The Foo Fighters recently became the latest musical group to lash out at former President Donald Trump for using their music during one of his rallies, claiming they did not give him permission.
However, the Trump campaign quickly responded by showing why the rock band’s protestations are absurd.
Rock band Foo Fighters did not give Donald Trump’s campaign permission to play one of their songs at a recent campaign rally, a representative for the band said, and they plan to donate any royalties from the unauthorized use to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
On Friday, Foo Fighters’ song “My Hero” was played at a campaign rally for Trump in Arizona, according to video taken at the event and shared to social media.
A spokesperson for the band, however, said in a statement to CNN on Sunday that the group didn’t give Trump’s campaign the green light to use their hit 1997 rock anthem.
“Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were they would not have granted it,” the statement from the representative said, adding that any royalties the band received “as a result of this use will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign.”
In a post on X, the Foo Fighters responded to a user asking if they had approved of Trump’s use of the song. They replied, “No.”
Let us be clear. pic.twitter.com/gexHWjPMYh
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) August 24, 2024
However, the facts give a bit more context to this situation. Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson, told The Hill that, “We have a license to play the song.”
The Independent confirmed this in a Sunday report.
The Independent has seen documents appearing to confirm that the campaign had indeed licensed the song from BMI’s Songview service. “We have a license to play the song,” a campaign spokesperson said.
It’s Times Like These facts matter, don’t be a Pretender. @foofighters https://t.co/yutdFMKH2X pic.twitter.com/l6d6BSnDw2
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) August 25, 2024
This is the latest in a long series of musical acts that have publicly claimed that they did not approve of the Trump campaign using their songs in his rallies. The estate of musical legend Isaac Hayes is suing the Trump campaign for using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming,” which was originally performed by Sam and Dave but co-written by Hayes.
A federal judge has granted the Isaac Hayes estate an emergency hearing in their $3 million demand against Donald Trump, who has continually used “Hold On, I’m Coming,” co-written by Hayes, on the campaign trail.
Earlier this month, the Hayes estate filed a cease-and-desist and asked for $3 million related to Trump’s unauthorized use of the Sam & Dave classic which, by the estate lawyer’s count, had been played “over one hundred times” at Trump rallies since 2022.
In an August 10th tweet, the singer’s son Isaac Hayes III wrote, “Today, on the anniversary of my father Isaac Hayes’ death we have repeatedly asked Donald Trump, the RNC and his representatives not to use ‘Hold on I’m Coming’ written by Isaac Hayes and David Porter during campaign rallies but yet again, in Montana they used it.”
One would think these artists might have better things to do than to quibble about a political candidate using their music, but apparently, they do not. However, I do think there is a reason why some of these artists have been so quick to assert their disapproval of Trump using their music.
While I can’t read minds, I suspect that much of these public rebukes are about avoiding criticism – especially from progressives who get goosebumps at the thought of trying to cancel celebrities who violate their tender sensibilities – especially when it comes to the Orange Man What Is Bad™.
Dave Grohl, the lead singer of the Foo Fighters, probably wouldn’t care as much about Trump using his music if the former president hadn’t been labeled as the second coming of Hitler for nearly a decade. This appears to be just another way for musical artists to signal their virtue by proudly declaring they don’t want Trump using their music.
