customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Tribune News Service

Hold on!
The family of Isaac Hayes sent a legal notice on Sunday to Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee that demanded they stop using the R&B classic Hold On, I’m Coming at his events and pressed them to repay US$3 million for prior usage.
The letter outlines more than 130 times Trump and Republicans played the 1966 classic that was recorded famously by Sam & Dave, but written by Hayes and David Porter when they were all pumping music out of Memphis-based Stax Records.
Hayes’s lawyer James Walker wrote that Trump’s campaign and Republicans repeatedly played the song “without authorisation from the copyright holder, despite being asked repeatedly not to engage in such illegal use by our client”.
Hayes’s son Isaac Hayes III said the family also plans to file a federal lawsuit accusing Trump of 134 counts of infringement at campaign rallies since 2022.
Trump’s campaign and the RNC did not immediately comment.
The Hayes Estate is demanding that by Friday, the Trump campaign cease any use of the song; remove all videos featuring the song from any websites or materials associated with Trump; issue a disclaimer stating that the family did not authorise the use of the song; and pay the estate at least US$3 million for repeatedly playing the song, which usually is heard at the end of rallies.
Hayes III, who runs the Atlanta-based Fanbase, a social media platform that allows creators to get paid faster for their content, did not comment further on Sunday night.
But he has often talked about how his father, one of the most prolific songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s, was exploited. In 1976, Hayes’s music income disappeared after Stax Records declared bankruptcy.
And on Saturday, he slammed Trump’s campaign after it used his father’s song again, this time at a rally in Montana.
“Donald Trump represents the worst in integrity and class with his disrespect and sexual abuse of women and racist rhetoric,” said Hayes III. “We will now deal with this very swiftly.”
With his bass-baritone and flamboyant wardrobe – including a gold chain vest – Hayes chronicled the excesses of the streets, sex, and soul music through a musical persona that defined black hyper-masculinity.
His gritty work at Stax, including his glorious Theme From Shaft, was a direct counter to the polished sounds coming out of Motown.
Hayes, who lived in Atlanta from the mid-1970s until 1992, died in 2008.

The Trump campaign last played the song at a rally in Montana on Friday.
It was at that same rally where they played Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, her hit song from the movie Titanic.
On Saturday, Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., issued a statement rebuking the use of the tender ballad, even asking, “And really, THAT song?”
The Trump campaign has routinely faced pushback throughout his presidential runs from artists upset he used their music without their permission, including the Rolling Stones, Rihanna, Queen, Ozzy Osbourne, and the estate of George Harrison.
Neil Young once sued the former president for playing one of his songs, and the estates of Prince and Sinead O’Connor each disavowed his use of their music at campaigns.
And Bruce Springsteen objected in 2016 when Trump blasted Born in the U.S.A. at one of his events, saying it shouldn’t be seen as a patriotic anthem but rather a critique of how the US treats military veterans.


Who is Winona Ryder’s partner of 14 years, Scott Mackinlay Hahn?

Midea to raise US$3 billion as ‘White Goods’ giant eyes Hong Kong’s biggest IPO since 2021

No winners from US’ ‘small yard, high fence’ approach to China: economist

Donald Trump says he won’t interrupt Kamala Harris as VP accepts rules for next week’s debate

United States

Family of Isaac Hayes demands Trump pay US$3 million for playing classic soul hit at rallies

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Montana on August 9. Photo: Reuters

Isaac Hayes performs at the 2005 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Photo: Reuters

Trump faces sinking ship jokes as Celine Dion jabs him for playing ‘Titanic’ song at rally

 Canadian singer Celine Dion attends the New York special screening of the documentary film “I Am: Celine Dion” in June. Photo: AFP

Biden brands Trump a ‘genuine danger’ to American security

US President Joe Biden in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Biden goes for a bike ride at Gordons Pond State Park in Reboboth Beach, Delaware on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia last week. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS

US Vice-President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. Photo: Kyodo

E Jean Carroll in New York in 2023. Photo: AP

News

World

United States & Canada

The family also plans to file a federal lawsuit accusing the Republican of 134 counts of infringement at campaign rallies since 2022


The family also plans to file a federal lawsuit accusing the Republican of 134 counts of infringement at campaign rallies since 2022.


Donald Trump

US presidential election 2024

Fame and celebrity

Music