Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, appears to be headed towards his musical Waterloo at the hands of Abba and other musicians. The Swedish band members have demanded that Trump stop using their music during his campaign rally and said he didn’t have the group’s permission to play songs like The Winner Takes It All and Money, Money, Money. The songs have been played at least once at a Minnesota rally in July.
“Together with the members of Abba, we have discovered that videos have been released where Abba’s music/videos has been used at Trump events, and we have, therefore, requested that such use be immediately taken down and removed,” Universal Music said in a statement on Thursday. The Swedish band said they supported Universal Music’s statement.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign claims that a licence had been obtained. “The campaign had a licence to play Abba music through our agreement with BMI and ASCAP,” the spokesperson told AP.
It’s not just Abba who wants Trump to stop pumping his arms alternately while their music plays. Earlier this month, representatives of Celine Dion said that the use of her hit 1997 song My Heart Will Go On at his (and J.D. Vance) campaign rally (it was used in Bozeman, Montana) was “unauthorised”. “And really, THAT song?” Dion’s representatives asked cheekily in a statement posted to the Canadian singer’s social media accounts.
The latest singer to turn down the volume on Trump is Grammy-winning artiste Jack White of the duo White Stripes. On Thursday he posted (on Instagram) a video of Trump ascending the stairs of a plane as the bass riff of Seven Nation Army plays. The singer wrote: “Oh…. Don’t even think about using my music you fascists. Law suit coming from my lawyers about this.”
The family of the late R&B singer Isaac Hayes has threatened to sue the former US President for using Hold On, I’m Coming (the song was originally written with David Porter for the R&B duo Sam & Dave) at campaign events. His family is demanding $3 million in licensing fees.
Hayes’ son, Isaac Hayes III, said on social media: “Donald Trump epitomises a lack of integrity and class, not only through his continuous use of my father’s music without permission but also through his history of sexual abuse against women and his racist rhetoric.”
Beyonce too has forced Trump’s campaign to refrain from using her song Freedom, which has become an important number for the Kamala Harris campaign.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung posted a video showing Trump walking off a plane, while Freedom (from 2016) played in the background. The singer’s record label and publisher moved to block the use, and the video has now been deleted from social media.
