to Rihanna – 16 A-list musicians who object to Donald Trump using their music at US election campaign events
From living legends like The Rolling Stones, Pharrell Williams, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, to the estates of late stars like The Beatles, Prince and Leonard Cohen, rafts of iconic acts have stood up and told the president to rethink his campaign soundtrack
From classic American rockers to British artists and even the estates of late music legends, here’s a look at some of the big names who have objected to Donald Trump using their songs at campaign events.
John Fogerty, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen
John Fogerty: "Confounding" that Trump campaign played "Fortunate Son" at rally
Some classic rockers object not only to Trump using their music, but point out the choice of songs is ironic or downright wrong. John Fogerty, who last week sent the campaign a cease-and-desist letter over the use of Fortunate Son by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival, said he was baffled by the use of a song that could have been written to slam Trump. Elsewhere Phil Collins sent the campaign a demand to stop using In the Air Tonight after it was played at an Iowa rally this month. Many observers say it was an odd song to choose given that the air among the mostly mask-less people at the rally could have been spreading coronavirus. And just as he had with Ronald Reagan in 1984, Bruce Springsteen objected in 2016 to Trump blasting out Born in the U.S.A. as a patriotic anthem, when it’s actually a scathing indictment of the treatment of Vietnam veterans.
Neil Young, Eddy Grant
Most musicians have stopped at legal threats, but a few have actually sued over the use of their songs. Neil Young filed a lawsuit in August over the Trump campaign’s use of his music including Rockin’ in the Free World, which he said he couldn’t bear to hear as a theme song for Trump (and which also paints an anything but jingoistic picture upon closer lyrical inspection). Eddy Grant sued Trump in September over the use of his 1980s hit Electric Avenue in a Trump campaign animated video that mocked his election opponent Joe Biden.
Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Prince
The heirs of dead artists have been as quick as living musicians in objecting to Trump’s use of songs. Tom Petty’s wife and daughters, who had been in legal squabbles over the management of his estate, came together to issue a statement in June denouncing Trump’s use of the rocker’s I Won’t Back Down at rallies. After Purple Rain was played at a Trump rally in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis in 2019, the late singer’s estate publicly condemned the use of the song and said the campaign had previously agreed not to play it. The lawyers for the Leonard Cohen estate condemned the use of Hallelujah at the finale of the Republican National Convention (RNC), saying they had denied organisers’ permission.