As Donald Trump‘s campaign faces continuous backlash from artists for using their songs without permission at rallies, it’s fighting back at Foo Fighters for claiming that the band never allowed its song “My Hero” to be used at a recent event.
“My Hero” played during a Trump rally in Glendale, AZ on Friday, when the former President introduced Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shortly after the suspension of his campaign. Foo Fighters addressed the use of their song on X (formerly Twitter), responding “no” to a user who asked if they granted Trump’s campaign permission.
A rep for Foo Fighters reiterated to Variety that the band did not approve of the usage. “Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were they would not have granted it,” the statement read. “Also any royalties received as a result of this use will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.”
However, Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson, claims that proper routes were taken to get approval for song usage. In a statement sent to The Hill, Cheung said, “We have a license to play the song.” On social media, he doubled down, quote-tweeting an article about the usage and writing, “It’s Times Like These facts matter, don’t be a Pretender. @foofighters,” referring to a few of the band’s song titles.
The licensing dispute at play here has been an issue in past elections and may be centered on whether a song’s use in a campaign rally is covered by a blanket license held by the host venue for all performance purposes. The Rolling Stones faced a similar issue during the 2020 election when Trump used “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” as his walk-off music.
At the time, the Stones partnered with performing rights organization BMI to keep the song from being used for politically partisan purposes. BMI claimed that there was some risk involved in using its Political Entities License, which was implemented to cover political campaigns.
“The Trump campaign has a Political Entities License which authorizes the public performance of more than 15 million musical works in BMI’s repertoire wherever campaign events occur,” stated BMI at the time. “There is a provision, however, that allows BMI to exclude musical works from the license if a songwriter or publisher objects to its use by a campaign. BMI has received such an objection and sent a letter notifying the Trump campaign that the Rolling Stones’ works have been removed from the campaign license, and advising the campaign that any future use of these musical compositions will be in breach of its license agreement with BMI.”
So far this election cycle, Celine Dion and the Isaac Hayes estate have objected to Trump using their music at rallies and in campaign efforts. On Friday, a federal court granted the Hayes estate a request for an emergency hearing to secure injunctive relief regarding Trump’s use of the music.
From Variety US