Foo Fighters respond after Donald Trump uses band’s song at rally
Foo Fighters have reacted after Donald Trump used one of their songs during his presidential election campaign.
The American rock band’s song, My Hero, blared as Robert F Kennedy Jr walked onto the stage at Mr Trump’s campaign event in Arizona on Friday after the Republican presidential candidate introduced him.
Mr Kennedy, whose father was presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy and uncle President John F Kennedy, appeared at the rally shortly after he announced he was suspending his independent campaign for the presidency to lend his support to Mr Trump in certain states.
Asked on social media if they had given Mr Trump permission to use the 1997 track, Foo Fighters’ official Twitter account responded simply saying: “No”.
Foo Fighters performing at festival in Denmark in July. Pic: AP
The rock band also reposted a screenshot of their comment to their page on X with the caption “let us be clear”.
A spokesperson for the band told the PA news agency: “Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were they would not have granted it.”
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The group join a long list of artists who have spoken out against Mr Trump using their music without prior consent.
Here are some of the big names on that list:
The pop star condemned him for playing her classic song My Heart Will Go On during a campaign rally earlier this month.
Her management team released a statement on behalf of the Canadian artist and her record label saying the use of the song was “in no way” authorised, adding: “… And really, THAT song?”
The Smiths
Earlier this year, The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr slammed Mr Trump after the band’s hit Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want was played at a rally.
Responding to a video where the song could be heard playing in the background of one of his rallies, Marr wrote: “Ahh…right…OK. I never in a million years would’ve thought this could come to pass. Consider this shit shut right down right now.”
The family of late singer Tom Petty issued Mr Trump with a cease and desist notice in 2020 after he played his hit rock song I Won’t Back Down at a comeback rally in Oklahoma.
In a damning statement, Petty’s family said the song was written “for the common man” and they didn’t want it used for a “campaign of hate”.
The iconic British band threatened to sue Mr Trump after his use of You Can’t Always Get What You Want at a 2020 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
They’d been sending cease and desist directives to his campaign team since 2016.
The singer-songwriter attempted to sue Mr Trump’s re-election campaign for copyright infringement in 2020, alleging that his music has been used at the president’s rallies without his permission.
In court, Young objected to Rockin’ In The Free World and Devil’s Sidewalk being played “numerous times at rallies and political events for the entertainment and amusement of those attending”.
But his lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice later that year, meaning it cannot be brought again. It was not clear if the case had been settled.
Linkin Park
The American band issued a cease-and-desist order in 2020 after the song In The End appeared in a video supporting the then-president.
X, then known as Twitter, took the video down shortly after it was uploaded, citing a copyright complaint.
Black Sabbath
Band member Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon Osbourne sent a notice to Mr Trump in 2019 banning him from using Black Sabbath music in his campaign videos, after he used the song Crazy Train without their permission.
In 2018, the band’s lead singer Steven Tyler sent a letter to the then-president ordering him to stop playing the band’s songs at political rallies, after their 1993 hit Livin’ On The Edge was played at a rally in West Virginia.
The singer had previously sent the Trump campaign two cease-and-desist letters in 2015 for its use of the band’s music.
Mr Trump’s team included the late star’s hit song Purple Rain in a campaign rally playlist in the lead-up to the November 2018 midterm elections, prompting his family to hit out at the billionaire.
Omarr Baker, Prince’s half-brother, tweeted: “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.”
The R&B singer issued a cease-and-desist letter after he played her 2007 hit Don’t Stop The Music at an event in Tennessee in 2018.
Responding to a tweet saying her track was being played “as aides toss free Trump T-shirts into the crowd”, the SOS singer said: “Not for much longer… me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up Philip!”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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