From Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to pop star Rihanna, here are 16 music stars who’ve slammed Trump for using their music at his rallies
Over the years, many musicians have publicly objected to having Donald Trump use their songs during his rallies and campaign events. Getty Images Axl Rose After Guns N’ Roses frontman learned that «Sweet Child O’ Mine» was being played at the president’s rallies, Rose fired off a series of tweets accusing Trump of using licensing loopholes to ignore his request to stop playing the band’s music. «Unfortunately the Trump campaign is using loopholes in the various venues’ blanket performance licenses which were not intended for such craven political purposes, without the songwriters’ consent,» Rose tweeted on Nov.4,2018. Corina Marie Pharrell On Oct.27,2018, the day after the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead, Trump played Pharrell’s 2013 summer hit «Happy» at a rally in Indiana, according to reports. Pharell’s attorney Howard King sent a cease and desist to Trump with a statement regarding the usage. «There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose,» the letter read. Getty Images Neil Young If you go way back to when Trump first announced he would be running for president at the Trump Tower in 2015, you may remember that Neil Young took issue with Trump’s use of «Rockin’ in the Free World.» «Donald Trump was not authorized to use ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ in his presidential candidacy announcement,» a spokesperson for the musician’s Lookout Management said in a statement in 2015. Young reiterated his feelings on his official Facebook page: «Legally, he has the right to, however it goes against my wishes.» In July 2020, he tweeted that he «was not OK» with Trump playing «Rockin’ in the Free World» and «Like a Hurricane» at an event South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore Getty Images Prince’s estate According to Rolling Stone, Prince’s estate had to issue a statement after various Trump rallies played «Purple Rain.» «The Prince Estate has never given permission to President Trump or The White House to use Prince’s songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately,» Prince’s half-brother Omarr Baker wrote on Twitter Thursday, Oct.11,2018. Adele Trump didn’t stop at the rock genre when choosing his campaign playlists. After it got around that his rallies included songs like «Rolling in the Deep» and «Skyfall,» a spokesperson for singer Adele made clear she wanted no part of it.
