Add another musician to the pretty long list of ones who’ve found out the hard way that former President Donald Trump was using their song without permission. The move is a common one for Trump, who doesn’t care in the slightest about asking permission to use music in his rallies.
The latest incident involves Trump’s weird town hall in Pennsylvania on Oct. 14, where he stopped taking questions and instead swayed to music with his supporters for more than 30 mins. Depending on who you ask, it was either a fun party or the epitome of a man in mental decline.
In addition to his go-tos like the disco hit “Y.M.C.A.,” Trump played a version of the popular song “Hallelujah.” The song was originally written by the legendary musician Leonard Cohen and over the years has been covered by famous musicians of all ilks.
The version played at the rally was by Rufus Wainwright, who found out that Trump was using his song the same way the rest of us did. Wainright released a statement on the matter on his Instagram page.
The statement said the musician was “mortified” by the use of the song, saying that its purpose was one of “peace, love and acceptance of the truth.” He also made it clear that he was a supporter of Kamala Harris.
Trump and his supporters jamming out to the song was the “height of blasphemy,” he said, adding that he did not condone its use and that if Trump actually listened to the lyrics he might “experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused.”
“I’m not holding my breath,” he said. The statement also said that the publishing company that handle’s Cohen’s estate has sent a cease and desist to the Trump campaign. Unsurprisingly, the list of musicians who don’t support Trump is a mile long.
The White Stripes lead singer Jack White posted on X on August 29 that he did not permit Trump to use the song “Seven Nation Army.” “Oh….Don’t even think about using my music you fascists. Lawsuit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.),” White said.
Ironically, Rihanna said she would pursue legal action if Trump didn’t stop using her song “Don’t Stop The Music” at his rallies back in 2018. Pharrell Williams threatened the same with his song “Happy” after Trump used it in a rally just hours after the deadly 2018 Pittsburgh shooting.
Despite the opposition, Trump’s use of a song can be quite lucrative for the artist. The band Nickelback saw an increase of 500% of plays of the song “Photograph” after Trump used a doctored version of it.
Besides “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood, perhaps no song is more known at a trump rally than the aforementioned “Y.M.C.A.” How does the group The Village People feel about it? TMZ spoke with the group’s frontman Victor Willis, who said he’s no longer opposed to the use of the song partly because it’s really good publicity.
“Trump is legally allowed to play “Y.M.C.A” at his events, since he previously applied for a political use license from Victor’s performing-rights organization, BMI,” Willis said in a statement. “Trump’s use of ‘Y.M.C.A.’ has greatly benefited the song. For example, when Trump started using ‘Y.M.C.A’ the song shot back up to #2 on Billboard’s digital chart.”
Time will tell if the same thing is going to happen to Wainwright. One thing’s for sure, people are talking about it.
