A lot of renowned musicians like R.E.M. don’t want Donald Trump to use their music at his campaign events. Queen is now the latest group to jump on this bandwagon.
According to Consequence of Sound, Trump used “We Are the Champions” at his victory rally after the final presidential primaries on Tuesday. After hearing about this, Brian May, Queen’s lead guitarist, posted the following statement to his website:
“I’ve had an avalanche of complaints – some of which you can see in our ‘Letters’ page – about Donald Trump using our ‘We Are The Champions’ track as his ‘theme’ song on USA TV. This is not an official Queen statement, but I can confirm that permission to use the track was neither sought nor given. We are taking advice on what steps we can take to ensure this use does not continue. Regardless of our views on Mr Trump’s platform, it has always been against our policy to allow Queen music to be used as a political campaigning tool. Our music embodies our own dreams and beliefs, but it is for all who care to listen and enjoy.”
Outside of particularly controversial candidates like Donald Trump, musicians are generally wary of letting politicians use their music at campaign events, mainly because it can be seen as an endorsement of said politician. Many of these artists have issued cease-and-desist letters when their song is used without permission, and then threaten a lawsuit if the letter doesn’t do anything. This is something that Brian May can perhaps look into. Besides, who would blame him, especially since he’s not American, for not wanting to get involved in American politics in this way?
(Via Consequence of Sound)